At least that's how the report came across that aired during the semifinals of the NCAA men's hoops tournament. The so-called experts said that college coaches are now dealing with AAU coaches and that AAU ball is way more important than high school ball.
While there may be some truth to that, there is still no substitute for the enthusiasm and energy that comes from a high-school student-fan section when it has a winning team to support.
No AAU program can duplicate the noise that was made when Ronad Steward of Zion-Benton hit the halfcourt shot to beat Evanston in the semifinals of the IHSA playoffs.
That's why high school ball is important.
I think AAU basketball is in fact more important than high school basketball. It really has been for awhile. It's been more important to college coaches to recruit AAU so they can concentrate on their season. Lake County basketball boys use to run track in the spring to improve their conditoning and game but lately the kids are getting more involved in year round basketball via the AAU. They get ranked in area, region, and state levels as early as eighth grade. Thus getting players like Brandon Paul, Jereme Richmond, Lenzelle Smith top rankings in Illinois and the nation. Alot of city youth don't play AAU though. All Chicago kids don't have the resources to pay or play. Suburban kids seek funds to play via donations but the ones who get to play get a little attention from bigger universitys in the off season so more kids get scholarship offers in the AAU circuit. It's been more important to players now too. Some take high shool seasons off by just being inelgible to play high school. Now brings us to the question at hand does this make AAU or high school more benificial.
I think your right about that one. Who cares about AAU basketball, thats just training in the offseason. It gives guys a chance to improve their game and fix it so they can be better next year when basketball season comes around. Therefore I belive that high school basketball is more important than AAU basketball.
I believe the right AAU program benefits the athlete. A program that concentrates on the entire game of basketball. You may also consider an AAU team that is family oriented. My opinion may be slightly biased but take a look at Dickey Simpkin's program. I am sure you will find by speaking with the parents, athletes and college coaches that this is a quality program. I don't believe one is more important than the other(high school or AAU ball). I believe they are both important and should be viewed as a way a student can better himself as a person and athlete. Check out www.trainnlp.com for more info.