AAU or High School Coaches

Written by Fran Fanschilla (ESPN)

Who Has More Influence?

Thousands of high school coaches and AAU coaches share the influence in most high school basketball players lives. But today's concerns of high school basketball are much more different than 20 years ago. No longer do high school coaches worry about if their kids will play enough or what skills do we need to work on, but rather it is the complete opposite effect. Today, high school basketball players have too many opportunities to 'play games' and not enough choices to 'work' on their games. Whose fault is it?

The influx of club sports (basketball) has dramatically changed the landscape for high school players. These club teams now have a firm grip on most of the best players in every state. And so during the summer, these players will essentially shun their high school teammates and coaches to travel across the country, (going to places such as Cleveland, OH; Orlando, FL; and Las Vegas, NV) while attending many tournaments in between so that they can play in front of hundreds of college coaches! Kids will have a chance to play up to 60 games and maybe more in a 3-4 month timespan. Most high school players, whether they are considered elite or not, will say that they must play on a club team in order to get recruited to play at the next level. And so, the club coach now becomes the 'focal point' of a student-athlete's attention, time, and commitment to the game.

The underlying question that remains is "where does the high school coach fit in?". High school coaches understand that during the summer is when they really get a chance to develop and mold their players by working on a player's weakness' and improving their strengths. And probably the most important item that's not discussed much is that the high school team and coach gets a chance to develop 'TEAM CHEMISTRY'! An area that plays a major rule in ALL OF TEAM SPORTS whether it is amateur or professional based! This is where the club team has a negative effect and kids don't understand the impact that this has on their high school team during this time period.

In addition to the issues previously mentioned, high school basketball coaches are much more regulated and restricted than their counterparts in the AAU sector. All state associations regulate how much contact a high school coach can have with his or her athletes during the school year and during the summer. Furthermore, the high school coach CANNOT RECRUIT student-athletes to attend their school based on athletic performance and in my opinion this is where the travesty starts! While on the other hand, AAU coaches have limited rules and restrictions that exasberates the many problems associated with club basketball. An AAU coach can travel the entire state looking for talent and then 'recruite' the player to join their team. Then on top of that the AAU coach says; 'I'll give you shoes, gear, and pay for all of your travel expenses to these destinations and all you have to do is show up'. If I'm a 15 or 16-year old kid, where would you want to play?

Once again, whose fault is it? I cannot fail to mention the impact that the NCAA has on this huge issue. The current recruiting regulations imposed on college coaches, especially Division 1, makes it near impossible for these people to recruit student-athletes during the high school basketball season. Therefore; the summer time becomes the focal point of all intercollegiate recruiting. It's a lot easier to go see 200 athletes play in one venue then to go to 50-60 high school's during the winter period where the D-I coach cannot have more than 7 recruiting opportunities (contacts + evaluations) during the academic year per player.

There are an enormous number of issues that need to be resolved by the state high school associations, National Federation of High School Sports, aau state associations, National Amateur Athletic Association, and more importantly the NCAA. At some point dialogue must occur between all of these parties so that the "amateur" status of high school basketball remains intact and no longer falls victim to the 'agents' and shoe companies who lay out thousands of dollars in front of aau coaches and players!

Some other questions that need to be answered include:

1. Where do we go from here in order to level the playing field?
2. How do we balance the high school and club seasons?
3. Ultimately what is best for the student-athlete?
4. Where do players prefer to play? And why?
5. Are athletes getting better by playing more games?
6. Who has the player's best interest at heart, the aau coach or high school coach?
7. Should players be allowed to play on club teams if they fail to meet academic requirements?
8. Can a high school athlete get the same recruitment as a club athlete?
9. Why are shoe companies allowed so much influence in the game?
10. Can the state associations, AAU association, and the NCAA work together to develop a better recruitiment process?
11. Can the associations actually work together for the benefit of the student-athlete?
12. It's been said that American play is poor in fundamentals; when is this stuff supposed to be worked on if a kid is playing a 60 game aau schedule?
13. Has big $$$ overly influenced the club scene and the NCAA?