It’s been a while since I have ranted. So let me tell what has gotten under my skin. AAU FALL basketball. While there are many good AAU programs, there are far to many BAD ONES. These are the ones that either don’t get it or simply don’t care or a combination of both. Either way AAU continues to try and destroy a once great thing..
Last year many college coaches boycotted the fall two day recruiting period. They did so for many reasons, but none bigger that AAU coaches, using the two day viewing period as an excuse to continue to practice and play games. Now keep in mind, most AAU teams play together for 5 months. If your team has been together for 5 months, there is no need to practice 3 days a week to get ready for two days. But there is a hidden agenda why these coaches practice and play games in the fall. They want to control there current players movements and steal players from other teams.
There is zero ethics in AAU these days. Lying and deceiving parents and players is the norm. AAU Coaches reaching out and disrupting kids in a healthy basketball environment is the norm. Damm the kid who is happy. Damm the coach and organization that developed the kid. We are not talking about parents or players reaching out to a program. These are the snakes going to kids high school games, writing a letter and calling a kid about how the grass is greener on the other side. I know a AAU team that plans to practice right up to the start of the high school season. Now what could be the reason for this? I guess to get ready for there first game NEXT April. Folks this is flat out madness. Instead of a kid focusing on bonding, practing and playing with there HIGH SCHOOL teammates, they also have to deal with a AAU coach. Instead of locking down on the books they have to worry about making additional time for AAU. INSTEAD of training and working on there skills, they have to make time for AAU practice , and we all know AAU coaches are such students of the game and care so much about kids. THEN WHY THE HELL is the NCAA trying its hardest to kill off AAU? Why can’t you find college coaches anywhere, these days that honestly feels AAU is even remotely healthy for most kids? What’s the response by the AAU crowd. There are some good teams doing it the right way. Great… so we have a few AAU teams are doing it the right way. So let’s pretend the other 500 don’t exist…GEE WIZ this is what it has come to….A DAMM JOKE
Be careful 2021 Shoreshots your next
Four years ago Joe Bisogno built a monster program called the TOM RIVER STARZ. It was a stacked team of the best 2019 kids ANYWHERE. I told Joe to be very careful because the snakes would try and break up his team. His players were happy, developing and getting real love from D1 coaches. It was a healthy place for any kid. But Joe Bisogno was a baseball guy, and was new and naïve to the AAU world. The result of this was, he got to watch first hand, the the snakes rip a beautiful thing apart. One of the best programs in recent history fell apart. The snakes won again. They create doubt in players and parents and then convince them they can do more for the player. This is what the snakes do, winning and stealing players is all that matters. Next up for the snakes is the 2021 shoreshots. Just watch and see how they try and break this group apart. This is a group who has won big time tournaments..beat EYBL teams. This group has U Conn and South Carolina inviting them to campus. Yet the snakes are coming and they will try and convice every kid on that team to leave. They will play on there egos, tell them there not being use right. They will create jealousy among the teammates. They will make promises they know they can’t keep. They will brag about the connections and how they were responsible for kids getting scholarships. They will brag about there training and elite coaches. Yes… The 2021 Shoreshots are next up for the snakes…STAY TUNED.
For every TEAM MILLER there are dozens of poorly run AAU organizations
Recently a organization tweeted out how a young lady was being recruited by multiple D1 schools. Now they did this to bring attention to their program and also hope other D1 schools would jump in. Now most AAU coaches have never coached a day in college and are clueless about the differences. Now first of all, college coaches all talk, they know when you are lying about your recruiting. They also know AAU coaches are the kings of exaggerating and lying about recruiting. I had a parent of a player tell me “Coach Gaitley of Fordham wants my daughter” I said ” I saw that on twitter and it’s not true” She got really upset. I asked her if she spoke to the Fordham staff. She said “her AAU coach spoke to them” I laughed and said he is lying to you and Fordham has zero interest in her. She is a senior and does not have one offer. Yet the AAU coach contuines this Charade. Its all part of a disturbing pattern of behavior. Just like kids changing AAU teams 5,6,7 times before their high school career is over. It’s also the reason 700 kids transferred from colleges this year. Your unhappy, what’s the answer? Quit on your teammates and coaches…it’s the new norm and a damm disgrace.
Now what’s really scary to me is that the AAU CULTURE is slipping into high school. Coaches running illegal practices and trying to steal players. Poor sportsmanship, kids changing schools at the drop of a dime. You have kids with horrible body language and at times more disrespectful than any other time towards there coaches. AAU could very easily become the norm in high school if we are not careful. We are talking about the very backbone of athletics in this country being attacked.
These days anyone can call themselves an AAU team. You see years ago making and playing on a AAU team actually meant something. Now AAU is so watered down, in many cases it’s glorified travel basketball. Yes there are the TEAM MILLER’S AND THE BETH CHAMBERS of the world. But they are now far and few inbetween. Many Coaches in AAU have no interest in teaching values and doing what’s right. This is why instead of letting kids get ready for their high school season, they interfere and disrupt kids. Why do the parents of these kids put up with this nonsense? FEAR..it’s that simple. If parents would take a stand, this type behavior would stop. But it’s AAU and AAU brings out the worst in people. Loyalty is a pipe dream. Well I have a message to those parents. You will have these very people you fear to show you the way one day, GOOD LUCK….NOT A GREAT THOUGHT IF YOU ASK ME.
