Spring, Summer, and Fall basketball is supposed to be used to improve your individual skills. Instead, it used as the main source of recruiting for college coaches. Very few college coaches have time to go out and evaluate players during the high school season because of the overlap of the college season. Camps, tournaments, recruiting services and scouts are the main sources for division 1 coaches to recruit. Division 2 and 3 sometimes will attend local games to get a headstart on recruiting local talent. The good high school coaches encourage players to develop through quality AAU programs. Some high school coaches hate AAU and will discourage it. Bottomline is a player will recognized in the spring, followed in the summer, and recruited in the fall and winter. The process probably should be in reverse but this is how important it is to be at the right place at the right time. Players should always research and consult before joining a program because you're competing with hundred of thousands of players for the same opportunity. Players must realize that individually each decision only affect them, coaches look at individual players not teams. It might feel good to win that tournament or national championship but if you're not a major part of that win, don't expect to get anything out of it other than a trophy or medal. Sometimes AAU can be costly and time consuming due to travel but the more you're on stage the better chance you have of being seen. There's a fine line between a low division 1 guard and a good divsion 2 or 3 guard. Usually, it come down to exposure and who you played with and against that coaches make those decisions. Every year, I watch go players make bad decisions about spring-summer basketball. Parents and high school coaches are sometimes blamed in the process. This is why you see most good players at the same high schools because these coaches under the process and they work together with the AAU coaches. If you don't go to a powerhouse high school, you better be on a well respected AAU program. At Rise/ Sam Rines, we make sure all players receive the same opportunity as the next. Each team is put together so the individual players can standout when playing in front of coaches and scouts. Rise/ Sam Rines attend the best tournaments for exposure. The players receive invitations to the best camps the best weeks. Every year players profiles are sent out to hundreds of colleges about players. Each profile includes academic background, basketball background, and personal description. This process alone improves the chances of a player being recognized by coaches. It mulitiples when I send it out with the belief that you can actually play at that level. Warning .... there are false basketball prophets telling players who to play for and how to play. Watch out for coaches that 1. never coached before except their own son is local leagues 2. never played any organized basketball 3. can't show you what you're doing wrong 4. tells you to go to a high school because they win 5. don't know anything about your personal life and grades 6. takes you to all local tournaments within 40 miles 7. works on plays without equally working on skill 8. really expects you to learn something at camp and retain it 9. spend more time running and gimmick basketball than actually repetional drills 10. only care about winning and you're getting limited playing time 11. Good players should not hide behind other good players because eventually they will get exposed 12. Anyone telling you to go to a high school not in your area don't know basketball ex. Oak hill or St Patrick's 13. If you're a point guard playing the 3 spot then you need to find a new team 14. If you're a 6-4 center and the coach have you posting up then expect to play division 2/3 15. FYI most college coaches only read 2 or 3 major scouting reports and they're not available to the public 16. If your practice consist of foul shots and 3 man weaves without any drills then don't expect to get better Personal opinions Pay to play vs. playing for free 1. free teams get free sneakers and gear and travel for free vs paying up to $175 per tournament Opinion: unless you're the super star sponsered teams are catered to stars coaches usually look at the top 5 players only unless you're 6-7 or better. Pay to play assure you the proper playing time and quality you deserve not quantity. You pay for peace of mind 2. Normally sponsered help you get into the premire camps in the summer. False, camps already know the top players before the summer even start because the area coaches are ask about each area player to assure quality and competition Opinion politics definitly help players get in some elite camps but usually you need help from area scout to validate the player. If you're a borderline player then camps like Eastern and Five Star can acheive the same goal. 3. Sponsered players and team get better looks Opinion Agreed they play in better tournaments against better players. That's how you get looked at and evaluated when compared to your peers. If you play for a team that goes to the right tournaments and is competitive then you'll achieve the same goal 4. Area team go to smaller tournaments and play lesser competition. No one will see you in these event opinion The tournaments when coaches can't see you don't matter. You play to get better and to see different kinds of competition. Tournaments provide that stage as long as you're getting quality time regradless if you ply or not 5. Sponsered team have better coaches and better players Opinion: False, most sponsered team have too much talent and it's too hard to coach individual players. Players are looked at as Stars, Co-Stars, and/or role players. It all depends on your job on your team. There are few non-sponsered teams that compare to sponsered team but if done right, programs can co-exist if players are put in the right situations Here are a list of the top AAU teams. If you're not playing for 1 of these teams by the time you hit HS chances are you will not be getting division 1 looks. Jersey Shore Warriors Sam Rines Hunting Park Positive Image Team Final Catina Mobley Team Philly Team Kobe Rise Elite 3 on 3 Enterprise Reebok Raiders PYO Team Phoenam Recommended Camps Eastern Invitational, Five Star, and Keystone State Camp
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