The Truth About AAU Basketball

Winter basketball season will soon be over… what’s next?
Spring AAU Basketball tryouts are being held everywhere for players of all ages.
Premier Hoops is not an AAU Basketball Program, but our team knows a great deal about AAU and we are writing this post for members and non-members of Premier Hoops, who are thinking about playing on an AAU Basketball Team this spring or summer.
Pros of AAU Basketball
1. Playing more organized basketball – In addition to working on your basketball skills we highly recommend playing on a team and in refereed games where there is structure. It’s important to combine the skills you practice in a game setting.
2. Exposure – It’s crucial for players who are looking to play at the collegiate level to be seen by college coaches. Coaches of all college divisions (D1, D2, and D3) come watch rising talent at AAU Tournaments.
3. Making new friends – You can make life long friendships from any basketball team that you play on. AAU Programs can create lasting bonds between players of different locations.
Cons of AAU Basketball
1. Quality of Coaching – For many AAU Basketball Programs money comes first and quality comes second. It’s not rare to find that an AAU coach arrives to practice late, has poor communication skills, and has a poor coaching background. Sometimes the coach might even be a parent of player.
2. Quality of Play – Because AAU has turned into a “money maker” the quality of competition has become very saturated. Many AAU programs will not make cuts, but instead create more teams. This results in a poor quality of play at tournaments, where  you will find very competitive teams playing beginner level teams (which is not good for either team).
3. Travel – Make sure that you are ready to make a big travel commitment. AAU basketball tournaments can be interstate and up to 3 hours away. If you are on a team where you are only playing 5-10 minutes per game is it really worth the time, travel, and money?
Things to Remember About AAU Basketball

• Anybody can make an AAU Program or Team… all you need to do is buy an AAU Membership. All information is on their website http://aausports.org/JoinAAU.aspx
  Find out what separates one program from another.

• Do your research and find a program that offers good coaching, team practices and tournaments. Don’t be fooled by AAU advertisements and high coaching credentials. You may only see some of these coaches one time during the course of your season. Ask the program to e-mail you references of previous clients and the season schedule (practices and games) before you make a decision.

• Make sure that your son or daughter will get a lot of playing time on his or her team.

• AAU will help you play more basketball, but will not improve your skills. For example, you may shoot 20-25 shots in a weekend tournament… this will not improve your shooting.

E-mail PremierHoops@gmail.com for any questions or recommendations.