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SoCalHoops High School & Prep Report

How Big Are The AAU 13-U Nationals?
BIG, REALLY BIG--(July 3, 1998)

Bobby Dodd, director of the YOMCA and president of the AAU, said he estimates the eight-day 13-U National Championship Tournament will will have a $7.5 million impact on the city of Memphis, Tennessee. The 13-and-under nationals have been hosted by Memphis since 1993, Dodd said, and have been awarded to the city for the next two years. The home locale of the tourney could be a bonus for the three Memphis teams - Second Presbyterian, Memphis Bellevue and the Capleville Magics. They will save a bundle on travel expenses and expect to draw large crowds to their games. "It's a big relief to be in Memphis,'' Magics coach Wayne Jackson told the local paper, the Memphis Commercial Appeal, "but with the schedule you run, unless the parents are off from work you may end up getting hotel rooms for two or three days anyway. At least you know where you are and the quick routes to the game sites.''

What are the coaches doing to try to get the teams to play together? That's something the Commercial Appeal took a look at this past week. "We had to go back to the basics,'' Marcel Bonds, head coach of the IBE Panthers-Blue team from Indiana told the Commercial Appeal. "We stress fundamentals. Sometimes these kids can get kind of lost when they're with their middle school teams, so we try to get them to refocus.'' Bonds's players have proven to be good students of the game so far. The Panthers, made up largely of players from Marion County, Ind., won Tuesday against the Wichita 76ers, 48-39, in a game played at Shelby State. This came a day after the Panthers, the tournament's second-lowest seeded team, opened by upsetting the second-seeded Charlotte Nets, 61-59. Bonds credits his team's successful run to teamwork. More specifically, getting players who are the primary weapons on their respective teams to play as a cohesive unit. "It can be difficult at first,'' he said. "But we make sure everyone on our team knows their roles.''

David Gray, coach of the Arkansas Ball Hawgs, told the Commercial Appeal that he agrees with Bonds on that point. Gray's team also looked sharp Tuesday at Shelby State, handing the Amarillo Jaguars an 81-61 defeat. The Ball Hawgs were especially sound on defense, where they forced several Jaguar turnovers and also did a good job in getting the ball up the floor against Amarillo's press. Gray said he's been working with his players since the end of February, which doesn't leave them a great deal of time to go back to square one. "In Arkansas, the school teams are priority over the AAU teams,'' he said. "For us, we pretty much try to leave fundamentals to their regular coaches. We try to get them to play as a team. Sometimes, it takes them a little while to understand that there are other good players, but I think they do a really good job.'' Bonds said that even though his offense revolves around point guard Terrance Jordan, a skilled dribbler and passer who shoulders most of the ball-handling duties, other players find ways to contribute. "We want our shooters to shoot. They know that if they don't take the open shot, then they're coming out of the game. We want our rebounders to rebound and our shot blockers to block shots.''

But just in case you don't think the AAU is sensitive to it's image as a sort of free-booters and scoundrels paradise, where unscrupulous coaches take advantage of unsuspecting parents and kids, promoting kids for the monetary gain of adults, the Commercial Appeal paper also focused on some of the good things AAU coaches do at these tournaments. Both Bonds and Gray agreed that it's just as important to help their players develop away from the court as on it. Bonds uses traveling to tournaments as an opportunity to fine-tune his players' brain cells along with their jump shots. Bonds said his team has weekly study tables and computer sessions throughout the summer. The team also makes it a point to visit local colleges whenever they visit a city for a tournament. "The first thing we did when we got here was take them to the Civil Rights Museum,'' he said. "These players are at the age now where they can start to make changes, both good and bad. This is the age where peer pressure is at its height, so we want them to be around positive people.''

This was a theme echoed by Chip Simms, the University of Memphis assistant men's basketball coach who delivered the welcoming address at the opening ceremonies of the AAU 13-and-under national championships at Wooddale last Sunday night before 1,105 basketball players from 113 teams from across the USA.

"You represent hope. You represent the future,'' Simms said in his opening remarks. "You are part of a generation that will raise athletics to higher and higher levels. We talk about, `Where are the role models?' They're growing. They're right here. We need you.''

And the AAU is apparently trying to discourage the "star" mentality in favor of focusing on the importance of team play. "You really don't know who the next great player is going to be and we shouldn't be telling any 13-year-old that he's the next great player,'' Bobby Dodd, YOMCA director and president of the AAU told the Commercial Appeal paper. "I think that's one of the greatest injustices we can do to a kid is to tell them they're the next one.'' That's one reason, Dodd said, the AAU eliminated All-America tournament teams from the national championships at all age groups below 17-and-under. The emphasis is on team play, Dodd said, not standout individuals.

The talk at the tourney wasn't so much about individuals as it was the teams. ``We don't want to get into who's the great player when you're 13 years old,'' said Bellevue coach Van Snider. ``This is really for development. We've had a lot of guys come back and say this is the most fun they've had. Because after this, the game is taken much more seriously.''

That's a nice image, but the reality is that even at the 13-U level, the game is taken just as seriously by those at this tournament. No one comes here just to "have fun", and there is some big-time money being spent on showcasing some of the top high-school-to-be talent in the country.

Despite what the AAU says, it's still about the big time. Really BIG.