I absolutely understand and respect your point. However, if by "it" you mean which player plays on which team, I humbly suggest that "it" does really matter for at least two reasons:

1. Regardless of how many sanctioned tournaments a team plays, if a player doesn't see much of the floor then it is, as you aptly put it, an uphill battle. Sure, the true elite squads and their players are on everyone's radar, but many mid-pack AAU teams only attend one or two exposure events per season. For every Bolden, Hatton, or Hawkins there's a kid towards the center of the bench at the [fill in the name] Classic, looking wistfully at the coach from Kentucky State or Sinclair.

2. I work with college students on a daily basis and many of them are still struggling with their big-picture skills, both academically and vocationally. Most high school students have developed even fewer critical thinking chops; it's perfectly likely that a fifteen-year-old baller's ego would keep him on a low-exposure team without consideration of the long-term consequences, just so he can feel like a star.

 

Again, this is not a comment about Green or the KY Players or any other particular player or team. Just an observation on basketball and human nature.

Valid points. Yet the fact remains that the seasons overlap and college coaches use NCAA certified events to see kids. Volumes of kids. It takes one coach one trip to see one thing and that can be all it takes. Sure there are tons of kids who fall thru the cracks on AAU squads. Some of that is due to coaches, performance and a multitude of other issues I'm sure. But it still is the overriding factor IMO where kids are seen by those who can make a difference for them at the next level. Kids can be seen in HS, at team camps at various universities. Lots of places, but I'd still have to think that exposure in the summer is a big deal vs. where a kid attends high school. Many times, a college coach couldn't tell you how to get to the high school one of his kids attended.

I have a very hard time believing Pittman ends up in the NBA. I've watched Marshall a dozen times this season.

 

I do not view Pittman as an NBA prospect. He can have a successful career overseas, however.

According to their website, NKY Bulldog U16 roster is:

 

Austin Schreck

Kyle Dougherty

Dre Jackson

Jaeger Pracht

John Liechty

Matt Mullins

Matt Isbel

Andrew Hedger

Mitch Bolin

 

I just checked out their website: NKY Bulldogs: Roster

 

They have a slightly different roster posted. Was I maybe just at the wrong site?

This appears to be a link to an older version of their website.

Try http://nkybulldogs.com/

I just checked out their website: NKY Bulldogs: Roster

 

They have a slightly different roster posted. Was I maybe just at the wrong site?

 

I just went to http://nkybulldogs.com/ and clicked through till I got to the 16U team.

Anyone know who is on the Bluegrass Sonics team?

Valid points. Yet the fact remains that the seasons overlap and college coaches use NCAA certified events to see kids. Volumes of kids. It takes one coach one trip to see one thing and that can be all it takes. Sure there are tons of kids who fall thru the cracks on AAU squads. Some of that is due to coaches, performance and a multitude of other issues I'm sure. But it still is the overriding factor IMO where kids are seen by those who can make a difference for them at the next level. Kids can be seen in HS, at team camps at various universities. Lots of places, but I'd still have to think that exposure in the summer is a big deal vs. where a kid attends high school. Many times, a college coach couldn't tell you how to get to the high school one of his kids attended.

 

Actually, it sounds like we pretty much agree on all the major material. I thought -- maybe mistakenly -- that you were suggesting that it doesn't matter *whic*h AAU team a kid plays for as long as he gets seen, and my point was that some AAU teams don't get seen that much. But I appreciate your position a lot more since I just visited my first "showcase" event a couple of weeks ago: not all teams or players be on the big stage, so whatever exposure they do get is good.

Heard today that Markel McClendon (Holmes) is playing for All Ohio- Red 15u.

 

AOR is an EYBL team and has the Cunningham (I believe this is his last name) kid that goes to Wilmington and is an absolute stud. Possibly the best player in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana for that freshman class.

Walter his name is Cumberland and he is the real deal.

Walter his name is Cumberland and he is the real deal.

 

That's it...thanks.

 

And yea I've heard he is a beast. I'll be at a couple EYBL events this summer so I'm hoping to see him in person.

Heard today that Markel McClendon (Holmes) is playing for All Ohio- Red 15u.

 

AOR is an EYBL team and has the Cunningham (I believe this is his last name) kid that goes to Wilmington and is an absolute stud. Possibly the best player in Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana for that freshman class.

 

Why do they call it 15u & not Freshman/9th grade? He is 16.

Why do they call it 15u & not Freshman/9th grade? He is 16.

 

Have no clue. Someone more schooled on the AAU circuit might know better than myself.

 

Why do they call it 15u & not Freshman/9th grade? He is 16.

 

Here is how it used to be. AAU governs many sports. Age cutoff is Sept 1. A player can play 15U if they are not 16 by Sept 1 of the AAU year. Of course, exemptions used to matter but not on the high school years.

Have no clue. Someone more schooled on the AAU circuit might know better than myself.

Walter, I know a team used to able to have 2 maybe 3 kids older by a year. So a 15u team could have a couple 16 year olds on it. Not sure why they do that but that's how it was a few years back. Never understood it and made no sense to me then or now.

Here is how it used to be. AAU governs many sports. Age cutoff is Sept 1. A player can play 15U if they are not 16 by Sept 1 of the AAU year. Of course, exemptions used to matter but not on the high school years.

 

Thanks for the info. My kids play AAU. I always refer to it by age. I always think of exemptions as a kid with a late birthday or a hold back kid.