The AAU state tournaments will be in NKY this year. Who all will be attending and at what level. Will this affect turnout not being centrally located in the state?

I am anticipating very low turnout.

The Gatorade Association championship tourney is being held in Lex this year.

There are a couple very good teams playing in the 8th grade Boys Division.

IMO everyone is playing for second place in the 8th grade Boys Division. I don't believe Manimal Gold out of Louisville will even get challenged.

IMO everyone is playing for second place in the 8th grade Boys Division. I don't believe Manimal Gold out of Louisville will even get challenged.

 

I believe a few kids went over to the Manimal Elite squad who is playing the Midwest Circuit this year.

I know this Manimal Elite Gold team was not apart of the circuit last year but is this year. By in large they pretty much have the same team back from last year. They played a loaded schedule last year and was very successful. They will be tough out!

I know this Manimal Elite Gold team was not apart of the circuit last year but is this year. By in large they pretty much have the same team back from last year. They played a loaded schedule last year and was very successful. They will be tough out!

 

Well they just beat NKy Kings who is a very good team by 30, so maybe the Maninal team is loaded again.

No disprespect to the Kings,Matrix,Prime but there is no team even close to D1 in this 8th grade state except Manimal.. The other top KY teams in this grade are playing in real tournaments! Unfortunately the state tournament has zero interest anymore - very unfortunate because there are a lot of great teams in Kentucky!

The AAU state tournament has been down the last few years at the 8th grade and below levels. This is a shame because it was always a very fun and exciting weekend that teams used to look forward too. I firmly believe this is due to the new AAU rules and the addition of age based and grade based divisions. It waters down the entries. I am a big supporter of age based at the younger levels. Not that I agree with the 9/1 date specifically , but I do prefer apples to apples until high school. That being said, you have these teams that are built to participate on all of the circuits where some, not all, but some do allow for players to be a great deal older and do not qualify to play aau certified events. You will still have your elite players not attending, but I think if the rules were adjusted some you could get a much better draw of teams. You should notice that once the high school aau events begin, a lot of the better teams will show up. Even in a watered down tournament, there were still some very good teams at the state tournament this past weekend and some very good games were played. I think teams are really missing out on a great experience by not attending.

It's unfortunate but no one is playing actual AAU. Most teams/directors and especially parents really don't even understand that there is an actual AAU organization. It's amazing the parents I talk to that think their kid has been playing AAU basketball and they have only been playing in a league that says it's an AAU league. AAU was a great organization back in the day it's unfortunate what's happened to AAU basketball over the past 10 years.