Perfect Practice

I believe the kid you may be talking about is Jack Stewart. He is a Junior to be from Highlands. He was playing for the NKY Bulldogs at the Grassroots Shootout. I saw him play in a couple of games. He played well. I agree with the "loyalty" concept. And, those Holmes kids are great basketball players and the KY Players are a good team. They should make some noise with a few other U17 teams this season.

Glad to hear this. Congrats to Vee Sanford!

Early, yet in full swing! Time for some basketball boys and girls.

I absolutely agree with you. As a coach, you should get into AAU specifically for the kids. If a coach gets recognized for helping kids, GREAT. But, it is about the young athletes. I would certainly hope that there arent to many coaches, or any at all that are doing it for the wrong reasons.

This is exactly what I'm trying to say! Kudos to you sir or ma'am. If your child plays for a good organization (i.e. SS sports, DSAS, I.E. etc), thats good. But, it doesnt guarantee or confirm exposure.

Also,it appears that some of the names on this list, are kids who may have played with this organization at one time or another, but not only this organization. But this list is somewhat impressive nonetheless. Kudos on getting that info.

This is fantastic news! Thank you. Congrats to those kids! But again, you are talking about 2 kids out of how many players in the entire organization. Just back to my point that, you DONT have to play for any specific organization to get recognition OR college scholarhsips. These kids just have to play to the best of their ability, and i do think that they should play in some of the bigger tournaments.

Just as SS sports may be a good program that offers kids opportunities so they can go to school for their education, smaller less well known teams may offer kids the same opportunity. Or, if kids play for SS sports so they can go to school for education THATS GREAT! But, those same kids could play for any other organization and have an opportunity to possibly do the same thing.

By no means am I trying to take "shots" at SS sports. I know they have a good program. Very good players. Some good coaches. However, I completely disagree that you must have a brand such as the SS to get team and player recognition. Kids from all around can compete. I applaud the SS for what they have been able to do. Especially the U17 teams. In my opinion, I think SS (McFarland) will be really, really good this year, after what I saw this weekend. Give McFarland some time, and he'll have them near unbeatable in my opinion.

I wasnt singling you out on this. Just stating this fact in general. Jody Demling is great. Has a wonderful blog. But, to know his blog, isnt knowing AAU basketball. Again, a statement in general. Which is where i think many get information. I think you have to watch the tournaments and see the games and the kids play. I didn't mean for it to sound that way.

I couldn't have said it better. I didnt say that any of these kids will get any recognition at all. But, a coach will target the big name tournamentd. If a team like the Bulldogs, Court, WKY Elite or whomever are playing in these bigger tournaments against your so-called "teams where elite players play", they will get to see teams like the non-branded teams give them their best shot. Whether an AAU team beats another AAU team is not on a coaches agenda either. A college coach wants to see the players play the game. Final score means nothing to no one except those teams and those affiliated with it. Branded organizations or local teams, doesnt matter. Compete in the big tournaments and you CAN gain recognition. Both for teams and players.

Completely incorrect in my opinion. College Coaches gravitate to the big name TOURNAMENTS. If any of these more local teams show up, any player or any team could get noticed. How could you not see that? And, if the NKY Bulldogs, WKY Elite, Charlotte Court, KY Players or anyone else play well, or have players that perform well against your so-called "big name organizations" then those players/teams will get noticed. If they didnt, then why not just have a tournament that only allows the 3 "big" organizations to play in it (DSAS, I.E. & Shining Stars). Well, simply because coaches and AAU tournament programs know that not all the great/good players want to play for those organizations.

These thoughts keep coming back to me. There seem to be a lot of Shining Stars fans on here. Wow. Thats good. I have no direct affiliation. Just a curious AAU fan. Question: If this (SS) is an elite group or team, where is Shanklin? Fants? Avery? Forrest? Stroud? Harrison? Barkesdale? Jeremiah Davis? Are the Shining Stars second rate compared to DSAS and Indy Elite organizations and team? And, if they are... dont guys like Schuette and Gibson leave to play wit DSAS or Indy Elite? Who is the last "BIG" name, or D-1 commited player to play with the Shining Stars? Just questions.

Hey played a lot this past weekend for I.E. 1 (U17). If he plays more U16, they also are the top level at U16. Bottom line is, that doesnt matter. He doesnt. So, if you have good players, you have good players. Whats on your jersey has little to no bearing.

To your point here (in the bold): Anyone can rattle off names from an AAU team. Anyone that knows regional AAU basketball has heard of the NKY Bulldogs. If i remember correctly, they made some noise late last year at the Hoops nationals tournament in louisville. They gave the Royal Family team (with josh stroud, another one of your big names) a run for their money in the tournament championship game. Jake Flesch and Matt Trammel shut Josh Stroud down in that specific game. Didnt even have 10 pts. To another of my points... Anyone that knows regional AAU basketball has heard of Bobby Stauffer, Matt Trammel, and Jake Flesch. If you havent... How much do you really know? Knowing Jody Demlings blog doesnt mean you know AAU Basketball. Sure, I have heard of Kellen Smith, Pawsett, and King... I know AAU basketball. But, just because I know their names, does this mean that they will play at the next level? Absolutely not. So your notion that just because you play with a Shining Stars organization means that your going to get recognition is premature and incorrect. Also, you named maybe 5 guys from the Shining Stars, where are the other 5 or 6, buried on the bench? The Shining Stars are a trend, and just like any regional AAU team, they would get blasted by the DSAS. Also, if the guys like zollo, shanklin and such played at U16, Indy Elite 1 would beat up on them as well. Chris Harrison and Indy Elite Team Indiana beat them this past weekend. They had no defensive answer for Harrison! Anyways, you must remember, these kids are Sophomores. 2 years is ALOT of time to get MUCH better, or get stegnant. All of these sophomores (U16), whether they play for the Shining Stars, NKY Bulldogs, DSAS, I.E. 1, or I.E. Team Indiana have time. Lastly, you blast the Bulldogs continuously, BUT, i kind of admire a team that comes out of nowhere to compete. These kids must be homegrown. They must feel, and their parents must feel, that the coaching and organization of the team is the way to go. If you can play ball, you can play ball. A brand doesnt matter. The Shining Stars had to get started somewhere. Maybe the same will be said for the NKY Bulldogs in 5 years. Lastly, at the grassroots shootout, the Shining Stars Pittman team must have had 10 or 11 guys. Two of those 10 or 11 stood out; Scott Schuette and Jordan Gilbert, really great players. Lets keep the facts straight. You cant ASSUME that a brand means recognition, thats mere stupidity.