David Stern and Myles Brand have no idea what a high school basketball player, who is trying to make a name for himself, needs to get noticed. Nor do they care. They only care about the best of the best, making money and protecting their turf.
That is how I interpret the new proposal just passed that will go into effect August 1. The proposal prohibits college coaches from viewing events that are not sponsored by state high school associations, prep school or junior college associations or the National Federation of High Schools. It means that all of the high exposure AAU events will not be seen by college coaches.
Stern and Brand did this to try and eliminate the AAU coach, but the events will still go on because players want to play. Brand said that it was important that all the key stakeholders be involved. What about the players themselves? I am not talking about the top level players who this is targeted for, but rather the guys who are still on the rise. Now they won’t be seen.
I am surprised that more mid-level and low-level coaches haven’t shown their outrage. Eliminating this valuable time means missing out on potential recruits and spending extra money that they may not have in the budget.
Sonny Vaccarro said it best, “who says they have the wisdom to make this decision? Suddenly the NCAA will pick and choose who to invite to camps and entities like the AAU won’t have a say at all.” This is similar the the NCAA Clearinghouse that was set up a few years ago. It was set up to take the burden off each individual’s admissions department and make academic guidelines consistent across the board. This in itself is a fallacy. Each school has it’s own mission. If a school like St. Francis College in New York has a mission to accept students from families that are first-timers in college, how can you make that the same as North Carolina that has a completely different mission?
Fast forward a few years and you see a huge money making bureaucracy built by the NCAA and sustained by kids and their families. The same will happen with recruiting camps and tournaments. Look for the NCAA to get more involved and dig into people’s pockets more. (Already, event organizers have to pay to have a coach certified as well as the event certified. Tell me why it should cost money.)
As a former coach who never coached at the highest level I can tell you that most rules are made for the top 5% by the top 5%. It’s the old golden rule, whoever has the gold makes the rules. In the end the ones who will be hurt the most are the kids – players looking for a scholarship that won’t get seen. Also, it means that coaches will make decision based on less information. That is not a good thing, either.
I believe there should be one dead month a year. August. Let all the other times be open to recruiting. Just like the old days.
Note: If the NBA is going to continue to use the NCAA as a farm system then the owners should pay to support it, just like they do in Major League Baseball.
