Must play AAU and not other HS sports to make basketball team?

Yappi

Yappi

Go Buckeyes
This is just a hypothetical and not specific about any basketball school or coach in Ohio.

How would the administrations at any Ohio schools deal with a coach that insisted his players had to play AAU and not to play any school sports in the Spring? Would a basketball coach have that much power over the school athletics to pull that off? Would the administration of any schools allow that type of control where one coach could deny athletes to other coaches in the same school system?

For example, a group of players were successful the year before as Freshmen (no varsity players) and played baseball for the school instead of AAU that the coach requested. The next year, the coach cut those players or encouraged them not to tryout because there would be no space for them while lesser players would make the team for committing to the sport at the expense of other school sports. Is this a reality/possibility in Ohio?
 
 
As unfortunate as it is to say, I could see this happening at some schools. And how administrators handle it would likely be contingent on how overt the coach was with his "AAU or else" rule.
 
I could see it being possible at the larger schools, but the smaller rural schools need their athletes to play all they can to usually be competitive. Only 2 per school allowed on an AAU team in Ohio for basketball. I believe the rule in Ohio for sports is half a starting lineup, which is why basketball is 2. He'd have to have his kids spread out across multiple teams.
 
A coach taking that stance and the administration allowing that to happen would be akin to blowing off 9 toes on your foot with the rationale of "I still have one left".

You'd have a tough time getting any coach worth a damn in any other sport to even apply at your school.
 
Last edited:
It wouldn't be possible to pull this off at most schools below D1. Numbers are already way down at a lot of places as it is, with freshman teams starting to go the way of the dodo in a lot of smaller leagues. If a coach tried this stunt he'd have to face the reality of having less than 15 kids in the high school program if certain kids opted to still participate in basketball or track.
 
Another interesting question is what happens if AAU shifts its seasons forward? Do single sport players just forego high school teams to play in more competitive, marquee events.
 
HoopEnthusiast said:
Another interesting question is what happens if AAU shifts its seasons forward? Do single sport players just forego high school teams to play in more competitive, marquee events.
Click to expand...
Main issue though is college coaches would not favor this. Not because HS ball is superior to AAU (it’s not), but because supplanting high school hoops in the winter with AAU is going to blow a hole in the recruiting pool — primary point of HS ball for the country’s best is to keep them on the path that ensures meeting academic eligibility requirements. Even at the lower NCAA levels, e.g. D3, it requires talent and coaches aren’t going to pursue kids that have no shot of getting in grades-wise.
 
Yappi said:
This is just a hypothetical and not specific about any basketball school or coach in Ohio.

How would the administrations at any Ohio schools deal with a coach that insisted his players had to play AAU and not to play any school sports in the Spring? Would a basketball coach have that much power over the school athletics to pull that off? Would the administration of any schools allow that type of control where one coach could deny athletes to other coaches in the same school system?

For example, a group of players were successful the year before as Freshmen (no varsity players) and played baseball for the school instead of AAU that the coach requested. The next year, the coach cut those players or encouraged them not to tryout because there would be no space for them while lesser players would make the team for committing to the sport at the expense of other school sports. Is this a reality/possibility in Ohio?
Click to expand...
The scenario you give is certainly a possibility. More than likely though the Coach would be Fired if this became a reality. This would cause many Student Athletes to leave the School I would think to seek other opportunities. I don’t see any AD or Parents in Ohio tolerating this from any HS Coach for longer than 1 Season at most.
 
The Dock said:
Main issue though is college coaches would not favor this. Not because HS ball is superior to AAU (it’s not), but because supplanting high school hoops in the winter with AAU is going to blow a hole in the recruiting pool — primary point of HS ball for the country’s best is to keep them on the path that ensures meeting academic eligibility requirements. Even at the lower NCAA levels, e.g. D3, it requires talent and coaches aren’t going to pursue kids that have no shot of getting in grades-wise.
Click to expand...
Great point. I was curious what thoughts may come up. I didn't think a lot about it. I know AAU is into youth fall football so was just thinking what happens if they try to expand their reach in other areas.
 
There are coaches who have "voluntary" open gyms in the summer but they know who attends and who doesn't. Bob Arnzen once commented that one of his best basketball players was also a great baseball pitcher. He didn't touch a basketball from the end of the season until the first day of practice. It didn't matter. He was still a starter.
 
This always backfires. If a player decides to specialize it has to be 100% his choice. If not, they will resent it. However, just as wrong is the football coach who continually badgers a kid into playing. Football coaches act like encouraging specialization is the worst thing imaginable, but they act like it’s their right to never let up on a kid who doesn’t want to play.
 
Yappi said:
This is just a hypothetical and not specific about any basketball school or coach in Ohio.

How would the administrations at any Ohio schools deal with a coach that insisted his players had to play AAU and not to play any school sports in the Spring? Would a basketball coach have that much power over the school athletics to pull that off? Would the administration of any schools allow that type of control where one coach could deny athletes to other coaches in the same school system?
Click to expand...
This is illegal as explicitly called out in OHSAA regulations. There was an Ohio boys basketball program (either D3 or D4) whose own website listed the demands of the team, some of which were not playing other sports and requiring participation in AAU basketball. Once someone brought it to the OHSAA's attention, the website's verbiage coincidentally changed. Anything that makes out-of-season activities a requirement to be part of the team is illegal.
 
We had a basketball coach like this once- our kid ran track and cross country despite the coach wanting them to play only basketball in the off season to “improve”. Kind of funny though- kid ended up improving dramatically as a basketball player because they never got tired, could run down their opponent on the floor on fast breaks and hustled the entire game. Earned all conference/region/city etc honors in both sports and chose to run in college.
 
I coached football and baseball at a school that most consider a "basketball school" and this was 100% happening. This even trickled into the fall season. Many guys that should have been playing football were not doing so because of basketball. I can guarantee this is happening at plenty of schools.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top