Mates,

This is ostensibly a basketball diary, specifically about college basketball recruiting and AAU participation, but we'll start at a different point:   Long ago, after the glaciers had receded and most houses had plumbing and electricity, there was a bar in Ann Arbor called Dooley's.  It was part of a chain and was pretty popular.  You could go there on St. Patrick's day and start drinking green beer @ 0600 hrs - I know this because I did that once and went to a 300-level Chem class later in the day.   Sometime in the '90's Dooley's got shut down by the Liquor Control Commission for, unsurprisingly, serving underage drinkers.  And in it's place was born Scorekeepers, affectionately known as 'Skeeps' to those of you who have ever been there.  Skeeps was apparently a regular hang-out for our former All B10 center, one Hunter Dickinson. 

Last weekend I was in Ann Arbor with our youngest daughter who plays AAU hoops.  It was the same tournament that Harbaugh's daughter was in, and it was held at many different facilities because of it's size.  I wrote a diary about AAU sports in general sometime last year.  AAU hoops has been the province my dear Mgowife, but this past weekend I am the one who took the roadtrip and had a great 'daddy-daughter' weekend which included a ton of hoops, some great chow, and even a movie (see GOtG3 thread, below).  But going to the games and being on the floor gave a new perspective.  

College Coaches and the Importance of AAU Hoops

College coaches have at least as hard of a time attending high school hoops games for recruiting purposes as do football coaches and for the same reason, the seasons 100% overlap.  If you've seen the front page posts from guys like Matt EM, you will frequently see video highlights of a given player at what looks like a high school hoops court, but with a different set-up - the stands are rolled back, there are other games going on at the same facility, and it is a bustling atmosphere, to say the least.   

The coaches can attend these and be completely focused on the potential recruits since there are no games for their college to interfere.  You will see a few around each court, usually wearing something like a golf shirt that has their college logo on it, maybe with a notebook in their hand.  As I have mentioned before, the proper etiquette is to not approach them, don't engage in conversation, and if you pass by one that you might know, you simply say 'Hi' and keep walking.  They have work to do - there are literally hundreds and sometimes thousands of players at a given tournament, there are multiple brackets in which the teams are placed, multiple venues for the games, and with what is called 'bracket' play, you have to keep track on the fly because, for instance, if a team you want to watch just won their game a 10:30, they might have another one suddenly set in an hour or two, and it might not be at the facility you're at.  They are hustling, let them do their job. 

And it bears repeating, AAU season is more important for the players in terms of recruiting than their high school season - much more.  Some player opt out of their high school teams completely and sadly, our dear daughter is considering this given that her coach is a nightmare and has driven many players away.  It may be that daughter will have her offer list, make her pick, and skip the senior high school season.   Its a shame, too, since she loves basketball every bit as much as our boys love football.  We'll see. 

AAU Families   

The AAU families span the spectrum of economic circumstances.  It is a very interesting mix, and as you might imagine, they tend to be v-e-r-y involved.  I sat next to one set of parents last week for another team and the dad was non-stop talk, ref comments, things for his daughter to do or that she should've been doing.  Non-stop.  In general though the parents are pretty well-behaved and knowledgeable about the game.  You can find some wild brawls on the internet but I'd guess that is extremely rare. 

Referees and the AAU Game

An AAU game is completely different than your normal high school game in so many ways. The intensity and physicality is off the scale.  Typically we might complain about so many calls in a given game but in AAU ball you have earn your foul, and I do mean earn it. There are no ticky-tack calls, loose balls are like a rugby scrum, and nobody whines about it.  In a way, it makes the game easier to ref and the game flows much, much better.  You can't go all '90's Pistons Bad Boys', but you can play defense.  Also, the offensive game flows much better.  The kids are there to play and to shoot, they run their sets and boom, shot goes up.  

On the whole I thought the refereeing was excellent and even-handed.  Refs in general take a lot of heat, but in this context they did great.  The mantra is 'Let them play' and man, they let them play.  The game are very enjoyable and the pace of the games is not the least of reasons. 

As to the games themselves, they play two 20 minute halves, the last 4 minutes of the second half is stop time if the gap in score is 20 pts or less.  Some tournaments have the last 2 minutes of each half go stop time. 

I am Skeep  

I'm the football dad, dear wife handles girls hoops.  She knows the coach, the kids, and most of the parents.  I am tabla rasa and before the first game (@ 0830hrs, I might add) I go and introduce myself to our coach and we chat for a while.  He's a boys high school coach, turns out a really good guy, played football and basketball as a younger person and has coached hoops for 20 years.  We hit it off.   I am on the floor because I have been tasked by dear wife to film every highlight so that when I get home she can do her 'Momager' job and comb through all the video, put the best together in a shore highlight film, and send it out the cyber-world for recruiting.  

But then, about a minute before game time, coach finds out that his regular scorer isn't there and he needs a scorer.  He looks at me and asks if I could fill in.  My response is 'Uh, sure, ah...what do I do?'  Some of you may have done this before, some may be quite experienced and say, 'Ah, nothing to it. Any idiot can do it', but I'm not just any idiot, I am a champion idiot.  So coach shows me the scorer sheet, it has all manner of lines, fouls, points, total fouls, score, and columns simply there to confuse me.  I know it's a trap.  But immediately the ref comes over and has the ball in his hand and say, 'Ready to go?  Great' and turns and blows the whistle and the other ref does the jump ball.   And just like that, I am Skeep. 

It's easy to chirp from the cheap seats, but it's a whole 'nother matter when you are the one who has to have it 100% correct and in real-time.  You are focused on the game.  You are marking player fouls, team fouls, player points, team points, turning that arrow-thingy, and the game is moving faster than you think.    It's not 'rocket surgery' but you have to have your head in the game and make exactly zero mistakes.  It gets easier as the game goes on.  The timekeeper next to me is an experienced hand a good dude.  It all worked out with no controversies or problems.  Whew.   And I did it the next game.  But the game after that, I operated the clock.  Spartan Bob might be sent to Hades, but I have to tell you, when the game is on the line and fractions of seconds matter, it's harder than you think to hit those buttons in the exact time that you should. 

All in all, a really enjoyable weekend.  Daughter's team lost in the championship game but after so many games in 2 day period, in a way you just aren't that concerned about the outcome.  Great time with daughter, great recruiting, and now, I am not a video guy, I am Skeep.

XM