See, I'm not and this is stuff I don't know. That is not great.
Economics of AAU and Shoe Companies in Recruiting
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See, I'm not and this is stuff I don't know. That is not great.
Just guessing here, but I wonder if it has as much to do with color as the school?... when Nike introduces a new basketball shoe do they start with the more common red/black/blue colors so they can maximize sales to high school basketball teams & there schools.
At the end of the day, it seems like Nike would want Illinois in there newest shoes to help sell them as well, so guessing it is more a question of how quickly they can roll out different colors.
The Dukes, Kentuckys, Oregons etc will get player exclusives.
http://solecollector.com/news/2016/08/duke-nike-kd-9-pe
This is Kevin Durant's new signature. It came out earlier this summer. We were just recently outfitted with Kevin Durant's signature sneaker from LAST summer, 2015. For what it's worth, Michigan State was wearing that sneaker all of last year. So it's really a matter of how much a priority we are as a program in Nike's eyes.
There's also no real reason why we can't get a navy/royal team colorway in this season's rollout of performance basketball sneakers. Alas, they're still wearing models from 2014 & 2015, and I don't presume it's for preference's sake.
That cannot happen.
Doyel: Why did a Mr. Basketball candidate choose prep school? Seriously, I’m asking
This story involves the often complicated relationship between high school and AAU. It involves a sneaker company. But I’ll start with a former NBA player named Gary Trent, whose son — Gary Jr. — is one of the top recruits in the Class of 2017.
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2016/09/06/paul-scruggs-leave-southport-calif-prep-school/89911066/?hootPostID=9a0fca8350e479ada84cd446274c7bb7
This story involves the often complicated relationship between high school and AAU. It involves a sneaker company. But I’ll start with a former NBA player named Gary Trent, whose son — Gary Jr. — is one of the top recruits in the Class of 2017.
http://www.indystar.com/story/sports/columnists/gregg-doyel/2016/09/06/paul-scruggs-leave-southport-calif-prep-school/89911066/?hootPostID=9a0fca8350e479ada84cd446274c7bb7
Interesting and confusing frankly. Ultimately, I'm not sure what the point is either. Elite young athletes are often faced with life-changing decisions about whether they want to commit to a pro development path, or continue as a (somewhat) normal student. Looks like they chose the former, and we probably won't know the full story as to why. It's his choice, as far as I'm concerned.
Breaking News, Indy Star readers: absolutely no one gives a damn about winning Indiana Mr. Basketball or an Indiana state title anymore. Go back to your peach baskets.
The fact is, Paul Scruggs hasn't been a normal student since he was in short pants.
Tevo
- Wilmette, IL
Doesn't he still wear short pants?
Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
I'm not sure why the writer brought up the UA sponsorship, though. Did the AAU team change sponsors?
And to boot, "Pro Prep" is an Adidas school. Connection seems loose and / or odd.
http://www.prolificprep.org/AboutOverview.html
And to boot, "Pro Prep" is an Adidas school. Connection seems loose and / or odd.
http://www.prolificprep.org/AboutOverview.html
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Epsilon
M tipping over
- Pdx
One interesting thing to note is that if you click on the link to G3 Grind, it goes to a Twitter account, linked below, that identifies the program as an official member of the Under Armour Association. I didn't think much about it before but these AAU programs aren't just "sponsored" but are members of the shoe companies' associations. Interesting.
https://mobile.twitter.com/g3grind
https://mobile.twitter.com/g3grind
You sir, could not be more wrong.
"No one" is wrong. "No one with NBA talent and aspirations" would be more accurate.
icengineer
- Southern Illinois
There is not a state in the union that has a more rabid HS basketball culture than Indiana. I'm going to have to side with FiveStar on this one. Sure you can single out individual players at the top of the heap and say that they don't care, but in general, I think not.
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I can agree with that. My dad was a high school coach in Indiana. I have still never felt an atmosphere like those early round Indiana sectional games where 6 schools are playing at one sight and fans go crazy. Then to see what seems like entire towns supporting their 1a school at semi states. That should be on everyone's bucket list.
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Harsh. And erroneous.
I can take you to 40 grade schools withing 20 miles of the house here and you can talk to a few hundred kids who dream of just making an Indiana All Star team and most of those would aspire to Mr Basketball. . Hate to tell you guys like Jeff Teague, Eric Gordon, Gordon Hayward, Gary Harris, Zack Irvin and many more dreamt of being Mr Basketball....even now in the era of class basketball there are dreams of making the All Star team that plays (make that BEATS) Kentucky and aspirations of wearing the Number 1 jersey are still alive.
If you are not from here, you would not understand and trying to explain it brings Henlein's quote regarding teaching a pig to sing to mind. Kids here care.
Enjoyed the rant https://soundcloud.com/dandakich/090916-prepschoolbeatdown-friday-beatdown
Maybe it was because I was from the "region", which might as well be Illinois to those south of highway 30, but this is overblown. If it mattered they wouldn't flock to La Lumiere or out of state prep schools. It's fun to romanticize this stuff - and I don't doubt this line of thinking was true 20 years ago - but Scruggs is the latest in a long line to turn his nose to idea that these traditions carry much weight today.
Also, Dakich is an idiot. Always has been, always will be. What point did he prove in that interview? What point did he even attempt to prove? Example number 999 of his own hard headed bias getting in the way of any rational thought.
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IlliniInOK
- no longer in OK! Centralia, IL
It appears that there are two subsets of people/players that are being referenced here. The top of the top tier players like Scruggs, certainly care more about their college (and hopeful NBA) future and getting as ready for that as possible, thus making decisions to go to prep schools like LaLu.
The overwhelming majority of HSBB players though, do care about things like Mr BB and going to state. I would also say most fans in the state probably care about it too, just like fans everywhere else who give a lot more weight to tradition and rivalries and the like.
The overwhelming majority of HSBB players though, do care about things like Mr BB and going to state. I would also say most fans in the state probably care about it too, just like fans everywhere else who give a lot more weight to tradition and rivalries and the like.
I'm gonna have to fully disagree with you on the region. One of the main gripes throughout the whole region was the lack of a state champion until west side won in 01. I don't know how old you are, but the region was electric as hell then and when EC central won in 07. Munster is dying for a state champion, especially when you consider how good some of their teams have been, but can't make it out of the loaded sectional. My dad was also a coach at Gavit. Before he was there, they won 0-1 game per year. When the staff he was on came in, they went to the regionals and the whole community was already talking about state after they dominated the sectional. The region is very much into these things. The only thing I might say is maybe the region pretends not to care because they haven't had a lot of state level success and acting like they don't care eases the pain. Yes I'm from Illinois, but my dad went to EC Washington and won a state title, so my formative basketball years were spent across the border.
This is kind of the way I look at it too. The upper echelon of player cares more about college and professional aspirations. The 4 and 5 star players and their families fit here. Sure they care about state, and Mr basketball, but it's not a driving force in their decision making. They have bigger fish to fry. The average high school player and fans (so like, the other 99+%) absolutely care, and are crazy about it.
Sure, there are exceptions in each group.
Let me ask you this - Who's the most accomplished basketball player from the region since then? Not rhetorical.
I'll give you a hint: he didn't finish his career in Indiana.
Which is exactly the point S&C was making, and the point Dakich is completely missing.
The last 2 I can remember, and I've been gone a while, are Glenn Robinson III who did finish his career in the region at Lake Central and Dejuan Marrero who I believe left Bowman after problems at his school about accreditation and they fired the coach and all types of crazy stuff. I'm interested to know who you're talking about.
Mitch McGary
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