Amateur Athletic Union

So you're seeing Tommy John surgeries at age 14 in kids.

You're seeing things that never would have happened back in the day when these specific, you know, AAU teams and travel teams and things weren't around.

So I think in terms of What's good? There's a multiple variety of things that kids can play.

I think we're being exposed to a lot of things in sports that before in the U.S., I know when I was younger, wasn't shown as much.

It remains to be seen in some other things.

But in basketball, because every kid, when they're playing AAU, they're playing these summer circuits, they're playing a pro-style game.

I have two boys that play ball, and I get so frustrated.

when they will drive the ball inside and they have a great chance to get fouled or make a layup, and they will kick that ball out 24 feet from the basket and the guy will chunk one.

I get that that's not how Tommy Lloyd does it.

But when you see Aiden Diggs posted up in a Kentucky uniform and you see Aiden Diggs posted up next to Cal, and then I'm hearing from people in the SEC side of things that like, damn, there's a little bit of starting smoke towards DeMarcus Henry to Arkansas and his AAU teammate Aiden Diggs joining him.

So like...

Do the whole, it's old school.

came on, you said, I mean, listen.

We all know that basketball, especially AAU, foreign basketball players, Will Wade, all of the above, it has been.

If you're getting fired as the general manager of a college basketball program these days, it's got to be pretty bad.

Wouldn't you all agree? I agree 100%.

And it is so many things happening right now.

We got... committing because we got people making commitments we got signing day coming up signing day coming up if you in Texas high school season just started and I'm super excited for that we got the younger kids trying to figure out what camps to go to what to do and y'all we are in where are we in we are in November we're in November October in October I don't know where we at right now but Some of y'all are making decisions for AAU teams.

It's like we start making decisions in October and November and December.

And I'm like, Lord, have mercy.

Like when I look at when I hear conversations of like other states and what they're doing, they already got their teams done.

I just feel like it's so hard.

Like, when we are in AAU time, like, AAU coaches don't want high school coaches doing nothing.

Not a nothing.

Hicks would win gold, but he was too sick to collect his medal.

A few years later, James Sullivan, the head of the Amateur Athletic Union, told runners, don't give in to the advice of drinking or eating while running a marathon.

Who the fuck's eating while running a marathon? Ron's running? Who the fuck's eating while running a marathon? That's acti- That's actively insi- Bro, are we having a pace car for Ron right now? We're gonna have a pace car.

What are you, fucking Kipchoge? What are we fucking running a marathon, dude? We're gonna have a pace car for the mile.

During this time, I was building my head coaching experience.

I was coaching club basketball, AAU, things of that nature.

And then from there, I was fortunate enough to get connected in the CBL.

So while I was an assistant with the University of Windsor, I was also an assistant coach in the CBL with the Hamilton Honey Badgers.

We've got a tremendous amount of youth and amateur participation.

The AAU tournament brings 6,000 teams into town, USA Volleyball, another 4,000 or 5,000 teams with their competition.

So to have this opportunity to have the national teams come and play, we negotiated early on the opportunity to make sure that Team USA started in Orlando.

So a minimum of three matches with Team USA.