You see a man running full speed at you. It feels like for a brief second, the crowd goes silent. He can smell your fear as he leaps up, cocks it back, and posters you. When the high school season is over, some players aren’t ready to hang up their sneakers. So they turn to the Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), a fast-paced, high-energy stage, facing elite opponents.
“There’s better competition and that pushes us to compete at a higher level,” sophomore Dean Hyatt said.
However, it’s more than just highlights and intense matchups. AAU gives players a taste of basketball outside of their school league. The gym is packed, the lights are brighter, and every possession counts. Some players travel to different states, build team chemistry and try out new playing styles, all trying to gain exposure and compete at a higher level. They have to face different defenses, new challenges, and they have to quickly adapt to the new environment.
“I feel like in AAU there are more people and scouts,” junior Cohen Oster said. “But I gotta show people what I can do.”
That extra effort in the offseason from AAU transfers to the school season. Players find themselves more prepared and ready for the school season with AAU training.
“Once me and my team were playing against Troy and I had to guard one of their best players and I feel like my AAU defensive drills helped me to guard him and helped us win the game,” Aiden Johnson, junior at Lutheran said.
Even though AAU helps a lot in school games, they’re not the same. There is a big difference between play style and pace. Learning different ways to play and adjusting to different tempos helps improve a player’s game.
“In AAU, we don’t really run plays and it’s just up and down,” Hyatt said. “While school is slower and more set plays.”
That ability to switch gears from fast-paced games, to structured team play, not only improves their skills, but also their IQ. For many, AAU isn’t just competition, it’s preparation for the next level of basketball.
“I would say joining helps a lot and just be yourself and have fun,” Johnson said.
