In 2009, NYCHoops.net wrote an article (Will iHoops takeover youth basketball) in which, iHoops, a collaboration between the NCAA and the NBA was attempting to monopolize AAU/Grassroots basketball. Nine years later, a variation on that theme has emerged that again threatens to end the impact of AAU/Grassroots basketball as we know it.
After the recent college scandal and FBI investigation that allegedly involved payoffs by college coaches and shoe companies to student-athletes and/or their parents, there was outrage and an abundance of bad press. As a result, the Commission on College Basketball (CCB), chaired by Condoleezza Rice was formed to investigate and offer solutions.
One proposed solution is to reduce the influence of AAU/Grassroots programs and their coaches and shift that power back to high school coaches. The National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) is expected to make recommendations to the CCB do just that.
The NABC proposal will prohibit Division I college coaches from attending AAU or Grassroot tournaments during the July live period. Instead, college coaches will be permitted to attend regional camps and an elite camp sponsored by the NCAA. In May and June, college coaches will also be allowed to frequent high school practices and open gyms. These changes are expected to be fast-tracked and implemented by next summer.
One of the main attractions of AAU and Grassroot events are the college recruiting opportunities. While the proposed changes don't affect Division II and Division III attendance, it will limit. Division I coaches attendance
The jury is out as to whether these changes address the problems of corruption or merely move the problems from one petri dish to another. Is this a sincere effort to change the culture or simply the reincarnation of iHoops?
