Fall 8th grade AAU teams

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

I am "insane" ! I drive my DS (under 12 years old) from NoVA to PG county twice a week to practice 1.5-2 hours. We started this routine a year ago. The coaching, development, team work and camaraderie is amazing and worth the hassle of driving through DC at rush hour! Unlike most of the NoVA teams, the PG teams are year-round, playing leagues and tournaments. DS improved significantly and now plays for a top tier AAU team.

Of course the downside is a huge time suck. Little time for other sports or swim lessons. But the upside is less time for YouTube and gaming because dinner, homework and reading take up the rest of his evening time twice a week.

OP, figure out what your family and your DS are looking for in a team and your time commitments. Some teams travel and expect you to sign on to weekend trips. And basketball is the number one priority for most serious coaches--no skipping practices once a week for soccer or baseball!

My kid played for a couple of AAU clubs in PC County. For our not-very-aggressive kid, what we really valued was that DS’s teams there explicitly taught aggressiveness and contact, which two teams he played for in MoCo did not. One popular drill was to roll a ball out onto the floor and tell two kids “go”. They’d race to the ball, and whoever came up with it was on offense for one point. At end of the drill, kids kids with less than X points ran. Kids did it in good fun, laughing and joking, but they dove for the loose ball and played hard. There were a lot of drills that taught kids to hit the floor, to play through contact and to not worry about being fouled. It totally changed how my kid played.

This is a really commonplace basketball drill...my kids did this in rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

I am "insane" ! I drive my DS (under 12 years old) from NoVA to PG county twice a week to practice 1.5-2 hours. We started this routine a year ago. The coaching, development, team work and camaraderie is amazing and worth the hassle of driving through DC at rush hour! Unlike most of the NoVA teams, the PG teams are year-round, playing leagues and tournaments. DS improved significantly and now plays for a top tier AAU team.

Of course the downside is a huge time suck. Little time for other sports or swim lessons. But the upside is less time for YouTube and gaming because dinner, homework and reading take up the rest of his evening time twice a week.

OP, figure out what your family and your DS are looking for in a team and your time commitments. Some teams travel and expect you to sign on to weekend trips. And basketball is the number one priority for most serious coaches--no skipping practices once a week for soccer or baseball!

DP. It’s not the same, trust me.
My kid played for a couple of AAU clubs in PC County. For our not-very-aggressive kid, what we really valued was that DS’s teams there explicitly taught aggressiveness and contact, which two teams he played for in MoCo did not. One popular drill was to roll a ball out onto the floor and tell two kids “go”. They’d race to the ball, and whoever came up with it was on offense for one point. At end of the drill, kids kids with less than X points ran. Kids did it in good fun, laughing and joking, but they dove for the loose ball and played hard. There were a lot of drills that taught kids to hit the floor, to play through contact and to not worry about being fouled. It totally changed how my kid played.

This is a really commonplace basketball drill...my kids did this in rec.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

I am "insane" ! I drive my DS (under 12 years old) from NoVA to PG county twice a week to practice 1.5-2 hours. We started this routine a year ago. The coaching, development, team work and camaraderie is amazing and worth the hassle of driving through DC at rush hour! Unlike most of the NoVA teams, the PG teams are year-round, playing leagues and tournaments. DS improved significantly and now plays for a top tier AAU team.

Of course the downside is a huge time suck. Little time for other sports or swim lessons. But the upside is less time for YouTube and gaming because dinner, homework and reading take up the rest of his evening time twice a week.

OP, figure out what your family and your DS are looking for in a team and your time commitments. Some teams travel and expect you to sign on to weekend trips. And basketball is the number one priority for most serious coaches--no skipping practices once a week for soccer or baseball!

My kid played for a couple of AAU clubs in PC County. For our not-very-aggressive kid, what we really valued was that DS’s teams there explicitly taught aggressiveness and contact, which two teams he played for in MoCo did not. One popular drill was to roll a ball out onto the floor and tell two kids “go”. They’d race to the ball, and whoever came up with it was on offense for one point. At end of the drill, kids kids with less than X points ran. Kids did it in good fun, laughing and joking, but they dove for the loose ball and played hard. There were a lot of drills that taught kids to hit the floor, to play through contact and to not worry about being fouled. It totally changed how my kid played.

This is a really commonplace basketball drill...my kids did this in rec.

DP. It’s not the same. Trust me.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

In my friend’s case if they’re good enough, 8th grade is so important for high school recruiting. Driving to MD 2 nights a week which isn’t bad if you’re coming from Alexandria to Ft Washington and the exposure of that team and coach’s connections can get you recruited for a top 5 private with generous aid.

Most of Nova isn't tiny Alexandria. No one sane is driving from Loudoun, Vienna, Centreville, Gainesville etc to PG for basketball practice. A kid who is good enough to play with a top HS team will get recruited whether he plays for the Stars (their rising 8th team is not good BTW, OP) or with a bunch of PG superstars. And, OP never said that was her goal. It is nearly impossible to make the best teams. She should aim lower.

Sorry that’s just not true. There is nobody getting recruited from any nova bball team other than DNA Elite. And two of those recent 8th graders are the ones I mentioned that are already getting offers from D1. One even getting talked about that has NBA potential. There may be some kids that only play travel in Nova that end up at a private school, but it’s not because they were recruited.

The point is sure, you can play for the Stars or any Rec team in Nova. But if your kid has D1 potential, you actually do need to play for an elite team and they almost all practice on PG. You def want to have kid try out for one of the Nova PYBL winter teams. Follow PYBL on IG to track when they’re having tryouts. They are in middle of summer league now. Fairfax team is pretty good. If kid lights it up on PYBL winter, and parents reach out to high school coaches, they will come to watch kid and could get recruited that way. Our kid was recruited for one school strictly from PYBL winter league and other schools through AAU on one team mentioned here.

Lol @ NBA potential. I don’t think see that. Many of the rising 8th graders are reclasses. One is a double reclass. DNA is a good organization, but there are other teams in the area where the kid can get good work. Try out for a few teams and choose the best fit. There are plenty in this area. I also don’t like one of the Family Over Fame coaches, however people have said good things about the organization.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

In my friend’s case if they’re good enough, 8th grade is so important for high school recruiting. Driving to MD 2 nights a week which isn’t bad if you’re coming from Alexandria to Ft Washington and the exposure of that team and coach’s connections can get you recruited for a top 5 private with generous aid.

Most of Nova isn't tiny Alexandria. No one sane is driving from Loudoun, Vienna, Centreville, Gainesville etc to PG for basketball practice. A kid who is good enough to play with a top HS team will get recruited whether he plays for the Stars (their rising 8th team is not good BTW, OP) or with a bunch of PG superstars. And, OP never said that was her goal. It is nearly impossible to make the best teams. She should aim lower.

Hence why there is nobody from Gainesville being recruited to play at top private school. It’s fine, that kid can play for Nova 94 and go to tier local high school. Just didn’t know what level the OP’s kid is on.

Nobody from Gainesville? You don’t know what your are talking about. PVI has a big man from Gainesville right now. They also have a rising 7th grader who can go wherever he wants. The kid plays for the Gainesville travel team right now

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

I am "insane" ! I drive my DS (under 12 years old) from NoVA to PG county twice a week to practice 1.5-2 hours. We started this routine a year ago. The coaching, development, team work and camaraderie is amazing and worth the hassle of driving through DC at rush hour! Unlike most of the NoVA teams, the PG teams are year-round, playing leagues and tournaments. DS improved significantly and now plays for a top tier AAU team.

Of course the downside is a huge time suck. Little time for other sports or swim lessons. But the upside is less time for YouTube and gaming because dinner, homework and reading take up the rest of his evening time twice a week.

OP, figure out what your family and your DS are looking for in a team and your time commitments. Some teams travel and expect you to sign on to weekend trips. And basketball is the number one priority for most serious coaches--no skipping practices once a week for soccer or baseball!

My kid played for a couple of AAU clubs in PC County. For our not-very-aggressive kid, what we really valued was that DS’s teams there explicitly taught aggressiveness and contact, which two teams he played for in MoCo did not. One popular drill was to roll a ball out onto the floor and tell two kids “go”. They’d race to the ball, and whoever came up with it was on offense for one point. At end of the drill, kids kids with less than X points ran. Kids did it in good fun, laughing and joking, but they dove for the loose ball and played hard. There were a lot of drills that taught kids to hit the floor, to play through contact and to not worry about being fouled. It totally changed how my kid played.

This is a really commonplace basketball drill...my kids did this in rec.

Sure, I hear this. What I’m saying is that the PG county AAU teams my kids played for did heavy contact stuff just about every practice - the drill I mentioned, the NBA drill (3 kids in the paint, no fouls called, play to 6), layups with two coaches banging them with karate pads, etc. Your kid’s rec team sounds good — I did this when coaching rec, but my kid’s AAU teams in MoCo never did contact drills. My kid was a shooter and good for an open dunk or outback, but struggled to finish when fouled or to being the ball up the court when being guarded by a point guard. He learned to be a 6’5 » kid who could play point guard and not have the ball stripped or lose it when fouled. It was really good for him. The thing I liked most was the they didn’t assume that by the time a kid is a high school freshman, he knows all he’ll ever learn about ball handling or dealing with contact. The teams he played for assumed that kids can learn and get better at almost anything except height. I really like that growth mindset.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why would anyone want to drive to practice in PG county multiple times a week when they live in Nova? Thats insane.

In my friend’s case if they’re good enough, 8th grade is so important for high school recruiting. Driving to MD 2 nights a week which isn’t bad if you’re coming from Alexandria to Ft Washington and the exposure of that team and coach’s connections can get you recruited for a top 5 private with generous aid.

Most of Nova isn't tiny Alexandria. No one sane is driving from Loudoun, Vienna, Centreville, Gainesville etc to PG for basketball practice. A kid who is good enough to play with a top HS team will get recruited whether he plays for the Stars (their rising 8th team is not good BTW, OP) or with a bunch of PG superstars. And, OP never said that was her goal. It is nearly impossible to make the best teams. She should aim lower.

Sorry that’s just not true. There is nobody getting recruited from any nova bball team other than DNA Elite. And two of those recent 8th graders are the ones I mentioned that are already getting offers from D1. One even getting talked about that has NBA potential. There may be some kids that only play travel in Nova that end up at a private school, but it’s not because they were recruited.

The point is sure, you can play for the Stars or any Rec team in Nova. But if your kid has D1 potential, you actually do need to play for an elite team and they almost all practice on PG. You def want to have kid try out for one of the Nova PYBL winter teams. Follow PYBL on IG to track when they’re having tryouts. They are in middle of summer league now. Fairfax team is pretty good. If kid lights it up on PYBL winter, and parents reach out to high school coaches, they will come to watch kid and could get recruited that way. Our kid was recruited for one school strictly from PYBL winter league and other schools through AAU on one team mentioned here.

Lol @ NBA potential. I don’t think see that. Many of the rising 8th graders are reclasses. One is a double reclass. DNA is a good organization, but there are other teams in the area where the kid can get good work. Try out for a few teams and choose the best fit. There are plenty in this area. I also don’t like one of the Family Over Fame coaches, however people have said good things about the organization.

You can LOL but the two rising O’Connell Freshman I’m referring to are already playing up with Carmello Anthony’s son’s #1 ranked team out of NYC. Yes, they both already have multiple D1 offers from summer league and haven’t even started high school classes yet. And with Adam, yes, there are multiple articles referring to him as potentially only being the second person from Morocco that will play in the NBA. And he’s second fiddle to Cannady being ranked like 10th in nation to Cannady being ranked 5th.

[Anonymous]

There are about half a dozen kids in the area who are truly at this "elite" level. For the rest of us...

Has anyone heard of Prospect University Academy in Alexandria? How does it compare with say the Nova Cavs or Nova 94?

What about Shots Up?

Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Shots up is good, better than nova94.
Nova Cavs is good.

Never heard of the others.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Shots up is good, better than nova94.
Nova Cavs is good.

Never heard of the others.

Shotsup isn’t better than Nova94. The Premier team will blow Shotsup out, the Orange team blew them out, and the Blue team almost beat Shotsup. It was a tight game, came down to 1 or 2 points again the blue team. They aren’t better than NovaCavs either.

[Anonymous]

Prospect Academy is new and I haven’t seen them play yet. I know their 7th grade team has picked up some good players and should be decent.