Questions about AAU basketball in NOVA
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Anonymous
They played great, and a loaded Wilson team played badly. They totally deserved the win. |
Anonymous
Josh Hart went to Sidwell. Jamal Lewis (UPenn) went to Sidwell. Saddiq Bey went to Sidwell. Things changed a while ago. And then this team, which does not have any kids at that level, played great in beating 2 teams with a bunch of D1 recruits, on its way to the DC championship. They have a great coaching staff, some very talented younger kids in the pipeline, and they are here to stay. |
Anonymous
Slam City is trying out players for its Travel teams |
Anonymous
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Not AAU, but relevant for the general "NoVa basketball" theme:
When your FCPS kid is a rising ninth grader, ask the high school in February/March about the Pre-Freshman Spring Basketball League tryouts. Some high schools field teams for the girls league, which I think takes place at Fairfax HS, and for the boys league, which is at Edison. If your middle school isn't the majority feeder for the high school, you may not hear about the tryouts unless you ask. Overall, it's a good experience - it helps your kid get to know the frosh coach and learn the offensive sets. The travel kids from the FCYBL join up with the "just House" kids to represent their schools, and no one can feel superior to anyone else. Despite the name of the league, keep in mind that it isn't actually for rising ninth graders *only*. West Potomac uses varsity players on its teams (yes, they cheat), and the South County team consists of rising JV players. Woodson, on the other hand, does field a team that's only rising ninth graders and no one else. It would be a good thing if the schools agreed to return the league to its original idea - which was to give rising ninth graders a taste of HS basketball, not to give reps to eleventh graders - but even though that won't happen, it's still a worthwhile experience for any kid who aspires to play in high school. |
Anonymous
This is great info. Woodson seems to be a quality program. It's great to see people sharing this information. The lack of transparency in high school and AAU programs is such a challenge. DS had friends who played JV last year and asked the varsity coach about the school's summer league plans. Even though that coach was in the gym every afternoon coaching a small summer league squad made up of his favorite varsity players, he told those kids there was no summer league team -- no tryouts, not even "sorry but you're not good enough" to those JV kids, just a dumb, obvious lie so that coach could focus on his favorite kids. Two of the excluded kids transferred and ended up starting for varsity at their new schools. Meanwhile, coach didn't have enough kids for some summer league games and ended up forfeiting a bunch of games. |
Anonymous
We are currently in this situation. Two coaches, tw sons - both play most of the time and are only out a few minutes to rest. Cocky playing, stupid errors but the coaches turn a blind eye on this while others are taken out on first mistake! |
Anonymous
Can’t find him through google. There’s a much older Coach DeVoe (77) who used to coach Virginia Tech. Do you have a contact for your guy? |
Anonymous
Curtis Symonds has a similar track record |
Anonymous
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Some changes in the Nova AAU boys basketball landscape this year. Nova Cavs have surprised with better results almost across the board. They've moved beyond the McLean/Falls Church focus and have found stronger players. If you've been involved with tournaments as media, you know their scouting profiles of players are legendary. Virginia Elite has stepped up everything even though it's less of an all-star team for half the state now. Nova 94 Feet (boys side only) is having a down year. Teams such as the 14U orange look nothing like what they used to. Some will tell you that Nova 94 expanded too quickly. Fairfax Stars is stagnant really and maybe will always have that imbalance with a nationally renowned girls program but a lower level of accomplishment on the boys side even though there are many strong players.
Parents may want to steer their kids away from these big clubs anyway to Team Ultimate, Nova Suns, ManIIMan, and other "mom-and-pop" teams that may not cover every age group but have some seriously dedicated coaches. High-schoolers with a goal of playing in college - consider Virginia Elite, then Nova Cavs, but Plan A should be to make a DC or Maryland-based team instead. |
Anonymous
| you have to go to the south for the best players. Where does 'northern virginia end? For basketball ability . . . . . kids in Springfield are better than kids in Mclean. Kids in Alexandria are better than kids in Springfield. Best talent comes from Woodbridge, hands down. How closely do you follow this? The team that won FCYBL 8th grade recruited players from Alexandria |
Anonymous
| The only thing that matters in AAU and all of basketball right now is to recognize the fact that more and more players are being held back to gain advantage. 50% of the WCAC are holdbacks?? This according to the Washington Post. So to find a fair fight isn't easy. |
Anonymous
Thanks for this list of DC based clubs. Which of these would be most accessible to Capitol Hill? Trying to manage multiple sports. |
Anonymous
It depends on age level. TBH they are all very hard to make. You should focus on that first. Also, the coach for Wilson now coaches for Team Durant 16U. |
Anonymous
| I know the coaches from Team Breakdown are newer in the metro.D.C. area and focus more on player development. The coach works in a D.C. high school so very focused on teaching. They are having.a.1 day clinic on Sept.25th.which I am sending my high school son to but taking middle school and high school kids. I like the coach who is hyped up for the players. Gillion Basketball Academy. |
Anonymous
| Gillion, stop spamming, it makes you look desperate. |