Re: Mason Plays Towson at 6pm on MASN Can They Make NCAA
Posted by:
inkahootz has a point
()
Date: March 10, 2009 05:15PM
Apologies for getting the wrong league. Mason is indeed in the CAA.
And Washington Locian is spot on.
And he is particularly spot on as to how to pursuing AAU ball is at the expense of personal development. It is one thing to make sacrifices for your high school team (and that team has a vested interest in academic sufficiency because being eligible is a necessity) for three months; it is quite another to make those sacrifices all year along for your pimpish coach/AAU trainer, with a travel schedule that would make a sales executive blush.
And worse yet, AAU ball only elevates certain skills - such as driving to the basket, dunking, and fall away jumpers. These skills look flashy game and after AAU game where weak defense is played, but don't make for high level college play where every possession means a heck of lot. The whole process has turned college coaches into eternal recruiters - of both the athlete and their entire AAU flock that surrounds them.
This is of course is a way of complimenting Larranaga. He is still dedicated to coaching in the veritable lion's den that is now NCAA basketball. And GMU deserves kudos for doing it right.