re: Is it possible to be an elite high school basketball player.......

It seems like Scout and Rivals both put a lot of weight on summer camps and AAU games in their recruiting rankings. It's certainly debatable as to how much each school looks at these rankings, but they basically all subscribe to these services.

With the way college recruiting is going, I don't know if the top 100 guys would get the exposure for national coverage without AAU. Take a guy like Kyrie Irving. A blind man would recognize his talent, but until the start of his junior year, he wasn't considered a high major recruit. Then, he transferred from a small, academically oriented private school to a Catholic powerhouse in NJ and immediately became a five star prospect.

The majority of the top players either go to public schools that have produced dozens of good players (Dominguez, Dematha, Rainier Beach, etc), the large private schools (especially the Catholic schools in NY/NJ), or the private schools of dubious academic merit that are centered around basketball (Oak Hill, Findlay, and the much shadier schools with less than 40 students in the entire school )

Of course you have Harrison Barnes or Brandon Knight who don't need that, but they are becoming more of an exception.

The top 100 guys don't need AAU to become stars in college ball or the NBA. But I think they need AAU for exposure so the colleges know who they are.

Would you agree that high school ball is like your GPA, while AAU is like your SAT? It might not mimic your future, but it allows you to compete at a national level and gives you a chance to prove yourself among the best.

The original question was about being elite not a starter. Look at the roster of any of the major all-star games, watch the film provided by any of the major recruiting outlets, and read the player descriptions published by those outlets and the degree of separation between AAU/summer camp and a player's national perception is very small.

There are very few examples in the last ten years of elite (top 30 nationally) players who simply played and dominated for their high school teams.

There is a school of thought that believes year-round basketball is actually lowering the skill level in the US.

Many foreign players grow up playing soccer and other sports and don't even pick up a basketball until their early teens and they are some of the most skilled players.

Many of the young players you mention peak early and are eclipsed by better athletes that may be playing soccer or football at those ages.

AAU players in the McDonald's All-American game

I thought this was interesting and relevant to this old thread. Accoring to the link, 1/3 of the players in the McDonald's All-American game don't play AAU basketball.

I guess that answers the question.

Kind of a strange way that AAU counts its former players because both Harrison Barnes and Kendall Marshall played lots of games on the circuit. However, maybe it's because they didn't stick to just one program

I think the advantage of AAU is that it gets you exposed to a wide range of programs around the country. If there is a big-time player in Baton Rouge, it won't take AAU for them to be found by LSU. However, UConn may never take notice of them. If that player blows up in an AAU tournament, it would be a different story.

the heyward(sp)kid from butler didnt play aau ball...he played tennis instead during the summer

Brian Williams at UT didn't start playing baketball until his Junior year in highschool.

So yes, if a player is athletically gifted enough or has enough size and raw talent then certainly