AAU Article - "no sport is so rife with sleaziness as youth basketball"

[tornado]

http://www.columbian.com/article/20090614/SPORTS02/706149952/GREG+JAYNE++Something+is+wrong+about+this+showcase

they also mention...
"Findlay College Prep..a "high school" in Las Vegas that draws "students" from all over the country.
Only they aren't students at Findlay, because Findlay doesn't exist. And they all happen to be
basketball players who live together in a $425,000 home and attend classes at a nearby high school."

"You have sneaker companies sponsoring teams, in part so they can get future NBA stars
in their stable at a young age. You have power brokers latching onto athletes,
in part so they can sell them to colleges down the road. You have teams of 9-year-olds
coming from California to play in the Rose City Showcase, in part so they can . . .
actually, I have no idea why 9-year-olds would come to Portland to play basketball."

[Braves4Life]

What a great editorial. I have to agree with most everything the writer said. Only the NCAA and NBA working in unison can put an end to this............ I doubt it will ever happen

[newBUfan]

well

the NBA/NCAA and all other stakeholders have a new initiative call "IHOOPS" that will solve this problem I guess. I watched the press conference a couple of days ago..

http://www.nba.com/2009/news/06/09/ihoopsrelease/

[ser_solace]

the NBA/NCAA and all other stakeholders have a new initiative call "IHOOPS" that will solve this problem I guess. I watched the press conference a couple of days ago..


http://www.nba.com/2009/news/06/09/ihoopsrelease/

Did the press conference go into more specifics how iHoops planned on improving the educational and social experience for youths? Just seems like a website to me.

[newBUfan]

here is

the full video of the press conference

http://www.nba.com/video/channels/nba_tv/2009/06/09/nba_20090609_ihoops_presser.nba/