As another summer passes, so too does another AAU basketball season. This week in Augusta, South Carolina, Nike’s EYBL Peach Jam, the most prestigious of all summer youth basketball tournaments, will mark the end of the 2026 summer sneaker circuit events. As usual, future college and NBA stars will shine for their respective AAU teams.

The Amateur Athletic Union (AAU), a fixture of grassroots basketball, has long been a target for critics. It has been blamed for all of the perceived ills of the sport – most often by people who never played, coached or have even watched AAU basketball.

As the number of foreign-born NBA stars has grown, many pundits have lamented the decreasing dominance of American stars, arguing that foreign-player development is superior to how the game is taught stateside.

In February, one of America’s all-time basketball greats — two-time NBA champion and 16-time All-Star Kevin Durant — shared his thoughts on the increasingly popular narrative.

“All I hear is, ‘AAU is destroying the game; the Euros do it right while the Americans do it wrong,’ ” Durant told ESPN’s Vincent Goodwill during NBA All-Star Weekend in Los Angeles. “It’s a lot of bulls— with that. I can read between the lines on that. It’s a shot at Black Americans. We’re controlling the sport. They’re tired of us controlling the sport. ‘France is coming for you.’ Really? We smacked them boys [in the 2024 Paris Olympics gold medal game].”

Durant has a point. 

A closer look at some of the top American grassroots basketball programs reveal a much more positive space for young talent than we are often led to believe. It’s a space where basketball lifers — often Black men — dedicate their time to helping improve the lives of talented young basketball players, both on and off of the court.

Over the past year, Andscape spoke to directors of prominent AAU/grassroots basketball programs — all feeders for Division I colleges and the NBA — to get their side of the story.

Before criticizing or defending AAU basketball, it is probably helpful to define what it is. The acronym has become a catch-all to describe — and often complain about — all things related to youth summer basketball.

Etop Udo-Ema, founder and CEO of the renowned Compton Magic program, argues that the term itself is outdated.

“I don’t even know why we use [the term] AAU. It’s not even AAU anymore. AAU is a part of grassroots,” he said, noting that the organization originally functioned as a low-cost insurance structure for youth sports before the rise of shoe-company-backed circuits and the influx of money transformed the ecosystem.

Additionally, summer basketball is now a mix of traditional AAU or grassroots leagues and tournaments, basketball camps, and even high school team events.

“There’s a camp on every corner like a bodega now,” said Terrance “Munch” Williams, executive director of the PSA Cardinals, a top grassroots program based in New York City. 

In his latest book, “Here are the Answers: A Roadmap for Navigating Success in the Business of Youth Basketball,” Williams pulls back the curtain on a circuit that has grown increasingly crowded and complicated.

For elite prospects, the summer calendar is no longer defined by AAU or grassroots schedules. Instead, it is dominated by an endless stream of invites to high-profile camps.

The opportunities stack quickly, from Pangos All-American Camp to the NBPA Top 100, camps hosted by NBA stars Damian Lillard, Stephen Curry, Donovan Mitchell and Chris Paul, and platforms like Elite 24. For many players, camp games now outnumber both high school and traditional AAU competition.

That overlap extends into the school year as well. Summer basketball now includes scholastic play in June, followed by additional games in the fall leading into the official season.

The lines between high school, grassroots and so-called AAU competition have blurred to the point that many observers group it all under one label, even if that label no longer fits.

Regardless of what it’s called — AAU or grassroots — it all gets a bad name. The grassroots space and the people working with the young men and women within it have become punching bags for sports journalists, disgruntled coaches, some ex-players and many basketball fans.

Here’s what they say:

“Young players are playing too many games!” Blame AAU. “Today’s game lacks fundamentals!” Blame AAU. “Too many injuries!” Blame AAU. “Foreign-born players are taking over the NBA!” You guessed it: Blame AAU.

Whether based on a cynical agenda, ignorance or both, the criticism leveled at AAU and those who dedicate their time is, more often than not, unwarranted.

While the AAU and grassroots space is not perfect — no industry is — many of the people in leadership positions entered the industry out of a love for basketball and a desire to help improve the lives of kids through the game.

Williams, who worked for Teach for America prior to joining grassroots basketball, said: “The biggest thing for me has always been how do you affect lives” in a way that reflects the help he received as an impressionable youth.

“You want to take young men and try to give them life lessons to turn them into great men,” he said.

For Jamill Jones, director of the DMV-based (District of Columbia, Maryland and Virginia areas) grassroots powerhouse Team Takeover, basketball was instrumental in his education and development, so naturally he wanted to provide similar opportunities to youth from comparable backgrounds.

“I always tell people I want to help make productive members of society,” he told Andscape. “I want to be a disruptor in some ways and try to create leaders in our community through basketball.”

Because of the deeper objectives that many of the most successful grassroots program leaders strive to achieve, basketball has become just one part of their job description. Not only are they program directors and coaches, but they also routinely play the role of mentors, friends, guidance counselors and even therapists.

“Just on our three high school teams, we spend over half a million dollars every spring and summer because we have mental health that’s part of our program. We have financial literacy that’s part of our program,” Matt Suther, director and founder of Midwest and national grassroots powerhouse MOKAN Elite, told Andscape. “We have a full-time education [professional] that is making sure the kids are qualifying and graduating from high school and qualifying for [college].”

“Most people think that winning and [having big-time] players is what gets you the bag or what makes you the greatest, and that’s only a small component to me,” Udo-Ema said, pointing out Compton Magic’s extensive work in the community, organizing numerous events, including diaper drives. “I want to be a community organization that plays basketball, not the reverse.”

As young athletes gain recognition earlier, many are forced to navigate depression, anxiety and the pressures that come with visibility. Williams emphasized that these issues are often addressed first at the grassroots level.

“The first point of attack… is the grassroots coaches, the grassroots directors. These people are working together collectively to help a kid before you see him or her on the TV screen.”

“We do the heavy lifting, bro,” Desmond “The General” Eastman, director of the Atlanta-based Game Elite program, told Andscape.

Eastman described the time and energy that coaches invest in players at an early age in order to give them the confidence and direction to succeed with or without basketball.

“The role of an AAU coach is no different from the role of a YMCA or Boys & Girls Club director when we were growing up,” he said.

Basketball-wise, it is hard to argue that today’s players aren’t benefiting from the modern grassroots environment. Access has expanded, exposure is constant and high-level competition is no longer reserved for a select few. The surge in AAU programs has its detractors, but it has also broadened the talent pipeline, putting more players in front of college coaches and NBA scouts.

The rise of sneaker circuits – Nike EYBL, Adidas 3SSB, Under Armour, Puma and Made Hoops – has only intensified that reality, creating a national stage where elite players regularly face off in structured, high-stakes settings.

Udo-Ema said the influx of corporate backing has fundamentally widened access in grassroots basketball. Where there were once only a handful of sponsored teams in California, there are now many more – putting significantly more players on the road with travel and expenses covered. That shift, he said, eases the financial strain on families while increasing exposure.

“How does that not help people?” Udo Ema said.

The high level of competition in the current AAU model is perhaps its most favorable attribute.

“If you ask a college coach whether he would prefer to see the No. 1 player play on his high school team – where it’s 15 players and there isn’t another Division I player in the gym – or see him play with his AAU team, which is comprised of maybe four or five bordering states coming together with the top 10 players from that area, the coach is always going to tell you he’d rather see him play AAU,” Jones said.

“Because that gives the coach a more realistic understanding of what the player’s role will be when he goes to a school. It’s fast-tracking players’ development because they are able to commit to and learn a role at a younger age that can carry them long term.”

From the athlete’s perspective, there are many positives in the current system. Jayden Williams, a junior guard at Bucknell University, played for Terrance Williams at PSA and spoke glowingly of his AAU experience. He said he loved traveling to different states and cities with various family members. He also cherished the special bonds he made with teammates and coaches.

“Especially with PSA, the brotherhood that we had through the culture that Munch built, with us not having our phones, having to spend a bunch of time in hotel rooms together,” he said. “Also learning to build culture with other guys who are good at basketball. That’s tough, too. Some guys don’t know how to play with other players who are just as good as them, if not better. I took that onto the college level, which is important.”

The widespread criticism of AAU/grassroots basketball’s on-court product doesn’t register with those who know the sport best.

There are complaints about the lack of practice time: “This concept of we just roll out the ball and run is completely wrong,” Williams said.

There are complaints about poor coaching: “Most of our coaches are high-level high school coaches,” Suther said.

There are complaints about injuries because of too many games: “Come on, man! If you go back in time, kids were playing way more and getting hurt way less,” said Udo-Ema).

AAU teams are All-Star teams is another complaint: “You get five high-major guys, a couple mid/low-major guys that can play certain roles, some guys going to the Ivy League or the Patriot League,” Williams said.

And there’s the complaint that coaches and directors are enriching themselves: “It’s a voluntary job. I don’t get paid for this. There’s no money in grassroots basketball, not for us as coaches,” Jones said.

Another popular narrative that has emerged more recently – as referenced by Durant – is that the rest of the world is on the cusp of surpassing the United States in basketball, thanks largely to flaws in the AAU and grassroots systems. Because the past seven NBA regular-season MVPs have been foreign born, the narrative has picked up steam.

But while the top international players have undoubtedly made a major mark in the NBA, foreign-born players accounted for 23% of the league in the 2024-25 season. American players coming from the grassroots system still make up the vast majority of the NBA.

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the most recent NBA MVP, is Canadian. Like many high-level Canadian basketball players, he played AAU basketball during high school.

“The Canadian system, they try to say that’s international. It’s not. They come through [the American] system,” Suther said. “They play AAU, they play in the EYBL. A lot of those kids come to high school here. The Canadian system is the U.S. system.”

Canada was the most represented country in the NBA, outside of the United States, on opening night of the 2025-26 season with 23 players.

“Because we’re always trying to develop kids and figure out new and better ways to do that, I’ve done a lot of research on the European model that gets so much attention now,” Suther said. “I spend a bunch of time over there, I go to practices. There’s a lot of things I really love that they do, but there’s still a lot of things here that are better than what they do as well.”

There are some in the basketball industry whobelieve the European model does produce players who are better prepared for the NBA. A former NBA Western Conference scout, who requested anonymity to speak candidly and avoid jeopardizing relationships, lamented that AAU teams play games “80% of the time and 20% of the time they practice,” while the European model is the reverse.

He also believes the American basketball player is too entitled.

“American players are way more prima donnas,” he said. “It’s part of the system. They get built up early on. They’ve never had a job. Somebody else is always doing something for them.”

The former scout blames this on “AAU culture,” but he acknowledges there are exceptions to the rule.

“I’m talking about AAU overall, but you’ve got to understand, the circuits, like EYBL — which is Nike, Adidas and all that — that’s the 1% of AAU. Everybody else is all on these independent circuits,” he said.

Recently retired college basketball coach Leonard Hamilton has a different view on the supposed superiority of overseas basketball and AAU, generally.

“They [Europe] have a club system over there. They do not play high school ball. They do not have college basketball. They have a different system,” Hamilton told Andscape. “Now, what we are getting exposed to is the best of the players that are over there. There are a lot of people who live in Europe. I don’t know if we’re comparing apples to apples.”

Hamilton, who began his college coaching career as an assistant at Austin Peay in 1971 and retired as head coach of Florida State in March 2025, said he saw no decrease in the quality of talent he recruited in recent years.

“When most coaches evaluate during the summer months and AAU ball, we have certain criteria we’re looking for,” Hamilton said. “I haven’t had any inability to evaluate when I’ve gone to those tournaments. I personally haven’t heard any complaints at all from anybody about the quality of play.

“It’s easy to find things to complain about. I still think the good outweighs the bad.”

The grassroots basketball space is far from perfect. Even those inside it would admit there are things they would change. But with the undeniable positives – access, exposure and opportunity for young athletes – the criticism it often draws raises a fair question: Who is really benefiting from that narrative?

“I don’t know, but [no one] should ever have anything negative to say about somebody that’s helping a child who will eventually help them provide for their families,” Eastman said. “So, anybody that’s even helping these players along the line, you should be appreciative of.

“I don’t care to what magnitude they’re helping the players. If they help the player achieve success to the point where a university or the NBA is interested in these kids, you should be thanking them.”

For Khalid Green, former recruiting director at Overtime Elite and a former scout for the Brooklyn Nets, the disconnect likely comes from distance.

“Grassroots is community-based and many people from outside of those communities are not used to the people who occupy leadership positions in those spaces, so many times they do not respect those people.” he said.

Those within the space have learned to navigate, rather than avoid, the tension between perception and reality.

“I mean, it’s unfortunate, but it’s just the reality that we live,” Jones said. “So we have no choice but to hold what we do in high regard and make sure to protect it. It always boils down to the kids. We know the importance of these opportunities for these families.”

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