The New Boys of Summer: Behind the Scenes of Grassroots Basketball

By: Raashaan Myers

This is the first in a three part series looking at all aspects of Grassroots basketball both on the court and off the court. This is an in depth look at Summer hoops with one of the most experienced and respected guys on the circuit Mr. Clay Dade architect of the Fab Frosh, Super Sophomore, and JR All American camps.

     When it comes to college basketball discussions undoubtedly one of the first conversations to arise is about AAU basketball and basketball recruiting. Yet while there are always discussions about whether or not AAU and more appropriately named Grassroots basketball is good for the game there is little known about the Grassroots basketball scene itself.  So I decided I wanted to go get the scoop from someone on the inside and get his thoughts on a myriad of topics involving Grassroots hoops.

     Clay Dade is a man with more than 30 years of experience on the prep hoops scene and has pretty much seen everything imaginable. Growing up in the Washington D.C. area playing basketball from a young age along side D.C. area greats such as Johnny Dawkins, Len Bias, and Adrian Branch.  Clay achieved success collegiately on the hardwood as well, and has now become a mainstay on the Grassroots basketball circuit. Now Clay has dedicated himself to the development of talented young prospects to help them live out their hoop dreams.    

     So with so many detractors to the Summer basketball system as it is what does Clay think about the current status of Grassroots Summer hoops?  “Well the best way I can put it on the state of AAU basketball would be to say it’s not all good and it’s not all bad. It’s true there are some tradeoffs in terms of the development of our game, the American game, because of the current model,” said Dade.  “But I think there have been some things that have developed to help things as well. The leagues that have been started by the shoe companies like the Nike EYBL create an arena for players where they are not simply going out every weekend and playing games. It’s competitive and there is something to play for and that means teams have to practice more and there is some structure there.”   Also the outreach to bring and find talent from all around the country is also something Clay sees as a huge value for the current system. “The opportunity afforded a young man from let’s just say Utah to be able to meet and play against teams in your area like the Louisville Magic and play against players and good competition is great. It gives young men the opportunity to earn a scholarship and to get out and play the game and that is the most important thing.”  Dade added “Also the travel opportunities are a huge part of the benefits of this system. The ability for a young man to travel to Texas or Florida is something for young men especially from inner city populations like New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, and other places afford those opportunities they would never have.”

     While there are plenty of talking points both good and bad in terms of the current state of affairs in Grassroots basketball Clay Dade sees some good opportunities for improvement as well.“ I think right now there are too many events and guys are playing too many games during the Summer season. I think playing so many games can hinder the development of the players. “ And not only is this issue at the feet of those putting on these events during the Summer but Clay says that the NCAA is also greatly hindering the development of young players as well. “The NCAA’s legislation now covers down into middle schools. They have defined recruitable student athletes defined as 7^th graders on up. And where that hurts is in 2007 when we started our middle school camp we had a novel idea to do something that was a staple of the camps back in the 80’s and that was having college coaches as counselors,” said Dade. “We wanted it like it was when I was coming up at the 5 Star camp and you would have guys there like Pitino or Calipari guys who are in the hall of fame now coaching you. There was nothing shady or seedy recruiting elements going on it was just guys that love teaching the game helping talented kids gets better. That environment produced players that were better coached at a young age, much more developed skill wise, and a much better understanding and knowledge of the game.”

     While the NCAA’s restrictions have limited the role current head coaches have with athletes Clays says that now it is the responsibility of the men who do have the ability to work with these talented young players to be better. “You have a lot of club teams or AAU teams being coached by more or less fans of the game. Guys that played ball in high school, or maybe a little college, and they are usually parents of an athlete coaching teams. Or you have AAU coaches who haven’t really taken the time to develop themselves through coaches clinics or opportunities through professional development to get better,” Dade continued ”If you are going to have a stake in their development you have to be able to do more than just go in the gym and work on their shooting and ball handling.  You have to be able to get in there to teach them about the game, about spacing and defensive rotations, and about principles of basketball.  They always preach that players need to work on their game but these coaches have to work on their game as well.”

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