The Circuit

   It's about 6 P.M. on a Friday night, and I'm sitting in the gym at Haskell Indian Nations University in Lawrence.  The only reason that I can find for being here is that I love basketball.  When people asked why, as a college kid, I had decided to spend my weekend watching hoops in Lawrence, I had no real answer.  I said that I'd been a volunteer assistant at a high school, and that a few of the players from that school were playing in this tournament; but that wasn't the whole reason I was there. 

   I guess I've always been intrigued by the AAU basketball scene.  Teams with names like Fury, Playaz, Pump N Run, and Dream Vision go all over the country with rosters full of players looking to put their names out there.  They want to play basketball at the college level.  I'd heard lots of crazy stories about the AAU basketball circuit (a.k.a. The Circuit), and I just had to see what it was like for myself. 

   The Circuit is a funny thing.  Gary Parrish, a college basketball/recruiting blogger for CBS Sports, tweeted about The Circuit, "Some stuff on the circuit is wild."  Yes, it is. 

   It's midday Saturday, and I've already seen ten games over the course of the weekend.  I've seen guys that are deemed to be future All-Americans and others who may never play basketball after high school.  I've seen dunks, flops, fouls, awful calls (plenty), and scantily clad Kansas freshmen who take your money with a smile at the door.  The 'recruiting experts' are packing these little gyms in droves.  Lawrence High's auxiliary gym, if it can even be called that, is now standing room only to see the stars of tomorrow.

   What's so crazy about all this?  Well, those scantily clad girls who took my money are now running the scoreboard.  Who knew such a task could be so difficult?  The head coach of one team is sporting a white tee with shorts that would make anyone sing "Pants on the Ground."  Half the crowd is cussing out the referee crew, while the other half is cussing out the other team's fans.  And, after cussing out the refs, those same fans put on a smile, tug at their Kansas University polos and shout, "Perry, come to Kansas.  Shabazz, we want you in Lawrence.  Be jayhawks, you'll love it here!"

   Off to the side, the Morris twins chat up the Kansas recruits after a sloppy game.  Cole Aldrich pops his girlfriend's bra strap as he walks out of the gym and the recruiting gurus swarm their targets for the day.  The coach of the losing team, a heavy favorite, smiles and jokes with a nearby fan.  His smile tells the whole story:  The Circuit isn't about winning.  It's about the attention and exposure.  It's about playing for yourself.  And it's about the crazy things you hear and see when all you wanted to do was watch a few ball games.