Team Huddle

Thanks to incredible coaches, players and parents, Team Huddle finished its 7th year of competition as strong as ever! Our oldest groups, Pink, Black, Yellow, Grey and PHX from Central Ohio all represented the program well! We have some very solid groups coming up in the next few years that we are very excited about!

We are blessed to have completed our 6th straight year with multiple teams having kids move on to college. With 2021 being the first time we had players from five different teams commit to a college program. In our 7 graduating classes since 2016 we have helped 92 kids earn a shot at playing college basketball. This proves, no matter what you’ve heard or what the perception of AAU teams may be, we without a doubt do everything we can to place kids in the best situation for them and work as hard as we possibly can for them in their recruitment. There are no teams or players placed over any others.

None of this would have been possible without the outstanding commitment from the kids, parents and coaches. Thank you to everyone for helping us build a great program with a top-notch reputation, and helping us to continue to build on it! we look forward to 2022!

CHECK OUT PLAYER ACCOMPLISHMENTS

Though sadly we can never keep everyone happy, the program runs based off of principles that we’ve decided through experience and learning from other great programs and college coaches, are the most important and non-negotiable traits. Not all parents, players, or coaches will always agree with our decisions but the success has been proven and they will be followed or they will have to find a new place to play or coach, no matter how good they are or think they are. The program isn’t flourishing because we have the most talented kids, its successful because we have hard-working kids that do things right and follow the template given to them that creates success and college interest. With that said, here are some of the Team Huddle philosophies that you either follow, whether it’s a player, a parent or a coach…or play elsewhere…

• Getting better is ALWAYS the top priority, not winning. Wins in the spring and summer mean nothing, everyone wants to win, or you wouldn’t be there. However to make winning a bigger priority than getting better is foolish. If you work hard and play the game the right way, you will win. You can win all kinds of games and not get a bit better and you can also lose every game yet improve as a player. Winning does not necessarily equal better basketball players. We will always challenge our kids and put them in situations where they will have the odds stacked against them and challenged, that makes better players and people.

• Our defensive principles are very simple, and aren’t negotiable. We don’t press, zone, trap or run any junk gadget defenses often. We stay disciplined and become the best on ball and team principled defenders we can be. That is the way to make better and college ready players. Any pressing that is done is very limited and used strategically, not on a regular basis.

• Offensively we focus on being the teammate willing to make the extra pass, and having great shot selection. We don’t run many plays, if any, so that practice time can be used to develop skill. We want to send kids to the next level that can make plays, not run plays. when kids are allowed to play freely and make decisions on their own based on defenses, instincts and previous decisions, whether good or bad, players grow and get better.

• Our kids are expected to treat their parents, coaches, teammates and referees with complete respect. Any attitude, reaction to referees, whether it verbal or nonverbal will result in a loss of playing time. Furthermore we hold parents to the highest standard of behavior. We don’t allow or tolerate parents yelling at the refs, the scorers table, their child or the coaches. Any of this will result in a loss of playing time for their child. We do not tolerate parents acting inappropriately in any way, college coaches are also recruiting parents. If parents can’t follow those expectations their kid is not welcome in the program.

Of course there are other points that will be covered if and when someone wants to discuss the possibility of playing with Team Huddle but these are the most important points put into place. I don’t recruit so don’t expect me to join the several AAU programs chasing and trying to persuade your daughter. If Team Huddle is something you’re interested in you will have to approach someone in the program, I can always be reached by email at hofhuddle@gmail.com.

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