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For the upcoming NBA most mock drafts have a large number of foreign players. Most of the American players are this year's freshman and sophomores. Upper glassman who do well in the NCAA are not being considered. I am not sure how this trend effects college basketball. It seems like something post college besides the NBA is needed. I don't consider two teams scoring a combined point total of 150 to 200 points good basketball. Guys like Keyontae, Tomlin, Kaluma, and Markquis at best will be fringe NBA players. Hope they can get an opportunity like Dean has gotten.

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As the 2023-24 NBA season gets underway, the record number of international players on opening-night rosters underscores the global nature of basketball. For American players aspiring to make it to the NBA, the path is laden with formidable challenges. The limited number of spots, combined with the influx of international talent, demands nothing short of excellence. To succeed, American players must not only possess exceptional skills but also demonstrate the ability to adapt to the ever-changing landscape of the game. In the face of such adversity, those who persevere and rise to the occasion are the ones who will ultimately find their place among the elite in the

AAU basketball is not developing players and they get drafted to the NBA players who are underdeveloped and fizzle out. Recently I heard Colon Cowherd comment foreign players are good fundamental basketball players and they are supplanting Americans who might have in the past been slected.

Kobe Bryant believes European basketball players are more skillful than American basketball players, and says it’s a growing trend that can be blamed on the greed and coaching at the AAU level. “I just think European players are just way more skillful,” Bryant said Friday night after the Los Angeles Lakers’ 109-106 loss to the Memphis Grizzlies. “They are just taught the game the right way at an early age. … They’re more skillful. It’s something we really have to fix. We really have to address that. We have to teach our kids to play the right way.”
Slamonline.com

I have said before on this board that AAU is a plague on youth basketball, but college coaches have something to do with that. Big AAU tournaments draw college coaches and recruiters. I would even go as far as the McDonalds All Americans are chosen due to their AAU affiliation and not their high school affiliations.

One thing I hear about AAU coaches is that they 'know the game'. What does that mean when your kid's team spends most of 'practice' scrimmaging? They are about playing, not developing. High school basketball is about developing kids. What bugs me is these AAU guys that start their 'season' during high school basketball season and actually expect their kids to miss high school practice to go to AAU games. At my school, we tell our kids that if they choose AAU games over practice, they can make it permanent. And don't get me started about small town AAU coaches that demand meetings with coaches about what is going on with the high school program.

I would love for Tang to pick up a foreign player or two for the cats, but that takes connections overseas, and most schools don't have that.

SCKSCat wrote: ↑

March 25th, 2024, 11:39 am

For the upcoming NBA most mock drafts have a large number of foreign players. Most of the American players are this year's freshman and sophomores. Upper glassman who do well in the NCAA are not being considered. I am not sure how this trend effects college basketball. It seems like something post college besides the NBA is needed. I don't consider two teams scoring a combined point total of 150 to 200 points good basketball. Guys like Keyontae, Tomlin, Kaluma, and Markquis at best will be fringe NBA players. Hope they can get an opportunity like Dean has gotten.

For even elite American top college basketball players it’s extremely, extremely tough. It’s a business that’s primarily concerned with $$$. Therefore unless you get the break of being a top draft pick based on potential more so than performance it’s very rare that kids make it. And yes it’s a world wide pool more so than football or any other professional sports. The few that get the opportunity to play and make a career out of it have worked their butts off to find their niche and caught a few breaks along the way.

13 of the 60 players in last years first two rounds of the NBA draft were foreigners. 4 of the top 30 were foreigners and one of those was from Canada and Jamie Vasquez was from Mexico but played at UCLA.
It is a world wide game but more of the NBA players still come from the US.

xtrawildcat wrote: ↑

March 26th, 2024, 11:04 am

13 of the 60 players in last years first two rounds of the NBA draft were foreigners. 4 of the top 30 were foreigners and one of those was from Canada and Jamie Vasquez was from Mexico but played at UCLA.
It is a world wide game but more of the NBA players still come from the US.

makes me wonder why we don't see more foreigners playing college ball? st. marys and gonzaga have been pulling them in for years.