New York Times Magazine article about Allonzo Trier, the top-ranked sixth-grade basketball prospect.¨Ü He’s been doing obsessive practice routines for four years.
After about 10 minutes of ballhandling at the gym, he moved on to what makes up the bulk of his daily workout ÇƒÓ shooting. He must make (not just try) 450 shots a day from various spots on the floor, beginning with short- and midrange attempts, then on to shots from beyond the three-point line. His mother, who works an early shift so she can get home for these sessions, does the rebounding and keeps the tally of made shots. When he misses two in a row, which rarely happens, she subtracts one from his total. Shots that bounce off or roll around the rim before going in are not counted, which was AllonzoǃÙs idea a couple of years ago in response to his motherǃÙs belief that he should strive to ǃ?control his own destiny.ǃ? He figured he should train to be a dead-eye shooter rather than one who hopes for some kind of luck.
As interesting as the kid is, the value of the article is that it’s a pretty good look into the weird underworld of the AAU circuit.¨Ü I might be overstating a bit with “underworld”, but there’s enough distrust to match the money involved.
ǃ?I worry about him,ǃ? says Hennings, the athletic director at the Rotary Boys and Girls Club in Seattle. ǃ?I worry about injuries. I worry about his knees. I worry about all the people around him. I tell his mom all the time, ǃÚNo one does something for nothing.ǃ٠IǃÙm sorry, but some of these people are going to want something down the line. Some of this stuff could come back to bite him. IǃÙm trying to stay in AllonzoǃÙs life and give him the team thing, but IǃÙve said to them, if you want to explore all that stuff, youǃÙre on your own.ǃ?
And of course, a YouTube clip.