What are NCAA Certified Events for basketball?

Because basketball is one of the most unique sports governed by the NCAA, they have setup different rules as to how they handle AAU. This is a time where the top basketball players around travel the country to compete against the best competition. Every major player that has made it to the NBA in recent years first made a name for themselves on the AAU circuit.

But in order to standout on the circuit in front of college coaches, you must first figure out if the event is an NCAA certified event. What this means is has the NCAA certified the event so that college coaches can be in attendance? If the events meet certain dates and apply with the NCAA ahead of time, there is a good chance that Division I college coaches will find a way to the tournament.

The dateline for certified NCAA events is between July 6th and July 29th. This month is basically where college coaches spend all of their time on the road and do not see much of their family in July. Last summer on July 26th, this is when Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser died of a heart attack after being so busy on the road. This just shows how tough it is as a college coach that it can take your life when you least expect it.

I have had a chance myself to attend an NCAA certified event a few years back and saw first hand how crazy it is. Because the coaches are not supposed to be talking to parents or players, the tournament sets it up that there are different areas for the coaches and different areas for everyone else. The coaches can only stay in their area or they may get in trouble by talking to prospective recruits. It really was like a cattle herd because the coaches were so limited in what they could do.

One of the most interest things that happened was a graduate assistant of one program was also an assistant coach of an AAU team (That is legal under NCAA rules). But because he was considered an AAU coach at the time, he could not legally speak to the head coach or the assistant coaches at the school he worked for. Strange rules like that happen all the time.

The NCAA has put a link together for the certified events for the summer of 2008. I am under the assumption that this list will grow because really, it is rather small. One interesting thing to look at is how expensive the Coaches’ packets are. One is even up to $250 to just see the names and contact information of the players on the court.

Here is the link to the full list of 2008 tournaments