Spring Recap Series

With the break from AAU in the month of June, I wanted to recap some of the happenings that have transpired so far. I'm hoping to get to a team camp or two during June but my schedule may not allow that.

I'll start with some recruiting recap and news.

Dee Davis 5'9 PG Bloomington South has been picking up some solid offers early in the AAU season from Xavier and Purdue. He continues to impress me with what he accomplishes despite his small frame.
Justin Martin 6'5 SG Lawrence North has de-committed from the University of Louisville. He is a top 50 ranked player nationally and rumor is he may be looking at Arizona now although all options are open.
Donnie Hale 6'7 PF New Albany has reportedly picked up interest from Oklahoma State according to Jody Demling of Courier-Journal.com. I think that would be a stretch by Oklahoma State but not a crazy move if they were to offer.
Dominique Ferguson 6'9 SF Lawrence North de-committed from his verbal to University of Kentucky after the coaching change. Ferguson is a top 10 player nationally in his class and might have one and done potential.
Ethan Jacobs 7'0 C Tipton made a somewhat shocking commitment to Ohio University. Shocking because it was quick and his stock was really starting to rise. Plus, he had the July evaluation period coming up and big-time offers may have been there.
Marquis Teague 6'2 PG Pike has pushed back his decision date after originally saying he was going to decide by June. He says he will now wait until the July evaluation period to decide.
Jesse Berry 6'1 PG Lafayette Jeff picked up an offer from Kentucky after rumors were starting to appear that he was close to committing to Butler.
Rafael Davis 6'4 SG Fort Wayne North became the first 2012 commit from Indiana and he chose Purdue.
Erik Fromm 6'8 PF Bloomington South made his decision to go to Butler. Should be a good fit in the Butler system.

Officiating

Officiating is always a topic at AAU events for a number of reasons. For the most part, it is usually bad. I'm not blaming the refs though because they work so many games in a weekend...how could they be good when they are so tired. Some work 8-10 games in a day and 15-20 games in a weekend. I understand they can make some extra spending money by going to all the events. Secondly, the refs don't have to be licensed by anyone although most are licensed by their home state. That is not a huge concern to me though. Most have a fair amount of experience if they are licensed or not. One of the big points is that some tournaments have different rules concerning fouls and time-outs and a few other minor things that can throw off a referee. Some tournaments say they do not want to turn games into a free-throw shooting contest. I understand that tournament directors do not want games running over and messing up the court schedule because then a lot of people get restless waiting to play their games.

I rarely complain about officiating because of the things I stated above. I basically just want them to work hard, be in decent position, and not to mail in their performance like I wouldn't want one of my players going through the motions. I hate when refs come with attitude after I say one thing after being quiet for a quarter or a half or some decent amount of time. I see a lot of anticipation on the refs' part that they believe I am complaining just as much as all other coaches and won't hear me out. They need to be observant on how the coaches and players are acting in each game separately.

The main reason I do not complain much about officiating is that I do not want my players to complain and lose focus on the game. Officiating rarely decides a game unless you let it by focusing on the refs instead of controlling what you can control. Why get bent out of shape on something that you cannot control? It is a waste of time and energy and most importantly focus. I would rather just concentrate on what we need to do to adjust to the game and how we can play better as a team.

Control what you can control!