Orlando

I'm sitting in the Indy Airport as we speak on my way to Chicago and then heading to Orlando. It will make for a long evening, but that is expected when you are "ballin on a budget" as some would say.

AAU Nationals is the tournament I am going down to coach in. The actual AAU tournaments have seen a decline in attendance in recent years. The national tournament is still attended pretty well, but they fill in a lot of spots with Florida teams. The state tournament is almost dead in Indiana. Lots of teams use out of state players and too many players on their team are grade exceptions to compete in the state tournament.

Also, most teams opt to go to Vegas in July so they have no reason to play in the state tournament other than bragging rights. Most don't want to go through the paperwork to compete in what works out to be a one weekend tournament (if they aren't going to go to the national tournament if they qualify).

Orlando is a good set-up with a good amount of courts in one location. Vegas is spread out a lot and a good portion of game sites only have one or two courts. Orlando also has the Nike Showcase tournament the week before the National tournament which allows teams to stay in one location for 10 days which makes travel easier.

Time to board!