Good to see Geo continue to make an impact on the local basketball scene in NJ.
But why Blue Devils?! @Geo_Baker_1
But why Blue Devils?! @Geo_Baker_1
Geo Baker starts own AAU team
- Thread starter S_Janowski
- Start date
I hope someone buys all his good players from him.
He played on the AAU Blue Devils. That’s what he’s making it after.
This. Was his AAU program growing up. Coached by TJ Thompson.
(still would have liked a hat tip to RU better personally lol).
He for sure makes good money training kids. Actually wondering how this will effect his bottom line because he's going to probably take a pay cut in the short term since when he's running all these practices he won't be training big groups. I'm guessing it will pay off for him down the road if he's able to get the program to that sponsorship level when Nike/Adidas/UA are fronting most of the bills.
Dirty dirty dirty business. Don't know how you look at those parents in the face knowing those chairs on the baselines will be empty most games. (if you know you know)
$1k team entry. $25 per parent per day. $25 to park per day. Most kids are d3/d2 level at best and don't even need to play in the tournaments for your minimal D3 school discount. So many parents putting out $5k - $7 per season (don't forget hotels etc) for 3/4 years in a row...
$1k team entry. $25 per parent per day. $25 to park per day. Most kids are d3/d2 level at best and don't even need to play in the tournaments for your minimal D3 school discount. So many parents putting out $5k - $7 per season (don't forget hotels etc) for 3/4 years in a row...
blue devils is the aau team I played for when I was a kid, coached by current Rutgers assistant tj thompson. Changed my life, so I’m trying to do the same for these kids under the same name!
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Not a business for me! We won’t be taking a dollar for coaching the team. Its all volunteer. I’ll actually definitely lose money for this. We’re a 501c3 program that requires student athletes to have a 3.0 to participate. Any money that goes toward the program goes straight to the kids to cut costs/create scholarships.
Thank God you didn't play for the Nittany Lions as a kid!
I guess technically no I don’t have a job lol. I also won’t make money from this but it’ll be pretty fun.
Didn’t realize you did so much training. Great to see you teaching what you know and staying involved in this great sport. I have personally (through my son’s experience) seen AAU programs that were clearly looking to make money at it….expanding to so many teams that they had fairly high level groups and some that were flat out bad….and ranging from 3rd grade through high school. Others you could see were all about the players. Has to be rewarding to help develop kids and help them achieve their dreams….or at least have a lot of fun along the way. Good luck.
Nothing wrong with making money. Kids wanna play and they are getting coached up.
Every college bb kid getting NIL should be paying Geo a commission.!!!
Good stuff Geo.
Back up team name suggestion: Scarlet Red Devils. In case other one doesn’t get enough attention.
GO RU
Back up team name suggestion: Scarlet Red Devils. In case other one doesn’t get enough attention.
GO RU
Awesome, Geo. He will always be part of the team that brought Rutgers back on the map. Great kid! When I was traveling around NH years back to check out a state park, we passed the Derry sign and I told my fiance, " That is Geo Baker's town- one of the kids that brought RU back!." She was not as excited as I was, lol. Much respect to Geo!
What a business for those AAU organizers... On top of the $1k per team fee, the college coaches that want to attend (get the packet with rosters etc) pay also.. D1 school pays about $1k, D2 school $750, even D3 school coach has to pay about $500.
I love that Geo comes on here to explain stuff. He'll always be one of my favorites.
Geo is awesome. With his character and determination I’m betting he will be successful at whatever he does. Great ambassador for RU.
you are talking about a very small subset of what AAU has become. my son has played from 3rd grade through 10th grade. as you get into high school it starts to get bad with this stuff and you see a ton of selfish ball from kids looking to get noticed (which I agree with you they almost never do). he is probably done with it this year and will just focus on playing with his high school team but growing up it was a very good experience overall. played against a ton of top competition from up and down the east coast, which made him a way better player. and the team played like a team and it was way more about winning than showing out. also lot of great memories from traveling together and winning tournies and whatnot.
kids sports in general is a mess with every sport/team/coach wanting a year round commitment from way too young an age. which like you said it's a business for them and until the parents stop trying to keep up with the jones's it will only get worse i'm sure.
geo is definitely doing things the right way and if we were still gonna be involved i'd for sure encourage him to try out.
