Big money in youth hoops
NCAA panel says basketball corruption starts early.
Marc Tracy CARTERSVILLE, GA. — Russell Westbrook sat at the end of Team WhyNot’s bench next to the final reserve, his legs extended courtward and his eyes tracking the ball.
“Good D! Let’s go, let’s go!” Westbrook shouted, the NBA star fulfilling his role as patron saint of the youth basketball team named after his personal mantra. He seemed to live and die with every call, standing and cheering as his players did and scowling when things went against them. His eyes always followed the ball; he hardly seemed to blink.
It was still well over 90 degrees outside at 6 p.m. as the sun beat down here on May 11, but inside the windowless Lakepoint Champions Center, the air-conditioning was cranked up and the 12 basketball courts were lined with hundreds of spectators, a few of whom took pictures of Westbrook as he cheered on the teenagers.
At one court, Miami Heat guard Dwyane Wade watched his son, Zaire, compete for E1T1 United, a youth basketball team from Florida. At another, Bradley Beal of the Washington Wizards cheered on the St. Louis-area team now named Brad Beal Elite. The games featured a ton of talent and slightly sloppy but also frequently impressive play. The referees tended to swallow their whistles.
Also, Nike swooshes. Everywhere.
This was the third session of the season for the 17-and-under teams in the Elite Youth Basketball League, Nike-sponsored summer basketball. Sixteen teams were playing at once, with 24 more to go that night, each 32-minute game allotted 90 minutes on the schedule. (Each team would also play three more games that weekend.) Some contests attracted just a few parents; others, like those featuring undefeated Team Takeover, had more than 100 people looking on.
It was, in short, business as usual, even though business has been anything but usual in the top tiers of youth basketball. A yearslong federal investigation into college basketball recruiting has spawned indictments, unsettled college basketball and prompted an NCAA commission to recommend substantial changes to the youth-basketball-industrial complex in which Nike and its top competitors, Adidas and Under Armour, exert significant influence.
Recently, much of the blame for the never-ending reports of under-the-table payments to recruits has fallen on sneaker companies and their intimate involvement in summer leagues and showcase events for precollege players. The federal investigation connected funds from Adidas to the parents of top recruits, who would then commit to college basketball programs the shoe company sponsored and, hopefully, later sign endorsement deals with Adidas after turning pro.
“The corruption we observed in college basketball has its roots in youth basketball,” Condoleezza Rice, the former secretary of state who headed the NCAA commission, said last month.
The NCAA adopted her panel’s recommendations, including a proposal that sponsors submit to greater transparency. The NCAA plans to introduce its own basketball showcases as soon as next summer during the crucial July evaluation period, when college coaches conduct their most intense scouting, and bar those coaches from seeing players anywhere else.
Given the scrutiny, a dialedback approach to the grassroots circuit this spring and summer might have seemed like an appropriate reaction. Yet in the almost-anythinggoes world of teenage basketball, that has not transpired.
“Nothing’s been different at the Nike circuit,” said Brian Long, a coach for the Las Vegas Prospects, who may have two more cross-country trips this summer.
“Jackets, sweats, shoes, leggings — anything you need,” said the AOT Running Rebels’ Isaac Okoro, who will graduate high school next year. “It’s a blessing.”
There is some evidence that Adidas Gauntlet, that company’s summer basketball series, was affected by the past year’s news, in part because Adidas’ former director of basketball marketing was indicted. A coach for one Gauntlet team, who requested anonymity, said that the league had new management and that league meetings and gear had come later than usual.
The Under Armour Association and EYBL are also still thriving. Dozens of teams are still receiving tens of thousands of dollars in shoes, uniforms, gear and travel money. Though college coaches may not attend these showcases in May, the games were still streamed to their laptops, and they will surely return to the league finals in July.
In a statement, an Adidas spokeswoman said: “Adidas’s commitment to grass-roots basketball and young athletes is unchanged. Adidas continues to provide young female and male athletes opportunities to play the game and showcase their talent in a fun, competitive environment as they aspire to reach their dreams.”
An Under Armour spokeswoman said, “We remain committed to grass-roots basketball and look forward to being a part of this next evolution for the sport.”
As for Nike, a spokesman said: “We are a longtime supporter of grass-roots basketball and care passionately about the game. Nike firmly believes in compliance with laws and fair play.”
Benjamin Brafman, a defense lawyer who represented a defendant in a corruption case involving FIFA, said it was not necessarily unwise for the companies to continue the status quo. “The indictments that surfaced did not condemn the entire industry,” Brafman said.
While EYBL, Adidas Gauntlet and Under Armour Association are known as “grassroots basketball,” they are anything but. Rather, they are the tip of the spear of those companies’ gigantic global marketing campaigns. Nike spends $4 billion a year on marketing, according to Matt Powell, an industry analyst at NPD Group. Adidas and Under Armour similarly spend around 10 percent of their wholesale revenue.
“You could look at this very altruistically,” Powell said. “The brands are doing this because they see benefits to themselves in the long-term, but it’s not illegal.”
The NCAA’s president, Mark Emmert, has said he hopes to legislate the Rice commission’s changes into law in August. It remains to be seen how summer basketball as it currently exists will be affected. Judging from the EYBL session in Cartersville, the shoe companies are not going to shut their leagues down voluntarily.