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Message: [QUOTE="nelsonmuntz, post: 2106845, member: 833"] Didn't Damon Bailey get a scholarship offer to Indiana when he was in 8th grade? This has been going on forever. Kids are also spending more time in college than they were 15 years ago. When Kobe and Garnett skipped college, it started a wave that made a mess out of the NBA for a few draft classes. The big change in the last 20-30 years is the growth in AAU. I agree that the result is better players and probably worse teams. The ball handling you see from big guys is amazing compared to where it was 25 years ago. I think the shooting is much better than it was in the 90's. I think the defenses are much more sophisticated and aggressive than they were in the 80's, and the defensive fundamentals are much better too. Half the NBA didn't play defense in the 80's, now look at it. Team offense takes longer to develop than defense, and that has suffered. Even a kid that plays varsity for 4 years of high school is also playing with probably 20-30 other kids over the course of the AAU seasons. It is not unusual for a kid to have 4 or 5 different coaches in a year. It is really hard for a 16 year old kid to get his timing down with any single group when he is playing with so many, and the coaches tend to simplify the offenses and make them much more free flowing. I would put college basketball in 5 eras during my lifetime: pre-1980 - stone age. Basketball was a niche sport only played at a high level in urban areas and a few regions of the country. 1980's - basketball goes mainstream because of Bird and Magic, better athletes forego football and baseball to play hoops, era of offense and shooting. Considered the golden age, although I think defenses were so poor that it is hard to consider this a true Golden Age. 1990's - Pat Riley effect. Defense becomes paramount. Colleges increasingly lean towards athletes over all around basketball players because they need players that can defend. Game becomes an at-the-basket and free throw game, with outside shooting considered secondary. I also think that emphasis on urban players that grow up playing without good facilities exacerbates the shooting issue. Hard to be an outside shooter on a city park rim. Shooting % declines, game gets very physical and kind of hard to watch. 2000's - Real Golden Age of college basketball. Offense catches up with defense. Beginning of AAU era of youth basketball, which meant more resources to youth basketball, including more gym time (so kids weren't only playing outside), and ultimately better coaching. More importantly, major influx of Europeans in college and in the pros brings back shooting and more structured offenses. Players showing up at college more polished with better all-around games. There were also multiple top coaches in their primes. 2000's Big East was the best conference in history. Current - AAU Era. AAU dominating youth basketball is creating problems for colleges. Kobe has commented on this. On the other hand, the increasing influence of Europeans on the NBA is pulling colleges in the opposite direction. Michigan runs a very European looking offense. YouTube a major influence on recruiting and creating celebrities out of teenagers. [/QUOTE]

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