High School vs Travel Basketball: Which Season Is More Important For College Recruiting?

We’ve heard this question a lot. Parents ask us if travel ball is really worth it. Is AAU necessary? Is it more or less important than the normal high school season? 

Here’s the deal - both seasons are important. In this post, we outline why both are so essential for college recruitment success. 

High School Season

High school seasons are an important part of your overall athletic career. You are likely to stay with the same team for all four years, which has its benefits for team cohesion and team culture. With AAU, sometimes you’ll play the same team members, but not always. AAU is a little more fluid. 

Your high school basketball career will also provide you with year over year metrics to easily identify where you’ve improved and grown. It can also help you identify where you need to focus attention on improving. If you finish your freshman year with a certain metric, and by the middle of your sophomore season things haven’t improved much...you know that's a spot that needs additional effort and development.

Travel Ball Season

Participating in AAU seasons is important because it allows you to see where you fit in on regional and possibly national levels. There are travel teams dedicated to regional travel and there are travel teams that play on a broader, national level. Both are useful - depends on your individual goals and desired commitment. 

Playing your high school season your scope of where your skill level is can only be compared to the select local teams you play against. However, playing regionally gives you a more diverse talent pool to play amongst and learn from. And, you’ll also have a chance to better understand where you rank. 

Additionally, since colleges often participate in regional recruiting, having regional exposure is essential. This will give you the opportunity to be seen by scouts and recruiters, who communicate what they see on the court with college coaches and coaching staff. Some AAU coaches even have their own expansive networks, and can help get their players noticed. 

With travel ball you also typically get coaches that are a little more engaged - not a slight to high school coaches, but many of them dedicate their time, essentially volunteering to coach usually in addition to another job. Many AAU coaches have broader networks and may even coach full time. For this reason, you get another level of detailed support on technical and strategic knowledge. These days to shoot for D1 scholarships, travel ball is a necessity.

Ready to increase your exposure and connect with regional and national resources? Download The Players Circle today and start networking!