AAU Recap: Team Richmond 17U

Jack Herron

August 11, 2015 @ 04:30 PM

In a city like Richmond, there's so many AAU teams that it's sometimes difficult to compete on a large scale, despite the amount of talent the area has to offer. Still, Team Richmond year-in and year-out competes at a high level by following their method of gathering underrated, coachable talent and having them buy in to a team first system. Here's a recap of their summer. All quotes and pictures courtesy of Head Coach Del Harris. Overall Record: 23-10 Top Tournament Finishes: Big Shots Richmond champions; Big Shots Myrtle Beach runner-up; VA State Championship runner-up; Top 16 Finish at AAU Nationals. Notable Wins: Squires Richmond, West Virginia Wildcats B, Minnesota Elite MVP: Georgie Pacheco. “From my college and AAU coaching experience, I think he could, pound-for-pound, be the best player in the greater Richmond area this season. He’s that good. He’s the best unknown player in Richmond.”Defensive MVP: Carion Eaton. “He’s only 5’8, but he’s got a lot of D2 interest with his toughness. He’s a guy that picks up 94 feet and can guard you the whole way. On ball screens, he can’t really be screened. He fights over top and runs down his defender the whole.” Biggest Surprise: Michael Williams. “He’s a big combo guard that’s a stud defensively. He’s always finding a way to the rim and should have a big senior season over at Varina.” Darian Peterson. “He’s only 16 years old, but Darian was a huge surprise for us, including a 15 point outing against Team Loaded VA to keep us in the game down to the wire.” <h2>Coach's Take</h2>“We got better every game that we played. A lot of kids that weren’t scholarship players have a chance at earning a scholarship, and kids who had nothing now are getting a lot of D3 looks. All of the kids got better going into their senior year. We’re all about showing kids that you can get better during the summer with the right AAU program.”