Making a UBC Team

Making A Utah Basketball Club Team

For those interested in trying out for a Utah Basketball Club spring team, here, we’ll provide some extra information about our selection process.

We’ll also provide information on pricing and why playing AAU/travel basketball may or may not be a good fit for you.

Types of Utah Basketball Club Teams

There are three types of Utah Basketball Club Teams: Elite, Select and High School Prep. After tryouts, our coaches will place players at the appropriate team level based on proper evaluation of the player at tryout sessions or skill development sessions. In many cases as well, players are evaluated over the course of the high school season.

UBC Elite

UBC Elite Teams are comprised of players that are projected to play at the higher collegiate levels, including NCAA Division 1 or 2 and high-level Junior College. Elite teams are comprised of standout High School Varsity Basketball Players, most of whom are All-Region or All-State Selections for multiple years during their career.

UBC Elite Teams play in NCAA sanctioned tournaments during official NCAA recruiting evaluation periods in April and July, maximizing the opportunities to be seen by a wide range of college coaches. They will play in 6-7 total tournaments/events from March-July.

UBC Select

UBC Select Teams are comprised of very good High School Varsity Basketball Players. These players either have or will make significant contributions to their respective High School team’s. Many of these players will have the opportunity to play at the collegiate level.

UBC Select Teams play in NCAA sanctioned tournaments during NCAA evaluation recruiting periods in April and July, maximizing the opportunities to be seen by college coaches.  This guarantees that they are playing against good competition, leading to maximum improvement. They will play in 4-5 total tournaments/events from March-July.

The Selection Process

Players are chosen for teams based on several factors, including individual skill sets, potential, coachability, teamwork and the team’s needs at a specific position. To be seen by our coaches, a player must sign up for our tryouts, which are generally held the week following the High School state basketball tournament. Tryouts are for boys that are currently in 9th grade through 11th grade or are currently 14, 15, 16 or 17 years old.

Following the tryouts, our coaching staff gets together to decide which players are the best fit for each team. The number of teams we put together for the spring depends on the number of players we feel will be competitive at that level and how many of those players want to play. We always have one team at the 15U, 16U, and 17U levels but we will field more teams when appropriate.

Cost

The team dues for UBC teams varies by team level, as each level has a different schedule. The dues that each player pays covers the cost of tournament entry fees, coaching fees, gear fees, facility fees, hotel rooms and travel arrangements while we are in the tournament cities. Costs are divided into Spring and Summer dues and are paid in two installments or can be paid monthly.

Please be aware that multiple fundraising options are available to help players cover expenses. Total player costs vary from year to year and are adjusted based on fundraising and donations. 

The player dues do not cover food or transportation to and from the tournament. Players that make a team will be expected to pay for travel expenses to and from tournament cities on their own. Players will be given the opportunity to travel with the team at our negotiated rates, or they can travel with their parents.

While the players are at a tournament, UBC takes care of transportation to and from games, restaurants, etc. and arranges for the hotels (including the payment). The benefit to this pricing structure is a) we get better pricing because of our ability to negotiate (due to our size) and b) parents are not required to travel with their sons which can save a significant amount of money (though parents are always certainly welcome to).

Why would anyone play AAU?

If you are still unsure whether playing AAU (or travel ball) is right for you, we encourage you to check out the following article, “Why play AAU and what’s in it for me?”. Click here to read it.  

The article goes into detail about some of the advantages of playing AAU that include getting some early opportunities, increasing your game reps and helping improve your potential recruiting. If these are topics that are not important to you, then playing AAU may not be the right way to go.

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