Admittedly I do not know everything as it pertains to AAU basketball in Utah, but I’d like to share what I have learned about AAU basketball in the State of Utah in the past few years. Please feel free to add comments and information I might have missed. I’m hoping this can be a guide to help you make an educated decision on what to do.

The Top AAU circuits in the USA are sponsored by shoe brands. My ranking based on my understanding:

1- Nike Elite Youth Basketball League (EYBL)-

Utah does not have a Nike EYBL team. The Salt Lake Rebels are an EYCL which is a lower tier of EYBL.

2- Adidas 3SSB-

Utah has a team in this circuit, the Utah Prospects ran by Tim Davis. This team is very good and has 3 teams 17U, 16U, 15U.
For perspective:
The 17U team has 4 out of 10 kids from Utah.
The 16U team has 6 out of 8 kids from Utah.
The 15U team has 6 out of 7 kids from Utah.

The feeder Program for the Prospects is called Utah Gold 3SGB lower Adidas circuit and the lower version/feeder program of the Gold is Utah Valley Prime Basketball Junior 3SSB Circuit (I believe Rock Allen owns this).

3- Under Armour-

UAA Elite (Best Under Armour Teams in 15U,16U, 17U), Rise Circuits (Lesser circuit for 15U,16U, 17U), Future (10U-14U).

Utah Teams with Under Armour ties:
Salt City Hustle (Mulford family)
Mountain Stars (Troy Zentner)
Utah Drive (Dusty Dastrup)

4- PUMA NXTPRO Circuit

Only Utah team I am aware of is:
Team Utah (formerly Kongo, I know the Van Brocklin family is involved not sure how much)

5- Made Hoops

I honestly don’t know much about this, I heard yesterday it’s one the best leagues to play in after EYBL and that it is hard to get on that circuit. If anyone has info on this I’d love to learn more.


I know the most about the 2030 class so 6th graders that will be 7th graders next year. I am basing my rankings on the Youngblood League results (Kendall Youngblood) which is in Salt Lake, it by far is the best league for Basketball 4th-8th grade. The best and most competitive teams play in this invite only league. If your son is not playing in it, find a team that plays in it and try to get on that team.

In my opinion the Top teams for 2030 are:

Utah Stars Elite (Jackson Emery’s team)
Utah Star South (Jackson Emery’s B team)
Salt City Hustle (Mulford family)
Bucked Up Elite (Steve Black)
UpTempo Elite (No clue about who runs them)

With that being said, the only team that is unbeatable at this point is Utah Stars Elite, they are very good.

What does this all mean for your son, be very careful how much you’re paying and be clear about what they are providing. Travel sports are a lot of fun, but many teams don’t offer the same experiences.

Questions you need to ask:

Will practice be regular and consistent times?
What coaches will be at practices, and will they also be coaching the games?
How many players will be on the team? (You don’t want to be on a team with more than 8 kids trust me)
What fees are involved? Get a breakdown of all the fees, uniforms, tournament fees etc.

If you start seeing inconsistencies start asking questions and talk to an administrator, don’t pay a huge monthly fee when you aren’t getting what you’ve been promised for your son.

Just like any travel sport the basketball world is a tight-knit group, a good ole’ boys club, the better connections you have provide the better opportunities for your son for the future. If your son doesn’t like the sport as much as you want him to, don’t pay the crazy costs. If he is driven and does things on his own, it’s hard not to want to invest time and money.

In the last year we have traveled to basketball tournaments in Phoenix, Sacramento, Las Vegas, and Cincinnati. Our first year on the Under Armour Future circuit was rough. It’s honestly a different form of basketball, they press the whole game (if you can’t consistently beat it), it’s very physical and the refs let the boys play. We got beat up good out of the 14 games we played we won 6.

We just started the 2nd year last week when UA Future/Rise was in Lehi, Utah. We went 3-1 and beat a Vegas team by 25 points that beat us last year in Sacramento.

Lastly, Bantam basketball is big in Utah. Honestly, it’s overpriced, and the competition is not always good, the travel around Utah County is insane. I’d say it’s fun for younger kids up to 4th or 5th grade, after that if they want to play serious basketball get them onto an AAU team if they aren’t already and play Super League & Youngblood.

Hopefully this is helpful for some of you and educational for others.

I’d love to see someone breakdown something similar to this for Baseball and Girls Volleyball.

Again, I don’t know everything. I’m just sharing what I’ve learned. If you know more, educate me!