AAU Nationals for the 18s Division is happening this weekend, a month earlier than it is normally. The 18 Open division in Orlando is typically smaller than other fields and we'll see that again this year. At the 2018 AAU National tournament, for example, 20 teams competed in 18 Open, versus 54 in the 17 Open field.

Part of the complaint about 18s AAUs in years prior was that it was too late into the summer - too many teams couldn’t fill a complete roster because players had early college obligations or wanted to be finished with the club season sooner.

So, AAU moved the event from June to the end of May and cut the tournament from four days to three. That being said, I’m curious as to why there are even less teams this year – just 16 in 18 Open.