AAU Dream Team goes back to work

Tracy Edwards talks on his cell phone in his white Suburban at Douglass Park after Monday night’s practice. He is calling hotels in Louisville, Ky., trying to find rooms for 10, 15- and 16-year-old, basketball players and four coaches. His team just finished scrimmaging neighborhood talent on the cracked courts before sunset.

After four years of hibernation, Columbia’s AAU Dream Team is back with an all new roster to give kids in the community exposure of what’s to come after high school.

Edwards took time off to raise his 3-year-old son, TJ.

The team will be heading to Louisville to play in the 42-team Adidas Tournament of Champions and meet with college coaches in the Kentucky area.

The players aren’t worried about living up to the 32-1 Dream Team of 2002.

“We went out with a bang,” said Edwards, coach and organizer of that team.

Edwards explained that the Dream Team is about more then winning, it’s about shaping kids in the community.

Off the courts, the coaches pride themselves in helping their players develop, whether it is talking with college coaches or tutoring students at the public library.

“That’s what it’s all about,” Edwards said. “It’s exposure for these kids that many of them haven’t seen. It’s more than just basketball. We want kids to see the other (besides Division I) colleges. We want them to realize that it’s time to start thinking about what they want to do with their lives.

“Not all of them are going to play in the NBA, but if you can get them a free scholarship and they’ll have the opportunity to go to some good college and get a free education. Our goal is to put kids through school.”

The team is made up of players from all over the city, including Landon Boone. The Douglass sophomore averaged 13.2 points in 2005-06 and is the third-highest scorer in the city.

The talent isn’t limited to the high school teams either. The Dream Team recruits anyone who can play basketball in the community.

“We have A and B students to kids just out of juvenile hall,” Edwards said.

Hickman sophomore Avery Nelson plays to keep himself out of trouble. He was kicked off the team once, but is back to surround himself in a positive atmosphere.

“I was thinking about the positive things that I’ve done with the team,” Avery said. “And how I asserted myself in a good organization. I got to do right. I want to put myself out there as a good person. A person who loves basketball and works hard with every little drop of sweat.”

Past mistakes hold these players back, but the Dream Team is there to elevate.

“The kids get labeled in school early,” Edwards said. “Avery Nelson is going to Hickman High School, and you read about him and that’s his past. They don’t give him a chance on his future. They judge him before he even gets to high school. When they get out, they don’t even plan on going to college. Nobody gives him a chance. We have to lift them, if we don’t help them here they will make mistakes when they get older ... I won’t give up on them. If I can save one kid out of that group of 10, I did my job.”

Although Nelson loves playing basketball, he hopes that one day he will attend a Division I school to play football. He will be playing football for Hickman this fall.

Edwards co-founded the Columbia’s AAU Dream Team in 1986 from a group of kids who played around the community. The team practices five days a week, starting in early March and ending in late August. They will participate in at least three tournaments depending on how much money they raise from car washes, community barbecues, and private donations.