M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs, a team of Kentucky-based players, drove all the way to the finals of the 17U bracket, where they lost to Team Loaded NC, 71-38. 

If you're a longtime fan of AAU basketball, the name of the team's coach, John Adkins, might sound familiar.

Adkins, the former coach of the Tallahassee (FL) Wildcats, has been around this game a while, and the story of M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs is a touching one.

Adkins had established the Wildcats as a national powerhouse, a force on the Adidas AAU circuit (he also coached high school basketball in Florida and at Tallahassee Community College). Then, tragedy struck.

Adkins' son, Matt (who this team is named after), was killed in 2002 by an ex-Wildcat player in a carjacking gone bad.

The experience affected Adkins and his family so deeply that the coach, who owns a trucking company, decided to leave and return to his West Virginia roots.

Since then, coaching his three younger children (who are no longer involved in AAU basketball), Adkins, who lives in West Virginia near the Kentucky border, has made the area home ever since. It's far from the shoe circuit, he admits, but the players are plentiful (and coachable) and with M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs (which stands for Mentoring Athletes Through Team Sports), they've brought some of them to light.

"There's a lot of good talent here," Adkins said. "We don't quite get the athletes we get in Florida, but there are a lot of good players, and they're coachable."

Taveion Hollingsworth, who was one of the top freshman scorers in the country this year (averaging 13.3 points) at Western Kentucky, played for Adkins for three years, leading the Mustangs to a runner-up finish two years ago. Now, they feature Dontaie Allen (class of 2019), a 6-foot-6 wing from Falmouth, KY, with point guard skills (and scholarship offers from Florida, Louisville, and West Virginia) and 6-7 Isaiah Cozart (class of 2019) of Richmond, KY, whom Adkins believes can play at the highest level.

"I think he's a high-major player," Adkins said. "He has mid-major offers. I think he belongs at the highest level, but they don't see it yet."

After 25 years on the circuit, Adkins contacts coaches when he has a player. They don't always listen, as he claims on Hollingsworth, but after a lifetime in basketball, Adkins and M.A.T.T.S. Mustangs are still very much in the game.

"It's nice to see kids in the area get a little respect," Adkins said. "There are a lot of good players in Kentucky and West Virginia that people don't see."

Scholarships Are Fine, But Championships Are Better

Since 1977, when the Boston Amateur Athletic Club was started by Leo Papile, much of the program's philosophy has been retained. Players cannot be immune to discipline, said Papile, who worked for the Celtics for 22 years (and now consults for the Clippers). Team goals are paramount. And at BABC, which has produced 23 NBA players, don't expect a scholarship offer to get a tweet.

"We're a program, when an athlete gets an offer, we don't tweet it," Papile said. "Because the athlete hasn't achieved anything. If you win championships, that's an accomplishment."

Don't get Papile wrong — he's down-to-earth, easy to reach and easy to speak with. But the former coach on Cleveland State's 1986 Cinderella team carries with him a decided old-school mentality — one committed to the collective — which is refreshing in today's more self-driven era.

"There's a long history with the pro team (in Boston)," Papile said. "When I was growing up, the Celtics team from 1957-59 had the best record ever. The guys who were around then, who are in coaching- Jim Calhoun, who coached at UConn and (former Chicago Bulls coach) Tom Thibodeau, were influenced (by those teams): teamwork, selfishness and team defense. All of Bill Russell's teams were based on team defense.

"We've had between 22 and 23 NBA players, NFL players. To me, that's an accomplishment. … It's more of a 'we' thing, not a 'me' thing."

At the AAU Nationals, following a win at the Peach Invitational Tournament earlier this month, BABC's 16U team won the program's 23rd national championship in 41 years, beating Team Loaded NC 67-61.

"We're proud of that," Papile said. "We left Boston on July 6. We won't come back until Sunday. When the game's over Sunday, then you go home."

From Nonexistent To Top-10 In Months

The Columbia (SC) Hoyas, led by 6-7, quick- every-which-way Marlow Gilbert of Hunter-Kinard-Tyler High School, and shooting guard Andrew Robinson of River Bluff High School (who hit six three-pointers in a 68-63 win over SEMO Elite), finished 10th in the 17U bracket. 

After only five months in existence, Boo Williams 434/2021, based out of Lynchburg, VA, made the Sweet 16 in the 15U bracket. Led by 6-3 point guard Jalen Leftwich of Lynchburg Christian Academy and 6-2, lefthanded wing Jacobi Lambert of Heritage High School, they carried the Boo Williams torch well in their first go-round at AAU Nationals.

"To be playing for the ninth or 10th spot in this tournament only five months after starting this team is more than I could ask for," said coach Jesse Calloway III.

In the 19U bracket, Team New York, of Brooklyn, led by 6-5 power forward Darnell Askew of Curtis High School (class of 2019) on Staten Island, and 5-11 point guard Darryen Pringle (a Brooklyn native who plays for the Cordia School in Hazard, Ky.- class of 2020), finished .2-3 in pool play while playing up (the group was nearly all 17 and under).

Brian Towey is a Queens, New York-based writer covering basketball and track and field. He can be reached at bc_towey@yahoo.com and @BcTowey.