Coaches Aaron Crute and Kevin Smith founded the Georgia Defenders to show that defense wins championships.

Introduction

The Law of Attraction states that thoughts can affect outcomes. So if an individual desires a certain outcome they simply need to positively think about it. There’s a lot in a name. Coaches Aaron Crute and Kevin Smith founded the Georgia Defenders to promote the use of fundamentals to develop players and to win championships. There is one particular fundamental that’s critical to their efforts. “Defense is the key to winning championships. Look at Duke, they’re not the most talented team but they win with defense. We want that for our kids,” said Crute. “The name sets the tone.”

The Georgia Defenders are a first-year organization and currently fields a 15U team but plans to have 8-17U teams in the future. Beyond teaching fundamentals, the Defenders focus on developing well-rounded citizens through encouraging players to take part in community service projects. It’s a focus that is important to Crute, who himself played high school basketball and has coached girls’ basketball at Florida, Alabama State and Georgia Tech. “Hard work has sort of gone out the window recently. Kids think they are owed something. We want to instill work ethic in them,” said Crute.

Core Philosophy

On the court, the Defenders are true to their name. The coaches preach defense, the players practice it. “We get in your face. We play hard defense. If you can’t play defense, you can’t play,” said Crute. “We teach the kids that defense is the key to team and individual success.”

Crute and Smith started the team based on their passionate belief that there are serious issues in the way kids are being taught basketball. “Today, there is a lack of teaching kids fundamentals. Kids tend to rely on jumping ability. They don’t understand learning fundamentals will only increase their skill level.”

The Defenders’ effort to learn and win the right way is made not just on the athletes’ behalf, but to show other AAU teams that it can be done. Prior to starting the Defenders, Crute coached in Cobb County’s youth basketball program at Kell and has seen dramatic differences between this program and this system that he now competes in. “Everybody wants a Nike sponsorship and some programs are more about sponsorships than the kids. At 14, I just don’t think a kid should get pimped,” said Crute. “Not saying that we are the end all, be all, we’re just trying to teach the kids ball the way it should be taught.”

Outlook

The Defenders’ goals are to secure a bid to Nationals and win it. “We don’t spend all that time in the gym, working as hard as we work to not win.  We want to get to Nationals and make a statement there,” said Crute.

Crute is a team-first guy and doesn’t like to promote individual players. However, I’ve seen a few of their games and several players stood out. Point guard Krisna Kharti has shown a high basketball IQ and good passing ability through the early season. Shooting guard Kendall Crute is a dynamic scorer, both off the dribble and as a shooter. Forward Khalil Smith defines the Defenders’ efforts in the middle with his shot blocking and rebounding ability.

Getting Noticed

The Defenders are quickly developing a fan base in an age group where passionate fans are not the norm. At a game during pool play at Battlegrounds, a small but boisterous group of fans lived and died on every possession. “We didn’t know that we had that type of fan support. People like to see good basketball, played the right way.”