At All Costs

At All Costs is a 2016 documentary film that explores how the AAU basketball circuit has professionalized youth basketball in America. As the business of youth basketball balloons into a multi-billion dollar industry, the stakes for finding "the next big thing" have never been higher. The film follows a highly ranked high-school recruit, his family, and a competitive AAU team as they travel the country playing in marquee tournaments, competing against top-tier athletes, fighting to make it to the next level. Synopsis The main subjects of the documentary are Etop "Tope" Udo-Ema, founder and CEO of the successful Compton Magic AAU program, and Parker Jackson-Cartwright, a high school basketball player who is hoping for a Division I basketball scholarship. Through these subjects, different aspects of the AAU basketball world are explored. Interviews with experts on high school and college basketball are interspersed throughout the film to better explain the importance of AAU basketball and its change over time. Tope is concerned with building his team's "brand". He impresses on his players that they need to work hard and win games to further the brand of Compton Magic. The purpose is both to grab the attention of college coaches for the players and of middle school recruits for Tope. Tope's assistants search for middle schoolers that could play for the Compton Magic, finding out about their family situations and visiting their homes. They need a supply of talented, highly ranked players in order to win games and renew their contract with their sponsor, Adidas. AAU teams want to be sponsored to receive free gear from shoe companies—Nike, Adidas, and Under Armour—to help them recruit players. Shoe companies want their AAU teams to have the best players to raise the profile of their tournaments and to funnel to the college teams sponsored by their company. Tope does care for his players, and college coaches know that the AAU coach is often the main person who can sway a recruit's decision. Gabe York's single mother praises the influence that Tope has had on her son, who sleeps at Tope's house for part of the summer. When Gabe complains about his playing time on the Arizona Wildcats, Tope takes responsibility for helping him find a new college team if necessary. His former players say that he is involved in his players' college decisions and families.