AAU Mom Has Words For Ryan Day After Her Son Cold-Cocked Day's Son

AAU dad Ryan Day had one of those AAU weekends where his son, RJ, was cold-cocked during a game and had his nose bloodied. He then soldiered on for his team -- there's no 'I' in team when you're playing AAU ball -- and then dropped in 17 as RJ's team went on to win the tourney championship, according to a dispatch from the Ohio State Buckeyes football coach.

Ahh, but this is travel ball. Tourney time. Weekends on the courts. This is war. It's also 2021, and Day was quickly challenged by the mother of the boy who threw the sucker punch.

"I am the mother of the other CHILD. Do I condone what he did absolutely not! But I also don't condone your child throwing cheap shots and elbowing my son multiple times. Both kids was supposed to sit. That was only the right thing to do. Even the ref stated that," Sharaill G. fired off on Twitter.

She wasn't done.

"Some reason your child was able to continue to play. While my child sat. I also say for a grown man. To run on the court and point his finger in a 12 year old face is also unacceptable (he made it clear that your son was his grandson). Great sign!" Sharaill fired back.

When Ryan Day supporters piled on Sharaill, she wanted Day to hold his son accountable as well.

"You definitely correct he lost his kool. I hold him accountable for all his actions good and bad no excuses! I'm glad his kid is okay but all this extra of what he would of did and that great sign! Typical in today's world. I'm done with this post. Lesson learned moving on."

And there you have it. Another weekend on the competitive youth basketball travel scene where kids win worthless medals, parents feel better about themselves, and everyone goes back to work Monday morning and life goes on.

Normally I wouldn't dare include anything from ESPN's Undefeated site, but there was something written about the travel basketball/AAU circuit back in 2018 that fits perfectly into this post.

"Are you ready to spend a thousand bucks to play a weekend out of town, and then your kid’s team loses its first game and no college coaches see her play?" Jesse Washington wrote. "You ready to see your son’s team bring in a new player at his position, and then your son has to come off the bench? Are you ready to skip vacation for basketball? Because that’s what this journey is about. You in or out? There are 9,406 Division I basketball scholarships for men and women. Less than 2,000 spots are up for grabs each year. Hundreds of thousands of kids play AAU. Your kids and mine aren’t one-and-done prodigies, or even big-time recruits — they’re in that gray area of players who have to really grind to get a scholarship."

Good luck to all the parents out there chasing that glory.