About Us

Crossover Elite Basketball was founded for the purpose of providing elite basketball players in St. Charles County the opportunity to train and compete with players of similar commitment levels.

Philosophy

Over the past decade, there’s been an emergence of “club” basketball programs surfacing in the St. Louis area. Too often these “club” programs evolve into bonafide “all-star” teams with the emphasis being on individuals showcasing skills in lieu of players developing their individual skills within the framework of team basketball principles. When players would return to their school affiliated team from their club basketball experience they hadn’t developed as players in a fashion that would improve their chances of succeeding at the high school level or beyond.

The Solution

We realized if we aggregated players from programs in our area we could provide the elite player an opportunity to pursue the advantages of playing “club” basketball while also optimizing their opportunity to continue learning the game within the framework of team basketball principles.

Founders of Crossover Elite teams are coaches currently affiliated with Liberty High School and Ft. Zumwalt South High School. We now have coaches with affiliations to Liberty, Ft. Zumwalt South, Holt, Francis Howell, Timberland and Lutheran St. Charles. If you are interested in leading a Crossover Elite team as a Coach or Assistant Coach, email us HERE.

New in 2020

Crossover Elite is now a division of Northstar Basketball under the All-American Athlete umbrella. The Crossover Elite program will now be expanded to service more teams and players under the All-American Athlete Mission.

Three Stages of Development:

Teaching the Basics

• 8-13 Years of Age
• Focus on basic fundamentals
• 75% skills / 25% tactics

Amazing at the Basics

• 14-15 Years of Age
• Become an expert in the fundamentals
• 50% skills / 50% tactics

Specialization

• 16-20 Years of Age
• Preparing to play at the highest levels
• 25% skills / 75% tactics

How we teach the game:

Crossover Elite uses a Contraints Led Approach to teaching the game of basketball. The major take-away on the constraints-led approach is that rather than using excessive instruction on how a player should move, the coach constrains a player’s movement possibilities through the use or modification of equipment, changes to the playing dimensions or surfaces, changes to rules, or the use of games.

Small sided games (SSG’s) will be used to teach the basic fundamentals. Very little “on-air” drills will be used in development. Instead, practices will be structured to best replicate the variability experienced during game play.

How we play:

In taking a long term approach to athlete development there are certain absolutes in how our teams will play.

Defensively each team will play man-to-man defense with an emphasis on the pack-line method. Quite simply, zone defenses are not to be used with the exception of a baseline out of bounds defensive set. We will standardize our baseline out of bounds defense which will include options to play a 2-3, trapping 2-3, or 1-3-1 when an opponent is inbounding the ball under our basket. While our high school program will feature a variety of different defensive looks, zone defenses at the youth level do nothing to develop the athleticism of our players. At the 7th grade level we will begin to teach a match-up zone.

Offensively we will promote a position-less system, especially at the younger levels. Different entries will be used to initiate an offensive possession to gain the first small advantage.

Offensive Absolutes –

1. Great offense is shooting EASY & OPEN shots
2. In order to get easy and open shots we have to create an advantage and then keep the advantage until the shot is taken.
3. If you draw 2 defenders to the ball = pass
4. Types of Advantages
   1. Space (If defender gives you space and you are in range for an easy / open shot = shoot
   2. Numbers (If offense has the defense out numbered, move the ball quickly to keep the defense in the blender to get an easy & open shot)
   3. OBD = Off Balanced Defender.  Fast ball movement leads to slow defensive player rotations.  We drive the ball against off balanced defenders.
5. Catch and See.  Be a threat to score.  Catch the ball and see the basket or see cutters.
6. Finish all cuts (empty cuts are fine, but all cuts are cuts to score or help a teammate cut to score)
7. Play with pace

Defensive Absolutes –

1. No straight line drive – dribbles into the lane (highway)
2. No baseline drives
3. Be in help, don’t get to help……Be in gaps, don’t get to gaps
4. Talk
5. First three steps back on defense are your fastest three steps
6. Defense ends with a defensive rebound