The Mass Rivals are an AAU program that has built a reputation for developing young, raw talent. Specifically, they thrive at taking young big kids with good length and developing their ball skills. Head Coach Vin Pastore's first protégé was Scott Hazelton, a six-foot-eight swingman who was selected for the McDonald's All-American Game in 2000 before heading off to UConn and then starring at the University of Rhode Island and playing professionally overseas for several seasons. Pastore got out of the AAU game for a while following Hazelton's graduation but resurfaced a few years ago as the coach and director of the Mass Rivals elite high school teams with Hazelton by his side on the bench. I can vividly remember the first time I saw Pastore's team work out. It was nearly three years ago and they were a 15-and-under team that was based around two young and raw talents named Evan Smotrycz and Carson Desrosiers. While Smotrycz had some raw ability at the time, Desrosiers was extremely limited. He was rail thin, released his shot on the left side of his head (he was right handed), and couldn't score in a half court set. Regardless, Pastore raved of their potential and swore to me that they would both eventually be high-major kids. Fast forward three years and both players finished their high school careers ranked among the top 100 prospects in the country. Smotrycz is heading to the University of Michigan, where his versatility should make him an ideal fit in John Beilein's system, while Desrosiers is headed to Wake Forest and now considered among the most skilled big men in the entire country. Earlier this week I stopped in to watch the Mass Rivals work out again. Now, the gym was full of players who were reminiscent of those two raw youngsters I saw three years ago. Zach Auguste, who will reclassify to 2012 at the New Hampton School next year, has been under Pastore's tutelage for roughly a year now and has gone from a player who was cut by other local AAU programs to the guy who Pastore now labels "the next one" with his combination of length, athleticism, and skill. In the class of 2013 prospects like Alec Brennan (Weston, Mass.), Matt Cimino (Portland, Maine), and Mabor Gabriel (Manchester, N.H.) all have the tools to follow in the same path. There workout began with 45 minutes of ball-handling (without a break), progressed to multiple drills in the Mikan series, and finished with a scrimmage. While the creativity of the drills, volume of repetitions, and intensity of the coaching was all impressive during drill work, I found the scrimmage to be particularly interesting. While most coaches are typically conditioning their players to know their limits without trying to do too much, Pastore is just the opposite. He praises his big men for putting the ball on the floor and being aggressive, no matter the result, encouraging them to push their limits and consequently expand their game. That result isn't always pretty when it comes to 15 year old big kids trying to play off the dribble, but that's all part of the plan. History says that by the time they're 17 it will look a lot better.