Sandy • The Big Mountain Jam, already the biggest AAU basketball tournament in Utah, is still growing in its second year. Fifty more teams. Two more courts. An estimated 3,000 more fans flocking to the South Towne Expo Center.

Watching some of the games, it's clear there's a high level of play at the 200-team tournament. Utah Pump-N-Run's players, including some of the top prep athletes and college recruits in the state, fly up and down the floor, and a few rim-rocking dunks are great crowd-pleasers. Some of the state's top high school basketball program, both boys and girls, are represented.

But just as notable is the absences of such clubs as Salt Lake Metro or Utah Flight. Lone Peak, the defending Class 5A champs, has its sophomore and freshman teams competing, but not any varsity players. Other prep stars make a few games but not others.

The Big Mountain Jam may be the biggest tournament in Utah, but on one level, it's still working toward hosting the best basketball the state has to offer.

Part of the issue lies in the tournament's timing. When he created the tournament, director Mike Killpack wanted to avoid competing with the other larger events across the country that act as showcases for college coaches. The NCAA's viewing period starts Wednesday, so he simply slid it one week earlier to make the Big Mountain Jam a "warm-up" for the tournament-heavy schedule of July.

The problem is the Big Mountain Jam coincides with a number of basketball camps that draw top-level players, such as the ones at Dixie and Utah this week. Some, such as Jordan Loveridge, rejoin their teams afterward, but to other teams, the attrition is too great to compete.

"It comes down to we don't have enough guys to field a team," Lone Peak coach Quincy Lewis says. "You have to work around football camps, basketball camps at other colleges and getting ready for a hectic schedule for the recruiting period. There's only so many things you can do."

Even Pump-N-Run had trouble cobbling together a team, but brought in players who don't typically compete with them to fill out their roster. American Fork players Marcel Davis, Quincy Bair and Austin Waddoups — all high-level prospects — even pulled double duty with their high school and club teams for the chance to compete locally.

"It's a great tournament and it's so convenient with everything being in one place," Pump-N-Run coach Todd Phillips says. "The biggest obstacle is working with the high schools and camps. If you can get enough guys, it's a great warm-up."

Killpack, a veteran AAU organizer, is aware of the hang-ups, but is planning long-term. He's made it a priority to get younger teams to join, both drawing parents and trying to coax players to keep coming back for years to come.

The tournament now occupies three of the Expo Center's five sections. Killpack and others involved in Utah basketball hope someday soon of filling the whole center for a 300- or 400-team event.

"I've had coaches from out of state tell me that they'd love to come back next year and bring six teams instead of one," Killpack says. "We've really worked hard to make this a great event, and if we keep doing what we're doing, it'll bring teams back."

kgoon@sltrib.com