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Sandy • Don Johnson has a lot on his plate this summer.

After being appointed the boys' basketball head coach in April to succeed the winningest coach at Provo High, Craig Drury, Johnson is busy getting to know his team while playing in the AAU Big Mountain Jam this weekend.

The Big Mountain Jam is one of the largest amateur basketball tournaments in the country, with more than 6,000 players from all over the West Coast and Canada playing at the South Towne Expo Center. It features boys and girls from third grade through the varsity level. For many Utah high school teams, it's a perfect opportunity for teams to play together against local competition before the season starts.

It also provides other opportunities, according to Johnson, such as building team chemistry and learning what kind of players you have.

"What these tournaments do is it helps us as coaches evaluate our players, but at the same time, it brings team unity," Johnson said. "I'm trying to bring team unity to this group."

Johnson's team is made up mostly of sophomores and juniors who don't all have varsity experience, and because of the nature of summer tournaments like this one, many of his key players are missing.

It's the same for many other teams, such as Timpview High School, which is missing at least five of its regulars, including BYU commitment Gavin Baxter.

"It affects us because our team plays differently when you don't have a 6-foot-6 kid with a 7-foot wingspan that dunks it every which way," said Timpview coach Kevin Santiago. "But at the same time, it gives other kids a chance."

That might be the most beneficial part of the summer-league circuit, according to Santiago, because teams' younger, less-experienced players get the chance to showcase their skills in game situations.

"It gives your team a chance to bond together," Santiago said. "Your younger players get a chance to mesh in with some of the older guys who they haven't played with yet."

Mike Maxwell, head coach of back-to-back state champion Bountiful, uses the tournament as a tryout for his younger players.

"A lot of them don't realize that, but when the head coach is watching you — yeah, that's a tryout," Maxwell said. "It's always a tryout when I'm watching."

All three teams got the chance to compete against each other at the Jam, which is helpful because they may square off in the regular season or in the Division 4A state tournament. Last season, Provo lost in the first round to Logan, while Timpview was eliminated in the quarterfinals by Orem.

Provo played Timpview and Bountiful this weekend, winning both contests. Provo finished the tournament with a 3-1 record, and Timpview and Bountiful each finished 2-2.

"Winning is nice but it doesn't matter right now. We can lose them all; it doesn't matter," Maxwell said. "If I'm worried about that in July, then I've got a problem."

"I don't put an emphasis on winning, whatsoever," Johnson added. "It's all about building character and understanding wins and losses and what they've got to do to get better."

Santiago notes that winning is always the goal, but he echoes Johnson and Maxwell in saying development of the players is more important than the win-loss column.

"Well, you're always trying to win, but the hardest part about summer ball is you can't take it too seriously, because you don't have all your team," Santiago said. "It becomes more about a chance to give younger kids to have their first varsity minutes with other guys."