Flo Webb dreaded weekends more than workdays this year.

At 7 a.m. every Saturday from early April until late July, she and her 17-year-old son Xavier climbed into the family car and drove 5 1/2 hours from Riverton, Wyo., to Salt Lake City, Utah. Xavier spent about 90 minutes practicing with his teammates on one of Utah's best AAU basketball teams before returning to the passenger seat of his mom's car for the 5 1/2-hour drive home.

"Those were very brutal days," Flo Webb said. "It seemed like we'd get down there, I'd blink and then we were back on the road. The part that really bothered me was we were going down there for an hour-and-a-half practice, but we knew we had to do it. Xavier had to practice to have a chance to play. And he had to play so college coaches could see him."

That many families in Wyoming have similar horror stories illustrates why earning a Division I basketball scholarship may be more difficult for players from that state than from any other. Kids in Wyoming who dream of playing college basketball have to sacrifice more than their peers elsewhere to get the competition and exposure needed to pursue their goal.

Unlike elite prospects from other states who often focus exclusively on basketball year-round, top players from Wyoming typically play three sports because their high schools are too small to field viable teams otherwise. That causes them to develop more slowly than kids elsewhere, as does the weaker competition they usually face during the high school season.

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The elite players good enough to overcome those obstacles still can only get on the college radar via the AAU circuit since Wyoming only has one Division I university and talent is too scarce and far-flung to attract out-of-state coaches. Alas, Wyoming is the only state in the Lower 48 without a viable AAU program, which means kids hoping to play in front of college coaches at high-profile spring and summer tournaments must join travel teams in neighboring states.

Rich Millay, a teacher and basketball coach in Glenrock, Wyo., teeters on the verge of debt every July as a result of spending up to $13,000 a year on gas, hotel rooms and flights so his sons can play for the Denver-based Colorado Chaos. Six-foot-8, 260-pound Taylor still landed at a junior college this fall despite his dad's efforts, but Millay will continue to make the 256-mile drive to Denver for practices and games in hopes that Jordan, a 6-foot-5 rising sophomore, may yet play Division I basketball.

"It's a time commitment, it's a lifestyle commitment and it's a huge financial commitment too," said Millay, a former basketball player at Idaho State. "It seems like every summer I put myself in debt through the school year, then pay it off just to start all over again. That's something I'll definitely keep doing, though, if it helps Jordan achieve his goal."

If families didn't have to sacrifice their weekends and savings for their sons to play for a travel team, perhaps Wyoming would produce more Division I talent.

Those in Wyoming basketball circles can only identify four scholarship Division I players from the state for the 2012-13 season, UC Santa Barbara wing Taran Brown, Montana 7-footer Andy Martin, Pacific big man Tim Thomas and Wyoming guard Jason McManamen. Considering there are well over 4,000 Division I basketball players on scholarship next season, that's a very small group even for the least populous of all 50 states.

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