Should I drop basketball next year?

Way back in the 80's I did high school xc, basketball and outdoor track. Ended up at a bottom 50% D1 school for track. From Thanksgiving til mid March my training was basketball practice plus only 1 run per week usually on Sunday and it was just a 5-7 mile easy run, so I could simply keep the feel of running. This program led me to improve every year in both XC and track - maybe with a rough start, but peaking for sectionals and states.

I'm very glad I never gave up basketball, as the feeling of a real team sport before a packed gym is just different than running, and I cherish the life long friendships with my teammates. I played intramural hoops in college, and now still do the old man's Y league.

Today there is a lot of pressure to specialize and more emphasis is now on indoor track. Maybe if you are at the New Balance nationals level, it might make sense to focus on track, but I'd suggest you stay with b-ball and put up your times in outdoor.

Play ball. You're there to have fun. It sounds like you enjoy it.

If you were a 4:20 miler-I'd say develop that talent--but it doesn't sound like you are. Do as many different things as you can. 30 years from now, you'll be glad you did both.