Younger age groups in youth basketball clubs in Croatia have yielded excellent results throughout the years. However, these results do not continue when these players join the seniors. Wrong approach to work with youth, creating pressure on achieving adequate sport results now, does not lead to the desired outcome for the player. Clubs often ignore proper selection and proper work, and therefore young athletes when joining seniors come with incomplete skills and knowledge. The aim of this paper was to present the work of youth programs in basketball clubs of various levels of Croatian basketball throughout the management of youth program, and the ways of functioning. Clubs that have given access to their data are the Cedevita Basketball Club (club participating in the highest rank of Croatian basketball, which also plays in the strongest European competitions), Vrijednosnice Osijek Basketball Club (club participating in the highest rank of Croatian basketball), and the “Zapad” Basketball Club (club participating in the lower rank of Croatian basketball). Clubs participating in higher rank competitions have better working conditions, have a person in charge of the youth sports program, better infrastructure, as well as sufficient sources of youth program financing. Consequently, more players engaged in Croatian national team come from these teams. On the other side, lower-ranking clubs are condemned to financing the work of their youth programs from their membership fees. These funds are mostly used for maintaining the work of youth program in the club. Based on conducted analysis, it is possible to propose a change in the club's business orientation towards top player development, and away from insisting on sport results in younger levels, since this approach often resulted in underdeveloped players.