I can't argue with anything you said, and I overlap/identify with much of it.Pop McKale wrote:No, you pretty well have it although I'll confess I've been all over the place with my posts this past week. As have many of us, I'm sure. I'm not advocating the disbanding of college basketball. Not at all. I love the game. As a kid, I'd scribble down the brackets as they were announced by Brent Musburger on CBS and then make my own bracket poster for the wall in my room. I still have a few socked away I think. I grew up with Lute Olson both at Iowa and at Arizona because my folks are Hawkeye alums. Got hooked on Ronnie Lester and the amazing 1980 run. Cried like a baby when UNLV made that ridiculous comeback to keep Iowa from the Final Four in 1987 just like many of you may have when Hunt made the 3-pointer over Lofton in 1989.Longhorned wrote:I'm probably misunderstanding what you wrote, but the only way big dollars won't be involved is if the students, alumni, and the public stop following the sport. One good way to ensure that happening is the elimination of players good enough to be future pros.Pop McKale wrote:You're already putting a lot of faith in this and at the end of it all if it's set up the right way you may end up being right. Forgive me, though, if it sounds eerily similar to someone 25 years ago saying "What do you mean they're paying players to go certain schools?" or "What do you mean they forged his transcripts to make him eligible?" When big dollars are involved it would seem there's always pressure and influence.Chicat wrote: If schools and coaches can't make lucrative apparel deals, how can there be pressure or influence?
Again, this all makes it a professional venture right out of high school. So why not just eliminate the middle man for the small percentage of athletes to which this really applies? Believe me, I'm all for the free market and if you can go out and make some bucks on the up-and-up, then crack a nut. Still, make the case for me that this should be done via institutions of higher learning most of which already have myriad financial issues of their own to overcome.
As you know and seem to support, any college student can make as much money outside the university as anybody wants to pay them. Like Chicat said, some future pro's have good reasons for wanting to go the college route. It seems strange that we should have rules to prevent them from having outside sources of income while they pursue that.
You point out a potential conflict: What if a shoe company's investment in a player runs up against a situation where he sees less playing time? This opens the head coach to the risk of bribery by the shoe company. But this danger is found everywhere in the world, and institutions have to put in place incentives to prevent it. For example, the institution and shoe company can require that players are paid in accordance with floor minutes. I don't know whether that's a good solution, but somebody smarter than me can and will have better ideas that keep rather than close the options available for players and programs.
But, I'm not an NBA fan at all and have no interest in watching a pro or semi-pro league emerge in the collegiate ranks. I fully realize that's basically what we have now. Enjoyed watching Lakers/Celtics and then the Bulls dynasty (the first 3-peat more so than the latter) as a kid/college student, but lost interest in it after the mid-90's because of the constant migration of players, the way the game has been played (tons of iso, one-on-one, etc.) and all the attendant things that make it a pro sport and not amateur. To be fair, I've thoroughly enjoyed what Kerr and the Warriors have brought to the league and am glad other teams have tried to follow suit with their style of play but it's something I'll never really pay great attention to until it's deep into the playoffs.
Similarly, the experiences at Arizona Stadium and McKale Center have become more in line with what you'd see in the NFL and NBA stadiums and arenas - though done in a 2nd class manner to be blunt, and at the expense of some wonderful tradition and pageantry and the loss of some real love affairs with the kids on the team. My wife - born and raised Tucsonan and UofA lifer - has nearly zero interest in following Arizona Basketball anymore because she can't keep track of who's on the damn roster year to year. I'll admit my passion for it has really waned in the last decade, partially because we're neck deep in what our kids are doing and all that goes with that, but also for many of those same reasons. I never thought I'd see the day when we wouldn't be season football and basketball ticket holders, but here we are.
There's no investment to be made from my perspective. Many of these kids are here 5-6 months and then are gone. So much of the conversation about our players doesn't surround what they're actually doing here. It's all about the latest mock draft and how they project in the NBA game. And for many, that's all perfectly OK and many enjoy that aspect of it. I don't. Many players don't like the PT they get and want to move on to another school. I don't blame them at all. I blame the way the game is currently rigged. It's sad when stories like those of T.J. McConnell are the exception rather than the rule. Senior Days with one player honored - ONE - like this past season. Andre Iguodala has had an incredible career in the NBA and has become a fine ambassador for the UofA but folks conveniently forget how dysfunctional the team became his last season here and some would argue part of it was due to him going into full-on NBA audition mode. Similar conversations have happened regarding Trier and other past Wildcats trying to boost their own stock at the expense of the team. I can live without it.
I realize the era I describe is long gone so maybe my hope is that things are so corrupt the only option is a massive reset that will allow these wonderful players to go pro straight from high school and get to work on doing what they really want to do. That the AAU circuit is blown up to the point that high school sports reap the benefits and high school basketball in particular becomes relevant again. That those who aren't ready can go to great schools and programs and develop while getting a good education and one that is meaningful -- meaning the kids value it. That the schools, students, and community can embrace these players much more as their own. In the event that reset happens, you're far more likely to get more players here who really want to be HERE - for the campus, the climate, the chicks, the tradition, the fan support, the great coach, and some great academics that will help them in the likely event that they fall short of the NBA.
For me, there's no getting around the artificial nature of it if the players are paid to be in Tucson. I know many folks don't have a choice when they go to college if they can afford to go at all, but I was fairly lucky and could have gone a number of places. I chose Arizona for all the reasons many of you did. That name on the uniform has lost some meaning for me -- even before this past week's events. That's been a tough realization that's been magnified after what came to light last Tuesday.
So, that's where I'm coming from...whether it makes any sense or not I'll leave to you all.
The one observation I'd add is that, even as things stand now, 5-star players aren't in Tucson because they're paid to be here. They're paid to be at any school. That's equalized. There are different reasons why they end up at Arizona or Kansas or whatever.
The thing that gets me down is that the choice of where they go often isn't theirs to make. That's according to Gershon. I never understood what that means, but now I suspect it refers to the agents they get directed toward.
