The NCAA college basketball scene was exposed this past year with corruption across the country. A special committee was formed and has finally released their recommendations.
This season of Men’s College Basketball, and the Arizona basketball program, in particular, was clouded with controversy. One year ago the FBI began their raids on coaches homes, the first stage of bringing the corruption out of the dark and into the light.
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Not only were coaches found guilty, but close to 50 schools are named in various reports. Small schools and big-name schools were found guilty of recruiting violations, pay for play, and shady, back-alley dealings for years.
We’ve known for a long time the NCAA system is broken. Corruption is at the highest level to protect themselves rather than looking out for the student-athlete.
Headed by former Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, the NCAA formed the Commission on College Basketball was formed to look at the current climate and provide a pathway to fix the system.
Unfortunately, the committee completely missed the mark.
There are some good recommendations by the committee, but ultimately (and not the least bit surprising) the NCAA has deflected blame to outside sources.
But first, let’s look at five of their most positive recommendations from the committee.
No. 1 Time to end the one-and-done rule in college basketball.
The last time high school players went straight to the NBA was when LeBron James entered the league. Ever since then, the one-and-done model has been mocked, ridiculed and taken advantage of.
The Commission on College Basketball requested an end to the one-and-done rule.
"The Commission calls on the National Basketball Association (NBA) and the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) again to make 18-year-olds eligible for the NBA draft, so that high school players who are drafted may proceed to the NBA. The NCAA lacks the legal power to change one-and-done on its own; the power to make this change lies exclusively with the NBA and the NBPA."
College sports, and college basketball, in particular, was viewed as “dirty” before the one-and-done rule was put in place. But the level it’s at now would not have happened if we still allowed high school players to enter the draft.
As the report suggests, there was a lot of good intention behind the rule, but now the negatives far outweigh the positives. Instead of protecting kids, the NCAA and NBA opened up the floodgates for those looking to take advantage of possible superstars.
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Allowing athletes to go straight to the NBA simply makes sense. Will some players get bad advice from agents and family? Yes, it is going to happen. But it is still happening in college sports today.
Every year more and more underclassmen leave early to get to the professional ranks. Every major program has adapted the one-and-done model over the years, including Arizona. Sean Miller and company have had a one-and-done player for the past few years.
Deandre Ayton, Aaron Gordon, Stanley Johnson, Grant Jerrett, Lauri Markannen and Kobi Simmons are just a few names who have left the Arizona program after their freshman season. All of them except Jerrett have seen success come from their decision.
Out of the list, and even with as much success as some have seen, only Deandre Ayton has stuck out as someone who never should have been forced to wait one year. As good as Lauri is, his one year did a lot for him. Deandre is the poster child for getting ride of one-and-done.
College basketball will be much better off with players who stick around more than one year. I personally hope to see the NCAA and NBA model rules after how baseball works. The kicker is the NCAA has no power with the one-and-done rule.
To further clarify, the NBA and NBPA released the following statement:
"“The NBA and the NBPA thank Secretary Rice and the members of the Commission on College Basketball for their commitment to address the issues facing men’s college basketball. We support NCAA policy and enforcement reforms that will better safeguard the well-being of players while imposing greater accountability on representatives and programs that fail to uphold the values of the game. We also share the Commission’s concern with the current state of youth basketball and echo that all stakeholders — including the NBA, NBPA, NCAA, and USA Basketball — have a collective responsibility to help bring about positive change. Regarding the NBA’s draft eligibility rules, the NBA and NBPA will continue to assess them in order to promote the best interests of players and the game.”"
To sum it up, the committee saying the one-and-done rule needs to go away is just words. Their advice is to have the rule gone by 2019, but it looks like the earliest could be 2020 or 2021. As positive as this is, ending one-and-done, it’s pretty much pointless to make this request when the NCAA has no power over the NBA and NBPA.
No. 2 What about those who go undrafted? College basketball committee offers their take.
The college basketball committee has also recommended allowing those who go undrafted the option to return to school.
"“The Commission recommends that high school and college players who declare for the draft and are not drafted remain eligible for college basketball unless and until they sign a professional contract. Specifically, players who are not drafted should be permitted to change their minds and attend college or return to college, provided they remain academically and otherwise eligible. The Commission also recommends imposing two additional conditions on this retention of eligibility: The player must return to the same school, and the player must request an evaluation from the NBA’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee before entering the draft.”"
This is another no-brainer and is long overdue. The current rule allows players to enter their name into the draft, participate in combines, and return to school by a specific deadline, provided they do not hire an agent.
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This year there are 181 college athletes who entered their name into the draft as early entrants. With only 60 draft spots available, and limited spots in on G-League rosters, that leaves 67 percent of early entrants without an option domestically.
This is only looking at those who leave early. When you factor in seniors and International players entering the draft, the percent of early entrants to go undrafted only increases.
Last year alone 10 International players and 11 Seniors were drafted. Twenty-one of sixty draft spots taken away from early entrants. If those same numbers stayed true for the 2018 NBA Draft, 79 percent of early entrants would go undrafted.
Playing internationally used to be frowned upon, but over the years the option has become more and more popular. Former Arizona guards Mark Lyons and Kyle Fogg have seen tremendous success by playing overseas.
The option is there for those who go undrafted, but almost all of them would rather go to the NBA. Those players will sacrifice very good money to try and make a G-League roster. Had the option been given to return to school, a lot those players who end up undrafted would likely return to better their craft for the NBA, giving a boost to college basketball.
College basketball committee looks at avoiding AAU and other corrupt circuits.
Yes, another no-brainer here. The committee recommends essentially remove power from those running the AAU circuit, an ungoverned and corrupt organization.
"With respect to the longer term, the Commission recommends that with a goal of 2019, the NCAA work with USA Basketball, the NBA and the NBPA and others to establish and administer new youth basketball programs. We would expect the NCAA to devote significant resources and attention to these programs. Briefly, the Commission proposes that youth basketball players be identified and developed at three levels: Level 1, players with National Team potential; Level 2, players with Highest Collegiate potential; and Level 3, players with Collegiate potential. At each level, players would have to be identified, developed and evaluated by appropriate stakeholders. Critically, that development would include not only basketball, but also academic and life skills, health and collegiate eligibility. One centerpiece of this program would be NCAA administered regional non-scholastic basketball events in July that NCAA coaches would exclusively attend."
It’s obvious the corruption grew out of what the AAU circuit has become. Apparel companies like Adidas, Nike, and Under Armour, sponsor teams and tournaments across the country. Agents and scouts can attend these events without any real restrictions.
A good example is recent information which came out regarding Marvin Bagley III. Investigative reports found Nike paid Bagley’s father to coach and run the AAU team his son played for. The families income increased dramatically once Nike got involved, which brought on questions of whether Bagley III violated NCAA rules.
Joining with the NBA and USA Basketball makes it a sanctioned event and therefore allowing coaches to attend without any concerns. The NCAA would also hold their own sponsored events, removing agents and apparel companies from the picture, giving coaches access to players without the fear of breaking any rules.
The committee’s recommendation dives even further by banning coaches from non-certified non-scholastic basketball events. AAU circuits would be hit drastically with this rule, as would several apparel-sponsored events.
These are all good, no-brainer, moves the NCAA came up with. There are a few more you can read about here. But what stood out was how the NCAA blamed everyone except for themselves.
No. 4 College basketball coaches and programs can no longer risk it all.
One area the committee didn’t hold back on was in regards to punishments for coaches and programs caught cheating.
The Commission on College of Basketball recommended a possible lifetime ban for coaches who are caught cheating. Yes, a lifetime ban.
Instead of the typical one-year postseason ban we often see, the committee suggested a five-year ban from the postseason. It’s easy to accept a one-year ban. More than likely the team can rebuild and regroup in time to make another run.
Arizona Wildcats Basketball
A five-year ban is essentially a mini death penalty. The amount of revenue lost would be a financial nightmare. Although athletic departments rely a lot on sponsorship and conference contracts, no business office would ask for a post-season ban more than one year.
Recruiting losses taken during the five years would be detrimental to any program. With a one-year ban, a program will lose out on the one-and-done kids. They want to play for a team who will give them exposure, and there is no bigger stage than the NCAA Tournament.
But a five-year ban? You can kiss 2-4 year players goodbye as well. Sure they’ll still play for the regular season and conference titles. But what kid doesn’t want to play on the biggest stage?
These recommendations for harsher penalties will scare coaches, athletic departments and even apparel companies everywhere. If you cheat, everyone will suffer dramatically. Apparel companies don’t want to be associated with a client who isn’t able to market their brand on a national stage like the tournament.
No. 5 C
ollege basketball committee glaringly avoids blaming NCAA and the current structure.
What we don’t see from the committee is any real blame or fault placed on the NCAA. This isn’t surprising, but it is beyond obvious they were wanting to avoid faulting the NCAA.
Nowhere in the report do we see anything about the rights of student-athletes. Nowhere do we see recommendations to allow the athletes the chance to market themselves. The blame is strictly on the NBA, NBPA, AAU and apparel companies.
As stated before, the one-and-done is an NBA and NBPA rule. The committee simply stated they will have to wait for those two associations to decide before they look at genuinely changing the system.
According to Lindsey Schnell, of USA TODAY Sports, a baseball-style rule was thought about during the committees’ meetings, but ultimately they decided not to pursue it.
"Rice said the Commission considered a baseball-style rule, where athletes are eligible right out of high school but if they choose to go to college, must stay for three years. They opted to forgo this route, noting that type of rule would “keep collegiate players ready for the NBA in school against their will, where they will be potentially disgruntled magnets for corrupt money.”"
The problem here is corrupt money is what brought this committee together. The NCAA is a multi-billion dollar “non-profit” organization. They have made unbelievable deals with TV networks, apparel companies and a wide variety of corporate sponsorship’s.
Arizona Wildcats Basketball
The NCAA has allowed apparel companies to make blockbuster multi-year deals with apparel giants Adidas, Nike and Under Armour. Their people get paid while the student-athlete is left trying to find enough money for dinner at times.
Do they really think these companies don’t run the show? The NCAA allowed the corruption to happen and did little to nothing to stop it. Now that they’ve been exposed, they want to deflect blame to everyone else.
So as much good seems to have come from the committee, it all doesn’t mean anything as long as the NCAA continues to hoard revenue. As long as players aren’t allowed to market themselves, like every other college student, the corruption will only continue.
Should we all be shocked some sort of decision on compensating athletes was ignored? No, not at all. It’s the NCAA for crying out loud. Compensating athletes, even in an Olympic style method, will continue to be pushed to the bottom by the NCAA as long as it can.
Next: Solution to the One-and-Done Rule
At least the report is something. It is no longer all talk. The discussion has been started and pushed in the right direction. It’s a start, which is far more than we’ve ever had.