Re: Recruiting 2019
Posted: Wed May 29, 2019 9:18 am
Watch the mid-majors and bad major conference teams, it's shit basketball, and there aren't any OAD's. The big thing at this level is the coaching.
Watch the mid-majors and bad major conference teams, it's shit basketball, and there aren't any OAD's. The big thing at this level is the coaching.
Finding an alternative to college is on the fast track from anomaly to normalcy. Hampton’s decision is emblematic of the attitudes of high school basketball players toward college as we hurtle toward potentially seismic changes coming to the NBA draft in 2022.
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“The singular difference from now and when this track was open a long time ago,” said an NBA scout, referencing the direct-to-NBA route, which ended in 2005, “is the absolute deterioration of the value of a college scholarship in the eyes of the players and their families. These guys don’t want to be in school and don’t care. The carrot of education has been devalued.”
There’s a good guess why the priorities of prospects have shifted. The parents have followed the money. Consider that since 2005, high-end coaching salaries have nearly tripled to as much as $10 million annually, the NCAA television contract has skyrocketed into the billions and a boom in conference-specific cable content has poured tens of millions annually into leagues like the SEC and Big Ten. For the players, they get a few table scraps like cost of attendance and some more charter flights and nicer gyms. But the alleged draw to college is still the scholarship. And it’s going to become increasingly clear when the NBA rule changes back, just how stale that carrot is for top prospects.
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So how many top high school players will be skipping school and attempting to go to the NBA once it’s formally allowed? There were nine high school entrants back in 2005. But so much has changed with exposure and social media that a mass exodus is expected. I guessed 50 players will declare annually to another NBA scout on Thursday. His response? “Maybe even more, to be honest with you.” He added: “Everyone is going to throw their name in there. I can only imagine how it works: ‘He declared, so I’m declaring.’ You get the peer-pressure thing. It doesn’t cost them or hurt them to get the feedback. I would if I was a kid.”
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College basketball isn’t going to die, but it appears destined to lose some oxygen. As long as there’s a bracket, gambling and student sections, the sport will muster the attention of America every March. Basically, despite the NCAA, its members and coaches, the sport will continue to succeed. One NBA scout pointed out why kids still value going to college: “Some people still like the idea of the brand building and March Madness.”
This is a warning that there’s a new generation of kids who see college as more of an impediment than a benefit. The NCAA has begun discussions on allowing players to monetize their name, image and likeness. It’s a baby step, but an important one as they lose ground in a competitive field.
“It’s big especially for the top-level kids, that gives them an option to be able to profit,” said an NBA scout. “That’s the biggest step to make that change.”
College coaches and the impotent organization that represents them, the National Association of Basketball Coaches, should also take a long look at the rule the Rice Commission shuttered last year that would allow programs to hire more on-floor workout coaches. Limiting the amount of hours kids can practice in the offseason and the amount of people that can work them out is antiquated, counter-productive and indicative of the lack of common sense and leadership in the sport. The NCAA handbook should be subtitled: “Intense jargon to diminish the student-athlete experience.”
The parents have figured out that while NCAA president Mark Emmert and NABC president Jim Haney pocket millions to preserve the status quo, they’ve figured out there are other options for their kids’ market value.
“I think that’s a big key,” an NBA scout said. “Parents understand the value more and options more. I think they’ve done a good job, overall, educating them on what’s out there, their value and worth. They have power.”
R.J. Hampton exercised his power and is headed to New Zealand. It’s a small step in the college basketball world that won’t leave much of a mark. But once 2022 hits, the attitudes that informed Hampton’s decision could lead to a lot of players walking right past college basketball.
I think N/I/L is realistically the most change that can be expected, and that it would at least allow college basketball a puncher's chance for kids making decisions based on cash in hand.CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:39 am I will say that if NCAA fast tracks n/i/l, then I'd be pretty satisfied with stopping there.
While the morality of the schools, administrators, coaches getting wealthy and telling the talent (that disproportionately comes from poor backgrounds) that "they've had enough and will like what they get" is bankrupt, allowing n/i/l would at least logically satisfy the reprehensible "feel good" crowd that supports such a system.
I don't think the top prospects leaving will do as much as you think it will to college basketball so no, I'm not really hoping the product gets worse and less popular.
One of my many faults is I try and see both sides to a story. I guess my above statement was just looking at one side,CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:13 amThis isn't right. It's good for NBA because they get a year of free evaluation and can dodge a Quentin Grimes bullet. It has been great for CBB because they get star power they wouldn't otherwise get in guys like the aforementioned Zion, Durant, Trae, Wiggins, Embiid, Beasley, Simmons, etc. etc.
It does suck for the players, but fuck them, amirite?
It would make the carrot look a lot sweeter, that's for sure.jfish26 wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:40 amI think N/I/L is realistically the most change that can be expected, and that it would at least allow college basketball a puncher's chance for kids making decisions based on cash in hand.CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:39 am I will say that if NCAA fast tracks n/i/l, then I'd be pretty satisfied with stopping there.
While the morality of the schools, administrators, coaches getting wealthy and telling the talent (that disproportionately comes from poor backgrounds) that "they've had enough and will like what they get" is bankrupt, allowing n/i/l would at least logically satisfy the reprehensible "feel good" crowd that supports such a system.
You are hoping for a thing that necessarily reduces the talent level of a sport you follow, because it gives you the willies that some kids want some dang money. It's weird!
Right. The sport will not melt if some kids get some dang money.CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:43 amIt would make the carrot look a lot sweeter, that's for sure.jfish26 wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:40 amI think N/I/L is realistically the most change that can be expected, and that it would at least allow college basketball a puncher's chance for kids making decisions based on cash in hand.CrimsonNBlue wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:39 am I will say that if NCAA fast tracks n/i/l, then I'd be pretty satisfied with stopping there.
While the morality of the schools, administrators, coaches getting wealthy and telling the talent (that disproportionately comes from poor backgrounds) that "they've had enough and will like what they get" is bankrupt, allowing n/i/l would at least logically satisfy the reprehensible "feel good" crowd that supports such a system.
If I'm not mistaken, there have been Olympic athletes allowed to compete at the NCAA level post-endorsement.
And, of course, you have the Kyler Murray's and Chris Weinke's of the world which were great for college football.
In other words - college basketball is doing, in a meaningful way, what college is supposed to do: it is putting participants in a position to make a career out of their interests.twocoach wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 10:22 am The legitimate professional opportunities for draft eligible college players has grown exponentially in recent years. In a doc posted by the NCAA in April of this year, they reported that 53% of the 1,230 D1 draft eligible players played professionally in some form (NBA, G-League, internationally) in their first year after leaving college and a whopping 80% of the 228 draft eligible players from the P5 conferences played professionally their first year after college.
I dont have the same data from 10+ years ago but I would guess this is a huge increase. More and more guys are continuing to play basketball professionally beyond college so college hoops is being treated more as a training ground for pro hoopers and less as a tool to leverage to get a degree that will aid the player in getting a regular job in their post-hoops life.
I think you're weird.jfish26 wrote: ↑Wed May 29, 2019 9:44 amYou are hoping for a thing that necessarily reduces the talent level of a sport you follow, because it gives you the willies that some kids want some dang money. It's weird!