Emmert said there is a lot of discussion about the Olympic model and it deserves serious considerationTwitter
NCAA President Mark Emmert on Friday said that he "expects a commission to reform college basketball to put forth proposals to modernize NCAA rules on player-agent relationships, devise new ways to handle high-profile enforcement cases and address the NBA's one-and-done rule," according to Ralph Russo of the AP. The commission is "on track to give its recommendations to NCAA leadership" when the D-I BOD meets April 24-25. Emmert: "I haven't heard any universities say that they want to change amateurism to move into a model where student-athletes are paid by universities and universities are negotiating with agents for their relationships with a school." He added, "There's a lot of discussion about the Olympic model and think it's well deserving of serious consideration inside the context of college sports" (AP, 3/2). Arizona State President Michael Crow said that college basketball's days of "being a farm system to the NBA need to end and that the sport needs to return to its roots of simply being a college sport." Crow: "We shouldn’t be a place where somehow we’re a semi-pro, half-college this, half-college that ... It’s all college. It’s college basketball. There’s a deep fundamental problem that we have to solve" (ARIZONA REPUBLIC, 3/2). Thunder coach Billy Donovan, who coached at Florida for nine seasons, said, "Things were a lot better in the game, things weren’t perfect, but things were a lot better when they let these guys go out of high school. I think it’s really unfair to them" (AZCENTRAL.com, 3/3). Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said, "As we've had to adapt as coaches and players, the people running college basketball have not been adaptive to the changes. In that regard, I think it might be a good thing if we produce postiive change, and then produce a system that changes gradually" ("College GameDay," ESPN, 3/3).
DIVING DEEP: Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott said that he will "push for an end to the 'one-and-done' rule." Scott: "We’re going to recommend the NBA and the NBA Players Association change the one-and-done rule to give young men a choice to go straight to the NBA out of high school." He added, "Baseball has got it right" (S.F. CHRONICLE, 3/5). SI.com's Andrew Brandt said of the one-and-done rule, "If that wasn't there, all these kids we're talking about would just go pro, and it'd be very simplified. We also have to have a better developmental league with the NBA, because right now it's the G-league and players would rather go to college. He added, "So maybe some coordination between the NBA and what has become their farm system, college athletics at the highest level, and working out a system where there's some payments" ("CBS This Morning: Saturday," 3/3). In Boston, Bob Ryan asked, "Should there be a way to allow players to profit from their likeness or, say, signing autographs?" Ryan: "Sure. I think we could figure out something workable along those lines. But direct payments? It is simply unworkable." More Ryan: "I truly believe we need a national summit conference of college administrators, athletic directors, player reps, and even interested politicians to answer the question as to just what is fair and reasonable to expect from our college sports" (BOSTON GLOBE, 3/4). In N.Y., Joe Drape wrote under the header, "Go To The NBA, College Stars, And Don't Look Back." If "time and commitment are going to be channeled into basketball, it’s high time you go to the NBA and make the millions of dollars that you are worth rather than stay on campus and pay for the mistakes of the adults that run college basketball" (N.Y. TIMES, 3/3).
SOLVING THE ISSUES: In Raleigh, Dan Kane noted N.C. State recently made public a "disassociation" letter they had given to ASM Sports Founder & President Andy Miller in '12, but other top schools, including North Carolina and Duke, "had no idea NCSU had found Miller so untrustworthy he was told to stay away from the university and its athletes." Kane: "Why aren’t these disassociation letters made public, so everyone knows there may be a bad operator out there?" Some say what happened in Miller’s case is a "strong argument for requiring schools to make disassociation letters public" (Raleigh NEWS & OBSERVER, 3/2). In Detroit, Mitch Albom wrote a "huge gap could be closed if the Olympic model were adopted right now." It would at least "allow players some income." And who "bought whom lunch wouldn’t be a federal issue" (DETROIT FREE PRESS, 3/4). THE UNDEFEATED's Marc Spears wondered if the G League is the "best competition outside of the NBA." NBA G League Wisconsin Herd G Brandon Jennings, who played in Italy for a year vs. going to college, said, "I guess if you’re a young guy and you’re looking to go back into the NBA, it is." Jennings said that Europe is "not bad either." Jennings: "The Europe game is different. But in terms of outside of the NBA, yes. It’s all NBA rules. It’s the NBA games" (THEUNDEFEATED.com, 3/2).
AT THE HEART OF IT: In N.Y., Bob Raissman wrote the NCAA Tournament is "too big to fail." Nonetheless, during this time when, once again, the "entire college sports system is being described as a cesspool, the real root of the problem is rarely, if ever, discussed." Without the TV money "everything would be scaled down." The incentive to cheat "wouldn’t be as great as it is now." But even Charles Barkley, the "most fearless mouth in the business, is not going to discuss the TV money." Raissman: "Why bite the hand that feeds him? Especially when a corrupt system is not toxic enough for the TV suits to stop bankrolling it" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS, 3/4).
