Coach Will Wade’s proximity to federal investigations of recruiting hasn’t hurt LSU’s season-ticket sales.getty images
The spotlight always shines brightest on the coaches in college basketball, and that’s certainly the case this season. Hall of fame coach Bill Self at Kansas has defiantly denied any wrongdoing in his defense against NCAA recruiting allegations, while the afterglow from the FBI investigation remains warm on Arizona’s Sean Miller and LSU’s Will Wade. LSU fans don’t really seem to care: Season tickets for the Tigers are selling at almost the same pace as 30 years ago, when Shaquille O’Neal was tearing down backboards in the Bayou.
■ Could these NCAA investigations have some financial impact on the schools involved? That’s the question being asked by West Coast Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez and others from basketball leagues that rely heavily on payouts from NCAA Tournament victories. In a recent meeting with WCC presidents, she was quizzed about how that money could be redistributed.
“If teams advance in the tournament, and then, two to three years later, have been found to have broken the rules, are they required to pay those dollars back?” Nevarez said. “Because for leagues like ours, those units are very, very important to being able to [financially] support what we do across all sports.”
■ Two rules changes this season will have a dramatic impact on the presentation of the college game. The most obvious change has the 3-point line moving back to 22 feet, 1.75 inches, the same distance as the international game. It marks the first time the line has moved since 2008. The change is expected to have two immediate outcomes — the 3-point shot will be more difficult, meaning teams might not be as reliant on it; and it should be easier for players to find driving lanes to the basket. The second change has the shot clock resetting to 20 seconds after an offensive rebound, not 30.
