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Phil Riewer -> RE: Gopher Basketball (Mens) (4/17/2020 7:35:59 AM)
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By Jay Busbee
Morning! Let’s wrap the week with a little quiz.
Can you name the five most exciting players in college basketball right now? How about the five most exciting players slated to return in the fall? Don’t worry if you failed. Hell, I follow sports for a living, and I couldn’t pass my own test.
College basketball is in the grips of an identity crisis so severe that most American sports fans have little to no connection with the players that make up every NCAA tournament.
So Thursday’s news, first reported by our own Chris Haynes, that Jalen Green, the nation’s top high school player, would sidestep the NCAA and play for an NBA G-League team instead isn’t just a story of a kid getting some fast cash. It’s a potential body blow to the entire NCAA.
Because of the NBA’s current one-and-done rule, players can’t join the NBA for a year after their high school graduation, no matter how talented they are. (See: Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and Kevin Garnett, all of whom turned pro before this rule.) Up until now, those overqualified high school players had a choice: spend a year killing time on a college campus, or spend a year making money overseas, often in Australia.
But the G League has upped its financial game — reports are that Green could make as much as $500,000 for one year of ball — and that makes it a viable and lucrative stateside option.
Make no mistake, this isn’t just the NBA firing a shot across the NCAA’s bow — it’s shots across the bow, over the stern, and through the masts. Our Pete Thamel quoted one agent calling it “a big middle finger to the NCAA,” and that sounds about right. This is the NBA bypassing the NCAA completely, taking control of player development and even offering a scholarship for players to complete their college degree.
All of a sudden, the NCAA finds itself boxed out by its own machinations. Players can’t get (legally) paid to play college ball, and it turns out the allure of being an unpaid student-athlete at a college campus — while definitely a draw for some players — won’t do much to alter the trajectory of elite ballers with their eye on the NBA.
College basketball is already facing an uphill challenge to gain eyeballs during its regular season. The G League could doom it to niche status for 11 months out of the year. This won’t significantly affect the NCAA tournament — we just saw how important that is, even in a down year for star power — but the G League might just doom the entire rest of the college basketball season to irrelevancy.
On the plus side, though, you’ll still be able to hate Duke. That’s never changing.
Hope your weekend’s a safe and happy one. Stay safe, have a good meal, call your loved ones, and we’ll see you back here Monday!
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