NBC News: "The FBI Has Arrested Several NCAA Assistant Basketball Coaches"

[another shocker]

I am going to be the conspiracist here...so take with a grain of salt...but I am thinking the NCAA called in the FBI because they new they had lost control and could literally do nothing about it. Now that it is a legal matter, and information will come out that they would never be able to get, gives them the grounds to impose heavy penalties. I will not be surprised if UL gets the death penalty. Again, take with a grain or three of salt.

that kind of supposes that ncaa brass is, at the end of the day, good hearted and well intentioned.

still waiting on the roy williams/unc fallout.. tick.. tock...

[Good News]

I like Mark, but reading some of his ideas makes me think he is slightly naive about how to fix college basketball.

100% agree and would add "and naive as to how the legal system works". I get the desire for leadership, but legal defense is largely about having multiple plausible defenses and you start limiting those and/or boxing yourself in when you start making statements to the press.

Not to mention the fact that you could be increasing a future penalty with the appearance of hypocrisy (or worse, ignorance and incompetence in the role).

At one time I thought we had a couple of attorneys involved in public or private sector defense. Anybody who has advised clients, seen the inside of a federal courtroom, and/or been involved in criminal cases feel like setting up a throwaway account to give us another angle of opinion?

[FlyingWheat]

I am going to be the conspiracist here...so take with a grain of salt...but I am thinking the NCAA called in the FBI because they new they had lost control and could literally do nothing about it. Now that it is a legal matter, and information will come out that they would never be able to get, gives them the grounds to impose heavy penalties. I will not be surprised if UL gets the death penalty. Again, take with a grain or three of salt.

NCAA is going to lose a boatload of money when this is all said and done. Every team that gets a postseason ban is a fan base that will be disengaged come March. And it won’t be just UL. Even worse, this could trigger an actual split and colleges could go do their own thing.

There’s no way the NCAA wants this. On the other hand, that’s not to say there couldn’t be an individual or two with a moral compass acting as an insider.

[Shock Top]

Simple fix. If you want to go pro, so be it.

If you succeed,great, enjoy your career. If you fail, sorry, no college athletics for you.

I think most kids would end up regretting going pro right out of high school, but if that’s what they decided to do, it’s on them.

———

After this, we can get into the leave whenever you are ready (i.e. “one-and-done”), or if you decided to go to college, then that’s a three year commitment.

Personally, I would like to see kids stay in college longer, as I think it is bette for both them and the sport, but if a player is no longer committed to the program, and thinks he is ready for the pros, it is probably best for both to part ways.

[Shock Top]

The NBA, as a business, could also decide it does (most of) these kids no good to enter the draft, go undrafted and waste their potential in the D-League or across the pound, and raise the minimum age to 21 years (or turn 21 within a timeframe form the start of the season).

That would never happen though, but it would be interesting to see if it played out well.

[OregonShocker]

Simple fix. If you want to go pro, so be it.

If you succeed,great, enjoy your career. If you fail, sorry, no college athletics for you.

I think most kids would end up regretting going pro right out of high school, but if that’s what they decided to do, it’s on them.

———

After this, we can get into the leave whenever you are ready (i.e. “one-and-done”), or if you decided to go to college, then that’s a three year commitment.

Personally, I would like to see kids stay in college longer, as I think it is bette for both them and the sport, but if a player is no longer committed to the program, and thinks he is ready for the pros, it is probably best for both to part ways.

I fear a lot of people getting run over in this scenario. Most of these athletes want to "go pro" but few can go right out of HS (even our beloved RB and FVV). They need "education." But, for many, college study isn't in their skill set OR their budget. To require college study to get the basketball education they need could be a guarantee for failure. If someone had told me, "To get to be a doctor you'll have to go to Med School, but to get Med School paid for, you'll have to become a top-notch artist" I'd have struggled. It's not my gift to paint, and painting has NOTHING to do with the education I need.
For this to work there should be another route for this education. I think it could happen, with shoe companies/NBA paying coach's salaries, players stipends, etc. But I don't think the current cast wants to be in that play.

[Shock Top]

I fear a lot of people getting run over in this scenario. Most of these athletes want to "go pro" but few can go right out of HS (even our beloved RB and FVV). They need "education." But, for many, college study isn't in their skill set OR their budget. To require college study to get the basketball education they need could be a guarantee for failure. If someone had told me, "To get to be a doctor you'll have to go to Med School, but to get Med School paid for, you'll have to become a top-notch artist" I'd have struggled. It's not my gift to paint, and painting has NOTHING to do with the education I need.
For this to work there should be another route for this education. I think it could happen, with shoe companies/NBA paying coach's salaries, players stipends, etc. But I don't think the current cast wants to be in that play.

I think most kids would go to college still. The only reason this was a problem was schools were paying for the “top-tier” players.

[pinstripers]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/two-men-bring-college-basketball-011524387.html

[shoxtop]

Does it not make the most sense for the d/g league to fill the gap here? Choose to sign a deal with minor league program (which protects the NBA owners which is the whole reason we ended up with the one and done) or commit to 3 years as a student athlete. Why does the NBA not want to pimp it's minor league? It's a no brainer to me. NFL as well.
I love college sports. But the complete wrong answer is for college sports to try and fill the minor league hole that exists. My only question is why aren't the professional leagues trying to fill the obvious gap?

[ShockingButTrue]

https://www.yahoo.com/sports/two-men...011524387.html

Getting warmer...

[HockeyShock]

Does it not make the most sense for the d/g league to fill the gap here? Choose to sign a deal with minor league program (which protects the NBA owners which is the whole reason we ended up with the one and done) or commit to 3 years as a student athlete. Why does the NBA not want to pimp it's minor league? It's a no brainer to me. NFL as well.
I love college sports. But the complete wrong answer is for college sports to try and fill the minor league hole that exists. My only question is why aren't the professional leagues trying to fill the obvious gap?

Because Isiah Thomas keeps bankrupting them?

[wufan]

After the basketball scandal broke, Nasir Little announced via Twitter that he was reopening his recruitment. The problem is that he never actually committed anywhere. There is much speculation that Little is one of the named players in the investigation and was being heavily targeted by Arizona and Miami.

[DUShock]

How far will this go, I am uncertain, but it feels like only a few steps of a very long journey have been taken.

[shoxilla]

Oregon Ducks must be thinking "Shoe contract, what's a shoe contract?"

[WstateU]