2020-21 Basketball Happenings Around the AAC

[im4wsu]

Five FBS conferences, including AAC and C-USA, ask NCAA to relax Division I requirements - ESPN

ESPN News Services
8:06 PM CT

https://www.espn.com/college-football/story/_/id/29037022/five-fbs-conferences-including-aac-c-usa-ask-ncaa-relax-division-requirements

"Five major football conference commissioners have asked the NCAA to relax requirements to compete in Division I for four years, including the minimum number of sports a school must sponsor.

A letter from the commissioners of the American Athletic Conference, Mountain West, Mid-American Conference, Sun Belt and Conference USA to NCAA president Mark Emmert asked for temporary relief from financial aid requirements, along with average football attendance. The request was made on behalf of all 350 Division I schools. The commissioners also asked that a moratorium be placed on schools moving into Division I for the length of the waiver....

NCAA rules require Division I schools to sponsor at least 16 varsity sports. ..."


WSU does not have 16 sports in the first place, so how do we get around that rule?

Does the 16 sport requirment apply only to schools with football?

[1979Shocker]

If there's football this fall, I suspect it will be in front of empty stadiums. Same could hold true for basketball.

I suspect there will be coronavirus tests for athletes (if there are enough tests available by the time football rolls around) and only those testing negative will be allowed to participate in games in empty stadiums. Wouldn't surprise me at all if the same thing is still true when basketball rolls around.

If that happens, it will put a major hit on the finances of every athletic department. TV money should hold steady, which will put a hurt on ESPN and other broadcasters, because they may struggle to find companies that can afford advertising budgets. I think non-revenue sports are going to (and need to) take a major hit in order to save the revenue-producing sports.

Those fans that want to attend games could still do so, but the number of fans would have to be limited. To meet the separation requirement of 6 feet, they would have to reduce the fan size to about 1/6th the normal size. Koch Arena would have to be reduced to about 1500 fans per game. Other schools, such as Tulsa, would not be affected by this limit.

[ABC]

Just listened to the Garry Parrish and Matt Norlander podcast. Parrish has Houston #5 in preseason.

[WuShock Reaper]

Commissioners tell VP Mike Pence college sports won't be back until students return to campus - CBS Sports

by Dennis Dodd
04/15/20, 2:05cst

https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/commissioners-tell-vp-mike-pence-college-sports-wont-be-back-until-students-return-to-campus/

"Vice President Mike Pence was a good listener Wednesday on a conference call with the College Football Playoff Management Committee to discuss the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on college athletics. That was one conclusion drawn by those on the call because the message to Pence from that group was clear: There will be no college football until students are allowed on campus.

"Our players are students. If we're not in college, we're not having contests," said Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby, who was on the call.

"Our message was, we need to get universities and colleges back open, that we were education-based programs, and we weren't going to have sports until we had something closer to normal college going on," he added...."

[Aargh]

The current national mortality rate (deaths / confirmed cases) is 4.5%. If the actual rate is around 1%, that would mean we have around 2,000,000 undiagnosed people running around and exposing others. That's 1 out of every 150 people.

Wichita is not as adversely affected as other places, but 1 out of every 150 people in Wichita is around 2,000 people. The lower estimated mortality rates are good news for mortality, but disastrous for stopping the spread of the virus.

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

[KraRam]

My guess is, that conference realignment is done for the foreseeable future. But, I wonder if ESPN now tries to renegotiate all existing tv contracts?

I would think these contracts may now be bargain for ESPN and others, as everyone may be watching on TV. Add revenue will be through the roof as long as people will find a way to spend money on what is advertised.

[Stickboy46]

Memphis is having a rough go this recruiting season. They were in the final 3 of the #1 recruit again. He just announced he's bypassing college and going G-League. They were also expected to land another Top 10 recruit due to Shaka likely losing his job. Since the tourney got cancelled, Shaka got another year and the other kid is going to Texas now.

So as of right now their entire recruiting class is 1 JUCO kid ranked #41 on JUCOrecruiting. For reference Craig Porter was 15 and Clarence Jackson was 23. I think they still have 3 Scholarships open too (assuming Precious goes to the NBA)

[WuShock Reaper]

Former Wichita State Shocker Rod Brown...

[WuShock Reaper]

15 college basketball players who are coming off breakout seasons to keep an eye on for 2020-21 - CBS Sports

by David Cobb
04/17/20, 12:00 noon, cst

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/15-college-basketball-players-who-are-coming-off-breakout-seasons-to-keep-an-eye-on-for-2020-21/

"Here are the players who took a big step last season and could be in line for even more next season...

Tyson Jolly | SMU
Jolly finally found his niche with SMU after redshirting as a freshman at Baylor in the 2016-17 season and playing sparingly for the Bears in 2017-18. After a season in junior college, the 6-foot-4 guard led the Mustangs in scoring at 14.5 points per game on 38.2% 3-point shooting this season while pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game. Jolly and SMU could take an even bigger step forward next season, depending on who else returns from a 2019-20 team that finished 19-11 without a single senior on the roster....

Chris Vogt | Cincinnati
Vogt followed coach John Brannen from Northern Kentucky to Cincinnati, received a waiver to play immediately and took massive strides as a junior. After offering limited contributions in the Horizon League in his first two seasons of college basketball, Vogt morphed in to a productive starter for the Bearcats by averaging 11 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. His 64.8% shooting percentage led the AAC. Even more will likely be expected from the 7-1 center next season after the graduation of three of Cincinnati's top five scorers and the decision of junior guard Keith Williams to enter his name for consideration in the NBA Draft...."

[MikeKennedyRulZ]

Former Wichita State Shocker Rod Brown...

Good for Rod! Happy that he has landed and found a good spot. Anxious to see how he develops. Good luck young man.

[Stickboy46]

15 college basketball players who are coming off breakout seasons to keep an eye on for 2020-21 - CBS Sports

by David Cobb
04/17/20, 12:00 noon, cst

https://www.cbssports.com/college-basketball/news/15-college-basketball-players-who-are-coming-off-breakout-seasons-to-keep-an-eye-on-for-2020-21/

"Here are the players who took a big step last season and could be in line for even more next season...

Tyson Jolly | SMU
Jolly finally found his niche with SMU after redshirting as a freshman at Baylor in the 2016-17 season and playing sparingly for the Bears in 2017-18. After a season in junior college, the 6-foot-4 guard led the Mustangs in scoring at 14.5 points per game on 38.2% 3-point shooting this season while pulling down 6.2 rebounds per game. Jolly and SMU could take an even bigger step forward next season, depending on who else returns from a 2019-20 team that finished 19-11 without a single senior on the roster....

Chris Vogt | Cincinnati
Vogt followed coach John Brannen from Northern Kentucky to Cincinnati, received a waiver to play immediately and took massive strides as a junior. After offering limited contributions in the Horizon League in his first two seasons of college basketball, Vogt morphed in to a productive starter for the Bearcats by averaging 11 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks per game. His 64.8% shooting percentage led the AAC. Even more will likely be expected from the 7-1 center next season after the graduation of three of Cincinnati's top five scorers and the decision of junior guard Keith Williams to enter his name for consideration in the NBA Draft...."

Am i the only person that wasn't impressed with Vogt at all? It seemed like he relied nearly 100% on Cumberland to draw multiple defenders so he could get a wide open dunk. He didn't show me any post moves at all.

[WuDrWu]

Can someone provide an update on Memphis? According to Taylor's spreadsheet, not even PA has declared and their team has lost only Wiseman and that's hardly new. If in fact everyone is back they will be a huge handful, in spite of Penny.

[Stickboy46]

Can someone provide an update on Memphis? According to Taylor's spreadsheet, not even PA has declared and their team has lost only Wiseman and that's hardly new. If in fact everyone is back they will be a huge handful, in spite of Penny.

One of the memphis media guys commented on Taylor's post that Precious is gone. Said he's not big on announcements but he's going pro.

[wichshock65]

Can someone provide an update on Memphis? According to Taylor's spreadsheet, not even PA has declared and their team has lost only Wiseman and that's hardly new. If in fact everyone is back they will be a huge handful, in spite of Penny.