Around the Big East

SLYFOXX1968 said:
Just a note , not to criticize these 2 former Players but, rather the current system.

This is Curbelo’s 3 rd team in as many years , same for Jones . Notice I use Team since using School just doesn’t seem applicable .

The Covid transfer rules and now , NIL have made a mockery of College Athletics . The term Student Athlete is now obsolete as the NCAA has hastened its demise .

How much of a Education are any of these Players today going to get ? Will they get a Degree ? Or , the necessary knowledge to find a Career after their BB playing days are over ?

Sure , Curbelo and Jones and countless others will find BB in Europe or elsewhere for maybe 10 years but , will that be enough to sustain them and their families for the 30 years after that ? I don’t know the answer .

Even , if it does , do they go into Coaching or Teaching ? Probably not , without a Degree.

Maybe the NIL money will help College players but , that’s a short duration income stream .

These are unanswerable questions right now for College Athletics . Let’s see what comes next .

I’m sure there are Colleges, Coaches who are genuinely interested in their Player’s future post BB but , I’m not certain it’s the norm rather than exception .

I just hope NIL doesn’t decline into 1 more exploitation scheme that looks good but , really isn’t . Sure , it pays the Athletes for playing but , does it do anything to provide for their Education ?
Click to expand...
I get your point but my feeling is players should take responsibility for their opportunity to get a free education. Counting on corrupt people or “system” to take care of you just won’t work. How do you do that? Simple, by picking schools and coaches who are committed to the educational part of the deal, they are out there and available.
Along the same lines, NIL won’t decline into exploitation schemes if players are smart with their money.
 
SLYFOXX1968 said:
Just a note , not to criticize these 2 former Players but, rather the current system.

This is Curbelo’s 3 rd team in as many years , same for Jones . Notice I use Team since using School just doesn’t seem applicable .

The Covid transfer rules and now , NIL have made a mockery of College Athletics . The term Student Athlete is now obsolete as the NCAA has hastened its demise .

How much of a Education are any of these Players today going to get ? Will they get a Degree ? Or , the necessary knowledge to find a Career after their BB playing days are over ?

Sure , Curbelo and Jones and countless others will find BB in Europe or elsewhere for maybe 10 years but , will that be enough to sustain them and their families for the 30 years after that ? I don’t know the answer .

Even , if it does , do they go into Coaching or Teaching ? Probably not , without a Degree.

Maybe the NIL money will help College players but , that’s a short duration income stream .

These are unanswerable questions right now for College Athletics . Let’s see what comes next .

I’m sure there are Colleges, Coaches who are genuinely interested in their Player’s future post BB but , I’m not certain it’s the norm rather than exception .

I just hope NIL doesn’t decline into 1 more exploitation scheme that looks good but , really isn’t . Sure , it pays the Athletes for playing but , does it do anything to provide for their Education ?
Click to expand...

I don’t think COVID rules has anything to do with the demise of the Student Athlete as it gives them an extra year of participation.

The major difference now and 10 years ago is the one time free transfer (which actually has helped clarify the so-called “waiver” exception) and players legally receiving payment instead of under the table through NIL.

Many top Football and basketball D1 players who know they are eligible and will be drafted stop going to class as soon as their season is over so they can work out with trainers to help them prepare for the next level. Football players are opting out of bowl games to protect themselves from injury and to protect their draft status.

Basketball has had one and done players who only went to college that first year because unlike baseball and hockey, they cannot go straight out of high school (while European players the same age can) because of NBA rules.

Baseball and football players are eligible to be drafted from their four year colleges after they have been out of High School for three years. Hockey players after one if they don’t go right out of high school. We would probably be surprised if the 5 year graduation rate for even non-revenue sports is lower than we expect.

I understand your frustration and angst about some of the changes but the college athletics that you and I might have know when we were in school has been long gone. More changes are brewing with States rules on one side and the NCAA on the other with the possible (probable) involvement of Federal and special interest groups jumping into the fray.
 
Per Ryan Cassidy

Five Big East programs have announced an overseas trip during the 2023 offseason:

UConn
Creighton
Xavier
Marquette
Providence
 
logen said:
I get your point but my feeling is players should take responsibility for their opportunity to get a free education. Counting on corrupt people or “system” to take care of you just won’t work. How do you do that? Simple, by picking schools and coaches who are committed to the educational part of the deal, they are out there and available.
Along the same lines, NIL won’t decline into exploitation schemes if players are smart with their money.
Click to expand...
logen, you are forgetting one very important point, college basketball is now 12 months a year. When I first went to college in 1965, there were no pre season, off season, or summer workouts. Once school was over in May, everyone went home for the summer, found jobs or internships and returned to school in September. Now even low major teams are practicing, working out, or playing 12 months a year. Players do not have an opportunity to work and earn money for themselves. In a perfect world, schools would be committed to the educational part of the deal. However, we both know that is not the case.

Consider this, a young man enters college without any work history at all because he has been going to school and then playing AAU ball during the summer. Now he is in college and basketball continues to consume all of his time. Fast forward 4 years and while he may have a degree, he has absolutely no knowledge of the world of work. Has never made a resume, has never gone on a job interview, and is totally lost. There should be some way that players are allowed to work or have internships during the summer so that they will be prepared for life after basketball. In essence, it is not on the players, it is on a system that cares more about preparing them to win games than preparing them to become productive members of society once the ball stops bouncing.
 
To add to Panthers point high school kids even have to partake in mini camps over the Christmas Holidays with their AAU teams. These kids have zero down time from basketball. Add that to the fact that NBA salaries are going through the roof and it is easy to see why kids are driven on their own, and by everyone around them, to focus almost exclusively on advancing their basketball skills. The reward is just too great to pass up. We just saw it with our beloved Julian Champagne, who was unranked in high school, undrafted in college, and 1 year later signs for $12,000,000. How many Harvard Medical and Law Grads are guaranteed to make that amount of money over the course of their life time ?
Having been around a group of talented kids with nBA aspirations since they were young I certainly don’t fault the kids , but rather the system. And for every coach like John Thomson and John Chaney, may they both rest in peace who prioritized education, they were 50 other high major coaches who couldn’t give a damn whether the kids took school seriously. Hard to blame an 18 year old kid making the biggest secession of their lives.
 
panther2 said:
logen, you are forgetting one very important point, college basketball is now 12 months a year. When I first went to college in 1965, there were no pre season, off season, or summer workouts. Once school was over in May, everyone went home for the summer, found jobs or internships and returned to school in September. Now even low major teams are practicing, working out, or playing 12 months a year. Players do not have an opportunity to work and earn money for themselves. In a perfect world, schools would be committed to the educational part of the deal. However, we both know that is not the case.

Consider this, a young man enters college without any work history at all because he has been going to school and then playing AAU ball during the summer. Now he is in college and basketball continues to consume all of his time. Fast forward 4 years and while he may have a degree, he has absolutely no knowledge of the world of work. Has never made a resume, has never gone on a job interview, and is totally lost. There should be some way that players are allowed to work or have internships during the summer so that they will be prepared for life after basketball. In essence, it is not on the players, it is on a system that cares more about preparing them to win games than preparing them to become productive members of society once the ball stops bouncing.
Click to expand...
I am not remotely forgetting or unfamiliar with the commitment of college sports. With all due respect, I fail to see how your reply is even remotely relevant to my post. I never once mentioned players working; I made two points, players should get a degree and use their NIL money wisely. And the idea that a person who worked hard enough to play four years of college basketball and get a degree is “totally lost” as to how to succeed in the workplace is completely and utterly lost on me. I am sorry but I personally know too many players who grew up in challenging circumstances, got that opportunity, played, got a degree and used both as a springboard to a very successful work career to agree.
You and Redmannorth seem to want to blame “the system”, chasing basketball dreams is fine, but with the odds being what they are, IMO, failing to have and working in parallel a Plan B, especially the opportunity to get a paid for degree, is simply planning to fail. The evidence of players going back to those “challenging circumstances“ is a hell of a lot more prevalent than players making the NBA.
 
Last edited:
paultzman said:
www.ctinsider.com

Will UConn shift from Big East to Power Five conference? Why some say move may be 'inevitable'

Would UConn move its athletic program out of the Big East and into the Big 12? It would...
www.ctinsider.com www.ctinsider.com
Click to expand...
This is a prime example of why I was against UConn’s re-entry into the BE.

This tripe of a story is intimating how UConn is too big for the BE, and will need to move on if they are to fully reach its athletic potential.

But facts are a pesky impediment to a good story, and cannot be swept under the rug. UConn was a disaster in the AAC, both in results and attendance. The BE rescued them. UConn was never going to come close to winning a national championship if not for the BE.

And when UConn (college basketball gods willing) move on again, I hope they burn in the heat of a thousand suns.
 
kranmars said:
This is a prime example of why I was against UConn’s re-entry into the BE.

This tripe of a story is intimating how UConn is too big for the BE, and will need to move on if they are to fully reach its athletic potential.

But facts are a pesky impediment to a good story, and cannot be swept under the rug. UConn was a disaster in the AAC, both in results and attendance. The BE rescued them. UConn was never going to come close to winning a national championship if not for the BE.

And when UConn (college basketball gods willing) move on again, I hope they burn in the heat of a thousand suns.
Click to expand...
Burn in the heat of a 1000 Suns looks more imposing but , it’s a good one .

How about Steel Rods , heated , driven into their Corneas at Midnight of the Snow Moon .
 
How many years now has UConn tried changing conferences, 15? They have 3 Men's championships during that period (and a lot of Women's) but they're still here.

I get the sense that the Big 12's commissioner has a genuine interest but he doesn't yet have enough support from the university presidents. Obviously football drives these decisions, and further UConn won't deliver the NYC basketball market in a meaningful way (rights to the MSG conference tournament). I think a depleted ACC (no Clemson/FSU/UNC) + UConn could be a serious threat to the Big East Tournament due to the close proximity of UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, BC, UVA, VT, and popularity of Duke. That'd still be years off though if it even happens.

Long-term, maybe it'd even be in the Big East's interests for UConn to go to the Big 12 for that reason (keep them out of a depleted ACC). MSG would have zero interest in the majority of Big 12 schools. UConn and Kansas yes. WVU and Cincinnati a bit... but if the other 8 teams (Oklahoma St, UCF, Houston, TCU, Baylor, Iowa St, Kansas St, and BYU) play then the arena would be half empty. The rumored Pac 12 additions certainly wouldn't help, either.

So basically, with Pitino here ready to revive St. John's / NYC I'm not too concerned about what UConn does. St. John's, along with Georgetown and Neptune, can elevate the Big East to a new level with or without UConn.
 
ADORAZ said:
How many years now has UConn tried changing conferences, 15? They have 3 Men's championships during that period (and a lot of Women's) but they're still here.

I get the sense that the Big 12's commissioner has a genuine interest but he doesn't yet have enough support from the university presidents. Obviously football drives these decisions, and further UConn won't deliver the NYC basketball market in a meaningful way (rights to the MSG conference tournament). I think a depleted ACC (no Clemson/FSU/UNC) + UConn could be a serious threat to the Big East Tournament due to the close proximity of UConn, Syracuse, Pitt, Louisville, BC, UVA, VT, and popularity of Duke. That'd still be years off though if it even happens.

Long-term, maybe it'd even be in the Big East's interests for UConn to go to the Big 12 for that reason (keep them out of a depleted ACC). MSG would have zero interest in the majority of Big 12 schools. UConn and Kansas yes. WVU and Cincinnati a bit... but if the other 8 teams (Oklahoma St, UCF, Houston, TCU, Baylor, Iowa St, Kansas St, and BYU) play then the arena would be half empty. The rumored Pac 12 additions certainly wouldn't help, either.

So basically, with Pitino here ready to revive St. John's / NYC I'm not too concerned about what UConn does. St. John's, along with Georgetown and Neptune, can elevate the Big East to a new level with or without UConn.
Click to expand...
Just for conversation , any advocacy for Syracuse , Pitt, ND , to come back to BE for BB only ? Doesn’t have to be a reality just conversation
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top