It’s time for NCAA to pass the baton to another management entity.
A few days ago I wrote that college basketball was “waiting for the other shoe to drop.” That shoe dropped today. Arizona coach Archie Miller is implicated in the FBI’s ongoing conspiracy investigation of major college basketball.
Courtesy: 247Sports
The FBI investigation has now confirmed what we’ve known to be happening in major college basketball–not at all schools, mind you, but in the system at large. And it has been going on for decades (see cover photo from 1951). As CBS Sports.com put it recently, we shouldn’t be shocked. The surprise is that it took so long to get exposed.
The NCAA had its chance to reform the system and it did next to nothing. Why? It has benefitted handsomely–in the billions–from the status quo.
Enough! It’s high time to remake the system without the Association. The model I prefer is grounded in two pillars:
1) all Power 6 schools would become the NBA’s AAA (ala MLB) minor league, and
2) the NCAA would manage the rest of Division 1 basketball and retain oversight of D-II and D-III basketball.
Last October I introduced the model in blueprint form. It’s reprinted here in italics.
1.–The NBA could retain the Gatorade League (26 teams currently) by making it–in MLB’s parlance–its AA league. The NBA’s AAA bracket would be made up of what is now the major college teams in NCAA’s Division 1. By “major college” I mean all teams affiliated with the “Power 6” conferences–SEC, ACC, Big 10, Big 12, PAC-12, and Big East. The NBA would own and manage those clubs as “college franchises”–75 teams in all.
Courtesy: Shirtboss
2.–The universities would turn over management of their basketball programs—facilities and names/logos, included–to NBA partners. In return, NBA teams would compensate schools on the basis of an ongoing assessment (per 3-5 year contract) of those teams market value. Schools would use payments to support other athletic programs and academic programs.
3.–Players would be drafted and paid for playing. That means college recruiting would end, as would the debate about paying players. College attendance would be optional.
4.–Competition would take place among the 75 NBA-managed programs. Other D-1 programs (the mid-major schools) would compete separately, overseen by the NCAA. The current Power 6 conference organization would cease for basketball but would remain in place for other sports. The basketball configuration would be regional with 14-16 teams bracketed in each division.
5.–There would be two major season-ending tournaments–one managed by the NBA, the other managed by the NCAA. The NBA Gatorade championship would continue, as would the D-II and D-III NCAA championships.
In this model, high school seniors with continuing basketball interests would have three options: sign as a pro (if not drafted in the revamped Power 6 configuration, then placed in the G-League), play NCAA ball (at a mid-major D-1 school, D-II school, or D-III school), play internationally.
What are the advantages of the proposed model? I quote again from my October article:
LeBron in high school (photo, Springfield News-Sun)
Kids with the talent and desire to ‘go pro’ would be able to do that immediately after graduating from high school. Expanding access should reduce (at least in theory) the prospect of luring college-bound players through financial inducements. And the option would still be there for kids who want to be true student-athletes. They can play for other schools and–just as in the current college-MLB system–“go pro” later.
Making major college basketball the NBA’s minor league-–with a draft in place-–puts an end to a major source of college basketball’s ills–recruiting. In the system I propose, college coaches would focus on coaching and not have to worry about “attracting.”
The model would do something else–end a charade. There’s a monumental gap between higher education’s mission and major college sports, no matter what the NCAA, conference commissioners. and university presidents/chancellors say. Besides, it’s obvious that many universities and the NCAA aren’t capable of running programs effectively, even ethically in some cases. Let the professionals run what has evolved over the years into a professional enterprise.
What I fear most is that the NCAA will fight to retain control over a sport that it cannot manage–and hasn’t been able to manage–for a long time. It has used an outdated concept–student-athlete–as a rationale for making billions off the backs of young men–the majority of whom are African-American men–and many of whom come from lower-income families. Then the NCAA cries foul when some families and players “go on the take.”
NCAA president Mark Emmert is right when he says:”People who engage in this kind of behavior have no place in college sports.” He’s not talking about his own Association, though. He should be. As ESPN’s Jay Bilas put it: “How dare anybody try to exploit these players before we’re (NCAA) done doing it.”
