Irony unkind
College basketball needs a shower.
And leadership and a new sheriff. In truth it needs a lot of things, and it needs them ASAP.
One thing it is flushed in is irony.
Consider the following, as the calendar flips to March, the month of Madness, magic and 'mazing things.
We know the FBI scandal that has touched at least four programs - Auburn, Arizona, Louisville and Oklahoma State - that we are 100 percent sure about. There are several others that have been reasonably deduced through the legalese and the paperwork. Joe Lunardi has the first three of the known teams in the dance.
We know the released paperwork from one agent's ledger has implicated several big-name programs and big-named players for taking money from agents. We also know Tom Izzo is tired of discussing this. (Sadly, all of this payment noise has actually and wrongly turned down the heat on Michigan State and the swirling allegations of improper handling of alleged sexual assaults against athletes, a scandal way more damaging and important than agents buying players' mommas lunch or even giving a player a five-figured "loan." Sorry to trouble you Tom, let's talk more about your full-court press break and how important it is to get good looks and attack the pressure please.)
We know Sean Miller is sweating. Well, we've always known that Sean Miller is a sweater. But now he's sweating for his professional life, considering he's allegedly on tape talking about getting one of his current studs $100,000. Miller will meet Arizona bigwigs later today to discuss his contract - which some how includes a $10-plus-million buyout if he is fired for cause - and future. We'd be shocked if Miller is the coach of the Wildcats come Friday.
Amid all this is the talk of corruption, change and coin.
So with impeccable timing the USA Today released its annual coaching salaries list, and 14 college basketball head coaches are making more than $3 million and 66 make more than a million. (It assuredly will be 67 considering the Louisville interim coach, David Padgett, is making $800,000, and whether he gets that gig long-term or it goes to someone else, the pay will be exceedingly more.)
Coach K makes more than $8.9 million this year. Coach Cal has a $30,000,000 buyout. (Yes, $30 million.) THE Ohio State coach is some dude named Chris Holtmann, no the other one, and he is making a total of $7.14 million this year in base salary, housing, deferred compensation and the money to buyout Holtmann's previous contract at Butler.
So why again can college basketball not afford to pay its players? (And Stewwie's logic earlier this week about there really can not be clear talks of paying college athletes without looking at the antiquated parts of Title IX.) But a list like this that has college basketball programs paying well into nine figures for one year of coaching salary just for the men's teams makes that "can't afford it" argument harder and harder to justify.
Here's another piece of irony: Know who is funding the AAU circuit and who is helping agents pump money to the players and in turn direct players to schools? The shoe companies, who strive to make connections with the next LeBron, Kyrie, Russell or Durant.
Want to know who has made those college basketball coaches' salaries over-the-top? The same shoe companies, who love the swoosh or the three stripes or the locking U and A on TV sets throughout the winter and into March.
Think of it this way: Players getting free lunches and 'loans' from coaches and agents, some of whom are backed by apparel companies, is enough to warrant an FBI investigation. Calipari and Coach K getting millions to make sure their boys in blue are also their boys in Nike is business as usual.
If nothing else screams it, then that dichotomy is the exclamation point on how broken the business of college basketball is.
What can be done?
This is not the first time, nor the last time, we will discuss this.
As conference tournaments start, and with the details of all the monster salaries from USA Today, it's worth exploring some of the other things being said.
Yes, we have kicked around paying players. While we have forever been against that - far too many folks forget these gets are getting educations opportunities that are valued in the quarter-of-a-million-dollar range - the momentum is really starting to swing.
We think it will happen eventually, but we also think that is treating a system and not the problem. There's too much money at stake for Nike and agents and everyone in between. So let's say 5-star recruits got $100,000 signing bonus and 4-stars got $75,000 or whatever. That sum of paid from the NCAA legally still would not stop the under-the-table payments from the folks that have cash now and want to be a part of the future earnings of Johnny Jumpshot and Darrell Dunker.
Let's deal with three of the recent theories being tossed out.
First, there's Jay Williams, the former Duke All-American and current ESPN analyst who called for college players to boycott the Final Four. That would be the single worst thing they could do, in this view. The public perception is shifting toward the players in this debate, and sitting out an event as anticipated as the Final Four would backfire big time. If they want to make a statement, follow in the footsteps of the Fab Five at Michigan and maybe instead of Nike warm-ups, the team comes out in plain white T-shirts with no logos whatsoever.
Then there is LeBron James, who says the NCAA is corrupt and there is no way to fix it. Well, LBJ, thanks. We guess. But the first step, at least in college basketball is giving players the same option you had. Realizing that the kids who can really play who really do not want to go to class has to be part of the discussion. Will that mean Kevin Knox or Collin Sexton or Marvin Bagley will skip the one-and-done facade? Most likely, but the game will be better for it.
Now we think John Calipari's idea of allowing certain high-profile players with NBA potential being able to borrow money from the NBA players union is interesting in the macro and stupid and self-serving in the details. Let's go a step further.
In a classic Coach Cal move, he wants to have his five-star cakes and eat them too. Coach Cal would be hurt as much as anyone if the draft went back to allowing kids to jump straight from high school. And of course the college coaches making millions want someone else other than the shoe companies and the schools to start giving these kids money, because if the shoe companies and the schools start ponying up for the players, well, that would mean less for the coaches.
That said, not unlike our idea of several years ago of having a college major in football, looking at outside funding agencies - including ones that are pumping huge bucks into the coaching salaries like media appearances, camps and apparel companies - makes sense. It also allows for the curve of interest that descends greatly after football and basketball. Work bonuses into the scholarship. Media appearances can be covered like in the coaches contracts. Cal's idea of outside involvement - he even said the players should be able to profit off their likenesses - has merit. It also has been a heavily regulated avenue by the NCAA because of the loopholes of a fat cat booster buying 15,000 of a players $10 jersey to line his pockets.
But as the NCAA is being reworked, a big part of the confusing mess it has become is that it governed to prevent loopholes rather than promote fairness - between schools and between parties such as players and programs - and competition.
Part of reworking the draft process falls in line with the comments former President Barack Obama delivered to MIT last month. (Side note: Not sure why he asked the public and the reporters there not to report on this unless he unloaded some other bombshells.)
Obama said the NBA should beef up its D-League so kids have an option and the NCAA is more about college basketball rather than being a feeder system to the NBA. This makes sense.
It also makes it paramount for the NCAA and the power programs of college hoops to get their ducks in a row ASAP. In college football too.
With the Pacific Football project set to kick off in 2019 and the thought of a beefed up NBA minor league, if college sports does not right its ship, the other opportunities out there in future generations could greatly impact the programs, the product and the bottom line.
All of these different models offering kids a chance to turn pro out of high school mirror the base of college baseball. And quick, name the last time you reserved an entire Saturday to go tailgate for your favorite college baseball team or filled out a bracket for Omaha Madness.
Clocks ticking, NCAA, and everything is riding on it.
Combine-nation
OK, let's have a little fun.
The combine hits full speed tomorrow when the on-field stuff starts.
Right now there are interviews and measurements and tests and things. With that, and with the mailbag - send questions ASAP - tomorrow, here's a primer of the five college players with the most to gain and lose this weekend.
Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield. Yes, we all know how big the interviews will be for a guy that has bounced up a lot of boards. Is that fire and moxie leadership skills or loser schtick? That will be a big decision for teams interested in him. He also has a lot of gain in the throwing drills as he tries to answer the whispers about his deep-ball abilities as well as some accuracy questions.
North Carolina State running back Nyheim Hines. The Wolfpack were pretty salty last year. Hines was especially explosive, leading the ACC in all-purpose yards last season in his only full-time year at running back. He's undersized - 5-foot-9, right at 200 pounds - but dude is going to light up the 40. Big time. Running back is the deepest position in this draft in our view and a guy like Hines, who may very well run something in the 4.2s, needs to make a name for himself. (Another dude on the very deep running back list is Arizona State's Kalen Ballage, who raised some eyebrows at the Senior Bowl.)
Florida State wide out Auden Tate. Dude has the size NFL evaluators love in the modern wide out. He's almost 6-5 and his numbers from last year were limited because of FSU's struggles at quarterback. With his size, a 4.5-ish 40 will make Tate a lot of money.
LSU defensive end Arden Key. Last summer, Key was a top-five lock. A speed rusher with speed to burner who also held the edge against the run. Now after a final season at Baton Rouge that included missed time for personal reasons as well as medical ones, Key's results in the physical exams and the interviews will determine if he's a first-round guy or a third-day guy.
Florida wide out Antonio Callaway. Speaking of first-round talent and a five-cent head, hi, Antonio. Stud player, but will there be a team willing to look past his long rap sheet and issues with the weed?
Great thing about the NFL draft is all it takes is one team to believe they can fix you.
This and that
- Speaking of college coaches' salaries, according to the USA Today research, here's another reason to really like Rick Barnes. Like a lot of coaches, Barnes gets a bonus when Tennessee exceeded various passing platforms in the NCAA Academic Progress Rate figures, including a $50,000 bonus if the score is 980. That's not that uncommon as teams try to stay above the 930 baseline score. Well, if Tennessee finishes below 930, he would lose $25,000. Cool, right?
- Man, this kind of feels like the hypocrisy of the NCAA version of the 5-at-10, but here's TFP SEC ace David Paschall's recap on Gardner Minshew's decision to leave East Carolina as a grad transfer and play at Alabama. Alabama, the same place that has been upset at previous quarterback transfers, right? OK, just making sure we got that correct.
- Nate Robinson claims a Washington booster offered him $100,000 to keep playing football during his time with the Huskies.
Today's question
Do you have a mailbag question?
Let 'er rip.
As for March 1, well Happy Birthday to Justin Bieber, who amazingly may be the most popular male celebrity on the planet. Let that sink in. And he's all of 24 years old.
On this day in 1642, Georgeana, Maine became the first incorporated American city.
On this day in 1872, Yellowstone is dedicated as the world's first national park.
In 1961, the Peace Corps is established.
Exactly 45 years ago today, "Dark Side of the Moon" by Pink Floyd was released. It has sold more than 45 million copies since. (You young people reading this wondering what's an album, go ask your parents.)
Rushmore of all-time albums. Whatcha' got?