Saturday, October 21, 2017

Fat Chance


Val Ackerman, commissioner of the Big East Athletic Conference, wants college basketball to step into a time machine and return to the good old days of intense school rivalries with student bodies to match.  For that to happen, she thinks the NBA should adopt a “none-and-done” rule for high school athletes who want to turn pro without attending college.  Ackerman thinks the change would reduce the number of scandals that so often mar bigtime college athletics.  Fat chance of that happening.

The NBA does not want to be bothered with player development outside of its current “taxi squad” arrangement.  Pro basketball would rather have a “three-and-done” rule than have to adopt a baseball-like minor-league system.  (The same holds true for the NFL.)  As far as the NBA is concerned, the likes of Rick Pitino and John Calipari are god-sends, more so for every really good player who stays an extra year or two in their programs.
It’s not so much March Madness in basketball as it is cold calculation.

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