College Basketball continues to lose potential stars
College basketball has enough problems. There was no March Madness this season and the loss of revenue for the schools is too immense to count.
There are 754 players in the college basketball portal as of April 16 and the NCAA is expected to discuss a one-time transfer waive on April 24 and vote on it on May 20. If that goes through, then first-time transfers will have immediate eligibility for the 2020-21 season. The 750 or more transfers could reach close to 1,000 if that rule goes through.
Of the 754 transfers, over 180 are grad transfers, who don't have to sit out. So there are nearly 570 players that will have to sit out unless they get a waiver.
But there are now major concerns about stars coming out of high school, who are not eligible to play in the NBA, but can now play in the G-League. Let's face it, at some point, the NBA is going to allow players to go after graduating high school to the NBA. Players like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Tracy McGrady and LeBron James didn't really need college basketball, but there were a lot more failures that prompted the league to go to the one-and-done rule. Now that the G-League has come into fruition as a legitimate minor league for the NBA, some college basketball players are considering just skipping college altogether.
This is not a great move for college basketball or its fans. The sports is already having image and ratings issues due to the one-and-done rule. Now, players like Jalen Green, the No. 3 prospect in college basketball is headed to the G-League (assuming it starts on time next season). Why is he skipping college?
Green will receive a contract worth in the range of $500,000 according to Shams Charania of The Athletic. He'll join a new team in Southern California with the super athletic Green as the main attraction. He is skipping school, but not the thought of going to college at some point.
At 6-5, 170, Green is a combo guard who can score or facilitate, but to get to the NBA, he'll have to put on weight. According to Evan Daniels of 247Sports, "When the G League announced their intentions of creating a program that would harbor prospects that opted out of college, the salary released to try and entice potential players was $125,000. "Sources have indicated to 247Sports that the G League is now willing to pay more for the right prospects."
That doesn't mean every prospect will skip college, but five-star players now have options. In baseball, players can sign contracts right out of high school and play in the minor leagues if they are good enough. Now basketball is getting closer to having that option and that's certainly to the detriment of college basketball as a whole. For example, on Thursday, another five-star prospect Isaiah Todd, de-committed from Michigan and is expected to join Green in the G-League.
The NCAA will ultimately be forced to allow players to make money off of their name, image and likeness. California has already started this by enacting name, likeness and image laws, which is also enacted in Colorado and Florida in July 2021.
That could help keep some players in school, assuming they are not sure-fire lottery picks. How that will go into effect is anybody's guess and obviously the Power 5 programs and their players would benefit the most. But it's a start and shows that the NCAA is being back into a corner, not just in basketball, but football as well. College basketball is impacted the most because college football players have to stay in school for a minimum of three years.
Trevor Lawrence could not leave Clemson after two seasons, despite being the best or one of the best quarterbacks in the country. In football, you just can't have high school players go right into the NFL because they have to physically mature as 17 and 18-year olds can't compete against guys in their late 20's on the field. The physical nature of football is just different than hoops, so they can continue to go with players leaving after their junior season or redshirt sophomore years.
But college basketball has enough to deal with, aside from wondering if they can start preseason practice on time and whether they can play without fans. That's assuming students will be allowed back in school in the first semester. If not, college hoops would like be pushed ahead to December or later.
