No. 1 Gonzaga lost to Tennessee this weekend, but that wasn’t the most eye opening part of Mark Few’s weekend. The Gonzaga head coach called out the NCAA for its ineptitude, and it was long overdue.
Probably like the other several coaches who do it right but are still able to compete, Few wants to know what’s taking the NCAA so long to act on the FBI’s findings that — gasp! — several programs are corrupt when it comes to cheating in recruiting.
No. 2 Kansas, No. 8 Auburn, Arizona, Louisville, USC and several other programs were implicated, and NCAA President Mark Emmert said nothing would happen to those programs until at least next season if they’re found guilty of impropriety.
Few wants to know why.
“There are two teams today who were competing who do it right. I know that to be true,” Few said. “And there are a lot of teams who do it right – the national champions two out of the last three years [Villanova]. There are a lot of great things. This thing is worth saving.”
It’s probably going to take someone else to save it, though. Emmert is in no rush, and he really has no excuse. The NCAA pulled in $761 million from the 2017 NCAA tournament alone and went over $1 Billion for the first time ever last year.
Per ESPN, that tourney number is set to rise to $869 million this year. The NCAA also generated $129.4 million in ticket revenue and $60 million in marketing rights for the 2017 fiscal year.
So the obvious question here is, ‘what in the hell is anyone paying you for?’ And why are we the only ones outraged here? Where are the Presidents and the Athletic Directors at the clean schools, and why aren’t they insisting something be done?
And is anybody stupid enough to believe this is only going on in hoops, and not the cash cow that’s college football?
Kudos to Few, though, for saying what many others should be. Michigan head coach John Beilein did say last year that “if anyone is cheating, get him out of our sport.”
“I’m disappointed. I don’t think this is something the NCAA needs to take their time on,” Few said. “There are teams out here who are competing for Final Fours and National Championships and they don’t need to stall this thing out. They need to make decisions and roll with it. I think that’s on Emmert. Emmert needs to step up and be a leader and make some quicker decisions.”
He’s never been a leader. In fact, his authority has been an embarrassment. Despite its multimillions, the NCAA has been a reactionary, slap on the wrist organization with no interest in making sure its members follow the rules.
“Everybody’s got a value system, and you can either adhere to that value system or not and you let it become compromised,” Few said. “[Illegal recruiting is] just something we don’t do.”
It’s the same at Michigan, of course. Beilein was voted cleanest coach in the country in a poll of his peers last year, and he’d have a National Title had the NCAA done its job in policing Louisville in 2013.
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In the summer, Michigan head coach John Beilein lobbied for a rule similar to football’s that would allow players a certain amount of games and still retain a redshirt. It’s four for football players (generally a third of all games), and Beilein figured 10 might be good for basketball players — enough to give them a good idea what it’s like to sit the bench and only play five minutes a game.
Beilein said his lobbying efforts have fallen on deaf ears so far, but he strongly believes it can change. It’s best for everyone involved, he said, but especially the players.
“That would be the best rule for us, because you could actually play and come back without penalty,” he said. “We should have it. I had proposed that in a couple meetings, but it never [amounted] to anything. It has to happen.
“Right now it’s good for players, because in their fifth year they can actually transfer if it’s not working out. The redshirt, which was so tremendous before, isn’t what it once was in basketball cause of that fifth-year transfer rule. People don’t want to redshirt so they can go somewhere else because the grass is greener.”
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Michigan is off and running this year, but there is one potential weakness — depth. Head coach John Beilein is still looking for a backup center, and redshirt sophomore Austin Davis has yet to fill that void, as hoped.
“I think the game speed is still the biggest issue with Austin. We put him into the game, and the guys [he’s guarding] are quick,” Beilein said.
“He’s growing every single time, but he’s been watching film for three years, and his basketball acumen has got to continue to grow for us to play him more minutes. He’s sort of learning what he has to do.”
He’s making mistakes first year players — as in first year receiving significant playing time — make and grow from, Beilein said. But Beilein isn’t going to extend the bench before anyone’s ready, and he doesn’t feel the need.
“Some of the best teams are doing exactly what we do [playing seven guys],” Beilein said. “I’m very hopeful. We switched Austin and [freshman] Brandon [Johns] the last couple days. Both of them are outstanding on the scout team … they’re both works in progress.
“We’re going to be as ready as we can be to lengthen the bench if we need to, but I’m not worried about anybody getting tired.”
Davis was averaging 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.8 minutes through 10 games.
Probably like the other several coaches who do it right but are still able to compete, Few wants to know what’s taking the NCAA so long to act on the FBI’s findings that — gasp! — several programs are corrupt when it comes to cheating in recruiting.
No. 2 Kansas, No. 8 Auburn, Arizona, Louisville, USC and several other programs were implicated, and NCAA President Mark Emmert said nothing would happen to those programs until at least next season if they’re found guilty of impropriety.
Few wants to know why.
“There are two teams today who were competing who do it right. I know that to be true,” Few said. “And there are a lot of teams who do it right – the national champions two out of the last three years [Villanova]. There are a lot of great things. This thing is worth saving.”
It’s probably going to take someone else to save it, though. Emmert is in no rush, and he really has no excuse. The NCAA pulled in $761 million from the 2017 NCAA tournament alone and went over $1 Billion for the first time ever last year.
Per ESPN, that tourney number is set to rise to $869 million this year. The NCAA also generated $129.4 million in ticket revenue and $60 million in marketing rights for the 2017 fiscal year.
So the obvious question here is, ‘what in the hell is anyone paying you for?’ And why are we the only ones outraged here? Where are the Presidents and the Athletic Directors at the clean schools, and why aren’t they insisting something be done?
And is anybody stupid enough to believe this is only going on in hoops, and not the cash cow that’s college football?
Kudos to Few, though, for saying what many others should be. Michigan head coach John Beilein did say last year that “if anyone is cheating, get him out of our sport.”
“I’m disappointed. I don’t think this is something the NCAA needs to take their time on,” Few said. “There are teams out here who are competing for Final Fours and National Championships and they don’t need to stall this thing out. They need to make decisions and roll with it. I think that’s on Emmert. Emmert needs to step up and be a leader and make some quicker decisions.”
He’s never been a leader. In fact, his authority has been an embarrassment. Despite its multimillions, the NCAA has been a reactionary, slap on the wrist organization with no interest in making sure its members follow the rules.
“Everybody’s got a value system, and you can either adhere to that value system or not and you let it become compromised,” Few said. “[Illegal recruiting is] just something we don’t do.”
It’s the same at Michigan, of course. Beilein was voted cleanest coach in the country in a poll of his peers last year, and he’d have a National Title had the NCAA done its job in policing Louisville in 2013.
****
In the summer, Michigan head coach John Beilein lobbied for a rule similar to football’s that would allow players a certain amount of games and still retain a redshirt. It’s four for football players (generally a third of all games), and Beilein figured 10 might be good for basketball players — enough to give them a good idea what it’s like to sit the bench and only play five minutes a game.
Beilein said his lobbying efforts have fallen on deaf ears so far, but he strongly believes it can change. It’s best for everyone involved, he said, but especially the players.
“That would be the best rule for us, because you could actually play and come back without penalty,” he said. “We should have it. I had proposed that in a couple meetings, but it never [amounted] to anything. It has to happen.
“Right now it’s good for players, because in their fifth year they can actually transfer if it’s not working out. The redshirt, which was so tremendous before, isn’t what it once was in basketball cause of that fifth-year transfer rule. People don’t want to redshirt so they can go somewhere else because the grass is greener.”
****
Michigan is off and running this year, but there is one potential weakness — depth. Head coach John Beilein is still looking for a backup center, and redshirt sophomore Austin Davis has yet to fill that void, as hoped.
“I think the game speed is still the biggest issue with Austin. We put him into the game, and the guys [he’s guarding] are quick,” Beilein said.
“He’s growing every single time, but he’s been watching film for three years, and his basketball acumen has got to continue to grow for us to play him more minutes. He’s sort of learning what he has to do.”
He’s making mistakes first year players — as in first year receiving significant playing time — make and grow from, Beilein said. But Beilein isn’t going to extend the bench before anyone’s ready, and he doesn’t feel the need.
“Some of the best teams are doing exactly what we do [playing seven guys],” Beilein said. “I’m very hopeful. We switched Austin and [freshman] Brandon [Johns] the last couple days. Both of them are outstanding on the scout team … they’re both works in progress.
“We’re going to be as ready as we can be to lengthen the bench if we need to, but I’m not worried about anybody getting tired.”
Davis was averaging 1.4 points and 1.3 rebounds in 4.8 minutes through 10 games.
