Basketball Commission Report Released. Get rid of 1 and done + other stuff

[eebmg]

Condoleezza Rice's panel released a 60 pg report. Getting rid of 1 and done is primary but lots of other stuff also considered. It is in the NBA's court to get it done now.

Panel to NCAA: Ban cheaters, end 1-and-done



Strengthen the G league for those who need it and if a superalative HS player can enter the NBA, let them go.

 

[CocoHusky]

Solid recommendations all around. Will have very little impact on Women's sports. The recommendations fail as Jalen Rose just said on ESPN to address the elephant in the room, which is there seems to be plenty of money for everyone except the players.

 

[meyers7]

Some interesting stuff. Wonder if they'll implement any of it?

 

[DefenseBB]

Some interesting stuff. Wonder if they'll implement any of it?

Cynical perhaps but an absolutely fair question that I hope has many of the recommendations being implemented vs. just posturing to "show an effort" which is sometimes what the NCAA leaders have done. I do think the threat of Congress/Government involvement does put an impetus on the NCAA doing something. At least we should know relatively soon as they wanted to implement this August. Adam Silver is key here as he has been on record as saying the NBA has been exploring ideas on the G-League and with a top Syracuse player decommitting and signing with the G-League, maybe there's hope for measures to go through...

 

[CocoHusky]

Cynical perhaps but an absolutely fair question that I hope has many of the recommendations being implemented vs. just posturing to "show an effort" which is sometimes what the NCAA leaders have done. I do think the threat of Congress/Government involvement does put an impetus on the NCAA doing something. At least we should know relatively soon as they wanted to implement this August. Adam Silver is key here as he has been on record as saying the NBA has been exploring ideas on the G-League and with a top Syracuse player decommitting and signing with the G-League, maybe there's hope for measures to go through...

Beyond the FBI involvement in the latest scandal is there more threats of congress/government involvement?

 

[MSGRET]

Solid recommendations all around. Will have very little impact on Women's sports. The recommendations fail as Jalen Rose just said on ESPN to address the elephant in the room, which is there seems to be plenty of money for everyone except the players.

If the players want to be paid, then they should also have to pay into the scholarship that they receive from the University. These kids are getting a free college education, room and board, and more. Not all Universities make money off of sports after you add in the costs, including the scholarships.

 

[JordyG]

Solid recommendations all around. Will have very little impact on Women's sports. The recommendations fail as Jalen Rose just said on ESPN to address the elephant in the room, which is there seems to be plenty of money for everyone except the players.

Exactly. From all I've seen and heard, since I haven't read the report, there are no real surprises here. This reports conclusions seem to be all is well with the status quo which just needs a few tweaks. Nowhere does this report acknowledge that the NCAA, a multi billion dollar business salaries absolutely everyone involved, including the talking heads on TV, except the product on the court.

The idea that players should pay for their scholarships sidesteps or ignores the fact that athletes that play hockey, baseball, tennis and many other sports can leave college early or get paid while in school and still maintain their status. Only certain sports, football, and basketball, are so scrutinized. These of course are the sports that make all of these other sports financially viable. Sports where the supporting families have the least to contribute. Sports whose athletes seemingly have the shortest careers and the worst injuries. Also stating that the AAU needs to be regulated without any real recommendations or solutions pretty much makes this report master of the obvious.

 

[CocoHusky]

If the players want to be paid, then they should also have to pay into the scholarship that they receive from the University. These kids are getting a free college education, room and board, and more. Not all Universities make money off of sports after you add in the costs, including the scholarships.

I will never agree with that definition of "free". These kids are being given an education room and board and meals in exchange for playing a sport. That definition of "free" could be easily extended to include any meals you ate in the mess hall or your housing allowance when you were in the military. We both know those things were not free.
Granted not all schools make money from athletics, however the NCAA Men's Tournament is a billion dollar property and Coach K gets to collect $1M/year because his team wears Nike. The NCAA has no incentive to change the model where the essential labor force is compensated in college tuition. With the UNC ruling the NCAA says it is not their responsibility to ensure the quality of an education yet the NCAA gets to maintain a billion dollar property under the umbrella of a non-profit.

 

[JordyG]

I will never agree with that definition of "free". These kids are being given an education room and board and meals in exchange for playing a sport. That definition of "free" could be easily extended to include any meals you ate in the mess hall or your housing allowance when you were in the military. We both know those things were not free.
Granted not all schools make money from athletics, however the NCAA Men's Tournament is a billion dollar property and Coach K gets to collect $1M/year because his team wears Nike. The NCAA has no incentive to change the model where the essential labor is compensated in college tuition. With the UNC ruling the NCAA says it is not their responsibility to ensure the quality of an education yet the NCAA gets to maintain a Billion dollar property under the umbrella of a non-profit.

100% correct. The NCAA while making a ton and allowing their coaches to participate in the take, will conversely as in the the Jerry Tarkanian case, censure and penalize a coach and player that buys and receives a ham sandwich. Ludicrous.

 

[wallman]

It will be interesting to see how all the lawsuits affect how the NCAA operates in the future but they currently do not operate in the best interests of the student athletes.

 

[DefenseBB]

It will be interesting to see how all the lawsuits affect how the NCAA operates in the future but they currently do not operate in the best interests of the student athletes.

Huh? That is a completely BS response "but they currently do not operate in the best interests of the student athletes". Yes, there are serious flaw in how the NCAA handles their CFB and MCBB programs due to the very heavy outside interested parties-notably the NBA, NFL, shoe companies, agents, boosters, AAU coaches and such. However for the vast majority of sponsored sports-soccer, baseball, softball, swimming, track, volleyball, golf, tennis, etc, the student athletes are done right by the NCAA. Having been a D1 athlete, having 2 sons as D1 athletes currently and having 7 close friends who are head coaches in colleges, I am pretty confident in my assessment. You are making a blanket statement like these athletes are disregarded and that is simply NOT TRUE.

 

[wallman]

Huh? That is a completely BS response "but they currently do not operate in the best interests of the student athletes". Yes, there are serious flaw in how the NCAA handles their CFB and MCBB programs due to the very heavy outside interested parties-notably the NBA, NFL, shoe companies, agents, boosters, AAU coaches and such. However for the vast majority of sponsored sports-soccer, baseball, softball, swimming, track, volleyball, golf, tennis, etc, the student athletes are done right by the NCAA. Having been a D1 athlete, having 2 sons as D1 athletes currently and having 7 close friends who are head coaches in colleges, I am pretty confident in my assessment. You are making a blanket statement like these athletes are disregarded and that is simply NOT TRUE.

Yes I am. Your experience seems to be with the individual universities. The NCAA itself is not involved in those kinds of experiences and I have the utmost respect for those institutions who do take care of their student athletes. I personally see the NCAA as a powerful money grabbing enterprise who cares little about the wrongdoings of those who cheat but rather the dollars they reap from those who cheat.

 

[JordyG]

Yes I am. Your experience seems to be with the individual universities. The NCAA itself is not involved in those kinds of experiences and I have the utmost respect for those institutions who do take care of their student athletes. I personally see the NCAA as a powerful money grabbing enterprise who cares little about the wrongdoings of those who cheat but rather the dollars they reap from those who cheat.

What's worse is the fact, truly stated by DefenseBB, that many or most sports are "done right" by the NCAA. Almost all of the sports mentioned by DBB are sports where the participants can make money, such as tennis. As long as the player avoids any sponsorship they can receive "travel expenses", and juniors can make up to 10K a year and still retain their eligibility. That's being done right by the NCAA.

Some people believe there is an underying racial element to the seemingly draconian hand the NCAA takes wih FB and BB, since these two sports are predominantly black. Perhaps. But there is no doubt this is mainly about money and control. Let's not kid ourselves. FB and BB are the two sports that make college tennis, golf and volleyball possible. It's these two sports that carry the financial load of all the rest, and make a lot of people very rich in the process. The more control you have over the players, the more you treat them like children and manage their affairs, their movements and mobility off the field, the more control you have over the money.

 

[DefenseBB]

Yes I am. Your experience seems to be with the individual universities. The NCAA itself is not involved in those kinds of experiences and I have the utmost respect for those institutions who do take care of their student athletes. I personally see the NCAA as a powerful money grabbing enterprise who cares little about the wrongdoings of those who cheat but rather the dollars they reap from those who cheat.

The Universities "empower" the NCAA to govern them, not unlike the Baseball Commissioner who is employed by the 30 baseball clubs who make up MLB. The NCAA is to govern 90 sponsored sports. To do this, the revenue or "money grabbing" efforts as you put it, must fund the 85+ sports that do not make money. The revenue from the Football and Men's Basketball postseason (be it tv, tickets or sponsors) pays for the travel, costs, event locations and awards for all of these sports.
The NCAA does have its flaws as I noted as the institutions themselves want the cash to keep coming in so to them, many of the presidents within the "power 5" protect their interests at times (and egregiously so) to not taint a "blue blood" through back room deals. Is this wrong, of course it is and is why I hope this commissions recommendations get taken seriously as the perception is bad. Change in any democracy only comes when egregious events have happened, be it Coal Miner unions, anti-trust regulation or Title IX. This effort is a good thing.

 

[eebmg]

Jay Bilas is not impressed with the report.

Failure of NCAA basketball commission is disappointing, but not surprising