Recruiting related: Silver says G League Ignite's days may be numbered

[HooperScooper]

G League Ignite hasn't taken off as the college hoops alternative that the NBA hoped it would be

Before it ever really go off the ground, the G League Ignite's days as an alternative to college basketball appear to be numbered.

247sports.com

 

[whalerfan]

Umm they do, it's college basketball. The NFL's is college football.

Funny, I don't see any kid being sent down to college when there's no room on an NBA or NFL roster. Have you?

 

[Greedo]

This!

That may be the goal, but do you think the day could ever arrive where, for example, the junior Hornets could be a draw similar to Duke or UNC?

It works in Europe because a) it has been embedded in the culture for nearly as long as the senior professional counterpart has been around and b) there really is no European version of intercollegiate sports. I've come across a massive number of Europeans over the years who are completely baffled by the popularity of sports tied to universities (and high schools) here. It is a concept they cannot really grasp as there have nothing there that relates to it (not even "the boat race" which kind of started it all).

MLS also has academies here, and they have tried to replicate the European model. The majority of kids from those academies still go and play in college. It's a minority that are good enough to matriculate into the senior team.

Soccer is also different because the players are almost more like commodities than in other sports in the U.S. If NBA teams had academies and they realized a 17 year old isn't going to be good enough to make it in the NBA, they're not going to "sell" that player to some team in Greece. The kid would just leave and play in college.

 

[freescooter]

I wouldn’t be surprised to see something like the NHL-college hockey model emerge. NHL teams draft players, but many go to play in college before heading to the NHL or AHL. Not sure how closely they direct players to specific colleges, but I have heard there is some of that. But NHL coaches and staff keep tabs on players, communicate with college coaches and the players and essentially tell them whether to stay another season or leave to play at the next level. I could easily see a similar process in college basketball. You wouldn’t draft guys like now. It would be more the baseball or hockey.