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The fall of college basketball

TritonHawkeye

TritonHawkeye

HB All-State
May 30, 2012
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There have been hints of what might happen to college sports from many on this board through the various threads and I will provide my thoughts, while welcoming all others, these are opinions with no wrong answers.

Are we witnessing the end of college basketball?

My thoughts is yes, at least to what was the passion and love by fans. The primary reason is not the paying of players but the yearly hopping of teams. McCullom hit on the head in his ability to rattle off past players. IMO..what solidified the love for the game was watching a player grow through their 4 years. I honestly believe a player staying all 4 years with one team will become as likely as any of us petting a unicorn.
 
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I don’t think it kills the game but it will definitely hurt it. Hopefully they find a way to get it under control.

Focus should be somehow limiting transfers to one. Binding contracts that all ncaa teams honor. Players still get a chance to transfer to greener pastures but they have to sign a contract for the length of their remaining eligibility
 
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HawkLogic said:
You don't see this type of roster turnover in the NBA....yeah, would be nice to get some rules but need Congress to step in and
that won't happen.

I Protest by not watching games of other teams.
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I used to really enjoy watching other Big Ten teams competing against each other. Once upon a time I could name top returning players from the other teams. Anymore in the fall I have no idea who most of the players are on the other teams...
 
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If you want college ball like it used to be, you're probably going to need to start following DII or DIII programs.
Even though D1 is now pro sports, somehow there needs to be a limitation put on the current frenzy of switching every season. It's bad for the brand/business. That's why all pro sports leagues have rules that don't allow unlimited team hopping all the time.
 
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Basketball is great compared to what's going on with wrestling. Penn State has so much money they are paying recruits to NOT go to certain schools, or paying them to ride their bench rather than transferring to the handful of teams trying to become contenders. The system is so broke it's disgusting.
Iowa has to try keeping any potential targets quiet to combat this but now most kids have agents who love to inflate the offers.
 
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bojihawk44 said:
Lol, no. Ratings are up across the board and the game is as good as ever.

This is like people yearning for '80s NBA. Just stop.
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If ratings are up, it is not because of me. Haven't watched much at all. I read one team took 51 three point shots and made 28. Crazy
 
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acuhawk said:
Basketball is great compared to what's going on with wrestling. Penn State has so much money they are paying recruits to NOT go to certain schools, or paying them to ride their bench rather than transferring to the handful of teams trying to become contenders. The system is so broke it's disgusting.
Iowa has to try keeping any potential targets quiet to combat this but now most kids have agents who love to inflate the offers.
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For real? Like PSU boosters pay an "almost-top" wrestler that they don't have room for, to go to a team with no chance to complete for a team National Championships, just so schools like Iowa can't have him?
 
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LaQuintaHawkeye said:
Agree with the sentiment.

Kids deserve a piece of the pie...and the soon to be $20.5M coming their way (for Iowa anyway) is intended to be used as the pie.

The NIL (combined with unlimited portal entry) has unfortunately morphed this whole thing into an annual free-agent bonanza.
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and none (very very few) are worth it.
tony perkins 300,000-$450,000 last year (reported) add the price of tuition room/board pay from school training tutors and that number is around $550,00-$600,000.
not even close to being worth it.
 
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Bulldogs1974 said:
and none (very very few) are worth it.
tony perkins 300,000-$450,000 last year (reported) add the price of tuition room/board pay from school training tutors and that number is around $550,00-$600,000.
not even close to being worth it.
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It's what the open market...(i.e. big $ donors and alumni)...are willing to pony up.

NIL is really about having either A) rabid fan base where individuals donate hundreds/thousands per year as either part of a collective or willing to pay additional "ticket fees" in order to out-bid their rivals for an athlete...or... B) having a big time sugar daddy tied to the university ala Oregon or Arkansas or Michigan or whoever. Smaller corporations in the immediate area of the school would also be a consideration.

If you are truly an elite star that has a national following, CC or JuJu for example, than NIL isn't even a concern because corporations will want you as a spokesperson on a national level...it won't necessarily matter to them what school you attend. They are not tied to a school.
 
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Cinderella will now be the barely above .500 power conference team that makes a run.

The days of Butler/Witchita State/Loyola making it are over. Their best players would be poached before they developed

I don’t blame players at all. Take the money all day everyday. Just makes it a less appealing product for me to consume.
 
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TritonHawkeye said:
There have been hints of what might happen to college sports from many on this board through the various threads and I will provide my thoughts, while welcoming all others, these are opinions with no wrong answers.

Are we witnessing the end of college basketball?

My thoughts is yes, at least to what was the passion and love by fans. The primary reason is not the paying of players but the yearly hopping of teams. McCullom hit on the head in his ability to rattle off past players. IMO..what solidified the love for the game was watching a player grow through their 4 years. I honestly believe a player staying all 4 years with one team will become as likely as any of us petting a unicorn.
Click to expand...
This is the first year in 35 years I didn't fill out a bracket. The Hawks sucking didn't help, but things feel different to me for the reasons you state. It looks slimy and pay to win and chase the $$.
 
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It largely depends on how Iowa does in these next 5 years or so. If Ben does well, I will definitely be engaged. Otherwise, I will probably be tuning out college hoops entirely.

I'm just generally turned off by everything that's going on these days. Not that I am opposed to players getting some $$$ (always thought it was stupid that the NCAA forbade players from making so much as a penny by signing autographs or whatever) but when players are leaving teams each year to chase a bigger paycheck, demanding more money otherwise they won't play for their team in the postseason, and that sort of stuff... Eff that. It may not bother other fans, but I find it disgusting.

Got to at least get some structure and rules put around the whole system. Right now it's a total free for all.
 
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TampaHawkfan said:
It largely depends on how Iowa does in these next 5 years or so. If Ben does well, I will definitely be engaged. Otherwise, I will probably be tuning out college hoops entirely.

I'm just generally turned off by everything that's going on these days. Not that I am opposed to players getting some $$$ (always thought it was stupid that the NCAA forbade players from making so much as a penny by signing autographs or whatever) but when players are leaving teams each year to chase a bigger paycheck, demanding more money otherwise they won't play for their team in the postseason, and that sort of stuff... Eff that. It may not bother other fans, but I find it disgusting.

Got to at least get some structure and rules put around the whole system. Right now it's a total free for all.
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I agree, but what did anyone expect and who thought it would be a good idea to put kids as young as 18 in charge of a university's sports future? Take away the guard rails and young'uns are going to act like young'uns. The courts were idiots to allow this, but then again, they were afraid of being called racists, because the vast majority of collegiate athletes are minorities.
 
It will be fun a few years down the road when the vast majority of these guys are working regular jobs, rising up through the ranks to management or maybe even starting their own business, all the while pissing and moaning about how hard it is to attract and retain talented staff and how much they hate the fickle and disloyal employees who come in, cost them a fortune in training and benefits, and then jump ship for the shiny object and pay raise being dangled by competing organizations.

And we'll all laugh and laugh and laugh. 😎
 
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TritonHawkeye said:
There have been hints of what might happen to college sports from many on this board through the various threads and I will provide my thoughts, while welcoming all others, these are opinions with no wrong answers.

Are we witnessing the end of college basketball?

My thoughts is yes, at least to what was the passion and love by fans. The primary reason is not the paying of players but the yearly hopping of teams. McCullom hit on the head in his ability to rattle off past players. IMO..what solidified the love for the game was watching a player grow through their 4 years. I honestly believe a player staying all 4 years with one team will become as likely as any of us petting a unicorn.
Click to expand...
Agreed. For the most part I have lost interest in pro sports because the teams have different players every year.

College basketball will survive, but it will become less interesting to me over time. It's already started.
 
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LaQuintaHawkeye said:
Agree with the sentiment.

Kids deserve a piece of the pie...and the soon to be $20.5M coming their way (for Iowa anyway) is intended to be used as the pie.

The NIL (combined with unlimited portal entry) has unfortunately morphed this whole thing into an annual free-agent bonanza.
Click to expand...
Exactly this. The NIL was not intended to be pay for play, but that's exactly what it is currently. If the colleges and universities can't find some way to reform the current landscape, it will crash and likely sooner rather than later.

Athletes should have every right to pursue NIL opportunities, but this isn't that.
 
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I have wondered after all this NIL stuff what college sports would look like had Northwestern won and was able to unionize. The players would of made money awhile ago but NIL would more then likely be how it is with the pros. The players would be on contracts and wouldn't be able to just transfer all the time.
Would schools be able to trade players? Would players get 1 transfer? It would be interesting to see how the bargaining and rules that would be in place today had it successfully came to fruition in 2014.
 
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SDHawkDoc said:
If you want college ball like it used to be, you're probably going to need to start following DII or DIII programs.
Even though D1 is now pro sports, somehow there needs to be a limitation put on the current frenzy of switching every season. It's bad for the brand/business. That's why all pro sports leagues have rules that don't allow unlimited team hopping all the time.
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First of all, there needs to be an acceptance from one particular side of the argument that a certain amount of governing control over college athletics was AL-WAYS FU-CKING NE-CES-SARY.....................................................just sayin in general. :D


D1 college athletics, particularly football and basketball, is what parents no longer parenting looks like.

That's not an opinion, either.
 
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shiphappens said:
Less like the overall death of college basketball, and more like the end of college basketball for old people and others who struggle with change because of an inability or unwillingness to adapt.
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Change for the right reasons is different than change for the sake of change, let alone change for the wrong reasons.

Just because people like you and fivecardud don't have a problem with it, doesn't mean the thing you don't have a problem with is good or worth embracing.....................hope that helps. :)


And as for your "that's just the way things are now" mentality, well........."that's just the way things are now" is in the process of being rectified, so I wouldn't get too attached. :D
 
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EvilMonkeyInTheCloset said:
Change for the right reasons is different than change for the sake of change, let alone change for the wrong reasons.

Just because people like you and fivecardud don't have a problem with it, doesn't mean the thing you don't have a problem with is good or worth embracing.....................hope that helps. :)


And as for your "that's just the way things are now" mentality, well........."that's just the way things are now" is in the process of being rectified, so I wouldn't get too attached. :D
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Any time I can be on the other side of a bball argument as you, I know I’m in good shape.
 
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TritonHawkeye said:
There have been hints of what might happen to college sports from many on this board through the various threads and I will provide my thoughts, while welcoming all others, these are opinions with no wrong answers.

Are we witnessing the end of college basketball?

My thoughts is yes, at least to what was the passion and love by fans. The primary reason is not the paying of players but the yearly hopping of teams. McCullom hit on the head in his ability to rattle off past players. IMO..what solidified the love for the game was watching a player grow through their 4 years. I honestly believe a player staying all 4 years with one team will become as likely as any of us petting a unicorn.
Click to expand...
Well McCollum just also left a team after 1 year. So he’s as much of the problem as anyone.
 
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Definitely interesting times.

Of the Sweet 16, Purdue is the only team whose starting 5 were all with the program last year.
ENTIRE STARTING 5 WITH NO TRANSFERS: 1 (Purdue)
4 OF 5 : 2 (Duke and MSU)
3 OF 5: 2 (BYU and Houston)
2 OF 5: 3 (TT, Maryland, Tennessee)
8 teams are starting 5 guys who were all in separate programs last year.
 
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jerbob36 said:
Definitely interesting times.

Of the Sweet 16, Purdue is the only team whose starting 5 were all with the program last year.
ENTIRE STARTING 5 WITH NO TRANSFERS: 1 (Purdue)
4 OF 5 : 2 (Duke and MSU)
3 OF 5: 2 (BYU and Houston)
2 OF 5: 3 (TT, Maryland, Tennessee)
8 teams are starting 5 guys who were all in separate programs last year.
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Just goes to show how fast you can build a roster these days. Hopefully Ben can put together a good Iowa team for 2025-26.
 
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nu2u said:
How could we possibly be witness the end of college basketball when viewership, attendance, and revenue are increasing — all generated by fans?
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All things can and undoubtedly will change.

If the model is maximizing profit, what does Iowa and schools like us bring to the table? Seriously, put yourself in the shoes of someone whose job isn't to cherish and promote the sport, or even create parity. It is to get the highest ranked programs into the mass media as much as possible so as to keep those programs generating revenue, especially in the NCAA tournament. Turner Sports or Fox don't pay for broadcast rights for Iowa, the broadcasters pay for Michigan, MSU, UCLA, USC tOSU, Maryland, Oregon, Illinois and Purdue. Iowa is just brought along for the ride. No one is paying for Iowa. The broadcast packages won't change.

How long will the fans of college sports keep watching a few nationally high-profile teams crush their alma maters or current college. Year after year after year. That model certainly hasn't worked long term for the NBA.
 
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nu2u said:
How could we possibly be witness the end of college basketball when viewership, attendance, and revenue are increasing — all generated by fans?
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Because more and more teams are losing entire rosters after each season. My thought is that if this trend continues or worsens that the connection to fans will lessen creating a tipping point. I also don't know if viewership is truly up or if we simply have more advanced analytics. I also question exactly how those views are counted. Is it by the auto record we all have via our favorite streaming service that may never be accessed or counted by the number of people watching live?
 
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