College basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed nearly 100 men's Division I coaches in the thick of the offseason; as always, interviewees were given the promise of anonymity in a swap for honest and enlightening answers on a medley of topics. Links to all previous questions are at the bottom of this story. This is the last entry of this year's series.
Talk to any college basketball coach over the past few years, in person or on the phone, basically about anything, and, at some point, the conversation typically turns to the so-called state of the game. Players are bouncing from one campus to another (and often another and another) via unprecedented transfer numbers while using agents to secure paydays previously unrealized or even allowed. Former professionals, even NBA Draft picks, are circling back to college with the help of savvy attorneys and friendly local judges, sometimes even to the chagrin of the conferences they're trying to join.
At least one league, you might've heard, is actually suing one of its own members and football coaches right now in federal court. The term "chaos" gets thrown around a lot. It's often a rhetorical question when coaches ask it, more of an expression of frustration than an actual inquiry.
But, given where we're at with things -- i.e., now less than two months from the start of the season with no clear idea of exactly which players will and will not be eligible -- Matt Norlander and I decided to ask roughly 100 coaches the following question: The combination of agents, lawyers and judges accounting for 40% of the vote underlines how coaches feel about the current state of things -- specifically that many believe, for the first time ever, that most big developments are now being orchestrated by people who don't even technically work in the sport. The agents largely control player-retention and player-movement, the lawyers are great at blurring the lines between who is and isn't eligible, and the judges in various states actually ruling on these things tend to do whatever would be popular with the football and basketball fans who happen to live in their surrounding areas. The CBS Sports preseason Top 25 And 1 is a mess!
As you might know, I update those rankings as often as necessary each offseason -- and I'm up to Version 26 so far. In recent versions, I've been reduced to having to explain that I don't really know whether some of these fifth-year players committed to prominent programs are going to wear uniforms this season -- because nobody does, not even the coaches signing them with promises of big paydays, sometimes even in the millions of dollars. Yes, it'll all get worked-out in time, I think.
But the fact that the season starts just eight weeks from Monday, and many rosters still have big questions lingering, is kinda crazy. And if you were hoping there is one person -- one man or woman, either inside or outside of the sport -- who moves the needle in meaningful ways, well, the coaches we spoke with don't believe such a person exists. "Not sure there is one," one coach told me.
Extract — continue reading at the source.
