Running 2023-24 NCAA Basketball Thread

https://x.com/john_fanta/status/1783607291343724820?s=46&t=dVpE-_3tS9-saIULlsGKZA

sorry, posting from phone, but this is exactly how I feel about things right now. Really hard to root for anything but the laundry now.

 

Jamarion Sharp, a 7-foot-5 center who had nearly as many blocks (75) as points (102) last season, was arrested in Oxford for shooting at a repo man who was taking his car.

https://www.on3.com/college/ole-mis...on-sharp-arrested-for-firing-gun-at-repo-man/

 

Ole Miss NIL must have missed a payment.

 

Probably difficult to avoid scrutiny when you're 7-foot-5.

 

66% FG shooter.
47% FT shooter.
0% Repo man shooter

 

I blame society.

 

AIR BALL!

 

I think this is why some version of the Player's Association is going to take hold in college sports. There needs to be someone to set the standards, to negotiate with in a transparent manner. The players in football and basketball are going to get paid a slice of the pie and insured somehow. It's going to wind up something similar to paying students who are on full ride academic scholarships to teach freshmen. The current Wild West state of things is completely unmanageable.

 

Yet the ratings for the NCAA tournament were awesome.
Sorry, I could not give less of a shit if coaches don't like it. Or fans.

Players are getting paid. The scene has changed. Life changes. Get used to it.

 

Nah, fuck that, dude. Respectfully.

A guy signed an actual letter-of-intent with Virginia Tech a couple of days ago, then someone else presumably drops a bag, and he re-opens his recruitment three days later.

I'm not siding with coaches. But that's not a sport I'm interested in trying to stay invested in.

 

Then a letter of intent sounds exactly like the same contract coaches have been signing for forever.

Coach signs an actual contract. Then another university drops a bag, and he leaves.

If it makes you disinterested enough to stop being a fan, then so be it. Life will go on.

 

At their current school . . .

Greg Kampe (Oakland), 41 years
Tom Izzo, 30 years
Mark Few, 26 years
James Jones (Yale), 26 years
Randy Bennett (St. Mary's), 26 years
Leonard Hamilton, 22 years
Scott Drew, 21 years
Bill Self, 21 years
Scott Davenport (Ballarmine), 19 years
Matt Painter, 19 years

The "contract" may be the same, but the actions aren't. Coaches don't coach five teams in six years. Currently 56 coaches have been at their schools for 10+ years. Many of those who aren't got dismissed instead of leaving for bigger "bags."