2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

[Incandenza]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

Agreed, but I don't blame any college teams for that. The NBA should do away with the one year removed from HS graduation+19 years of age rule.

[ursus arctos]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

Or just pay the kids.

Something must be done.

[Hot Pepsi]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

That won't help much. They'll never pay them enough that it won't be worth it to leave after a year or two. The NCAA tournament makes a billion dollars, but divide that by all the teams and account for expenses and all the other people that have to be paid, there's not going to be anywhere close to NBA money available.

All the earnest handwringing newspaper columns every March aren't going to help. If they want a better deal, they have to organize and be willing to strike and fight in the courts.

There has barely been the slightest move in that direction or any indication the players would be willing to take on that fight.

Getting to play D1 sports is a pretty good deal for the players. It's not a *fair* deal - for football or basketball players especially - but it's good enough that few players seem to be willing to do much other than tweet about it from time to time.

That contrasts to, for example, the US women's hockey team. They're previous deal was so meager that they really had nothing to lose other than the chance to play (and their chains, I suppose). But a lot of players were just couldn't afford to keep playing at that level without some more support.

[Incandenza]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

Roy Williams got something north of $900,000 as a bonus for winning the tournament. That's of course a matter of his contract with UNC and has nothing to do with how the NCAA as an organization is run, but it's still pretty galling.

Players may not be able to earn what they could in the NBA, but the majority of players will never make it to the NBA, but they're still the ones who are contributing to the teams and the profits now. Even if it's not just a wage, but something like an end of season payment, that would be helpful. Some players might stay in school longer instead of trying to make it as a professional if they got a very minor sop like that.

[ursus arctos]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

See also guys leaving to play in lesser leagues in Europe or Asia or the D-League.

Genuine lottery picks aren't the real problem here.

[Hot Pepsi]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

That's true. I was just addressing what I thought was the suggestion that paying the players would keep the best players in school longer and thereby restore the quality of the tournament to how it was in the 80s.

Again, it's all fine to say it's unfair, but it won't change as long as there is no shortage of talented players willing to take the deal they're being offered.

Not many guys leave or skip college to play in the d league or overseas, do they? Not as many as I'd expect.

[ursus arctos]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

This year's process is on-going, but last year 117 underclassmen declared for the draft, which strikes me as a very big number.

Add to that the phenomenon of guys being "run off" so that their scholarships can be used on other players. This piece on Northwestern from Vice Sports really opened my eyes to that, including the rather amazing fact that about 40% of Division I players transfer by the end of their sophomore season.

[Hot Pepsi]

2017 NCAA basketball tournament thread

That might happen regardless. Guys go to the best team/school that offers then realize they aren't going to play much and then transfer to where they can.