The NCAA underbelly is poisoned.
The games are artistic and dramatic, a mix of ballet and Broadway show, testimony to the athleticism of the human body and the spirit of the heart.
The NCAA tournament is almost impossible with its heart-stopping suspense, its everyday, every-round hopes-and-dreams storylines. Can’t-believe-it-moment follows can’t-believe-it-moment. For three straight weeks.
As sport, the denouement of the college basketball season, its perfectly described Road to the Final Four, its Last Man Standing finish after months of play, after months of winnowing down the herd from about 350 teams with a chance to 68 teams with a chance to 64 teams with a chance to one team hoisting the trophy, is practically perfection.
And we’re there now. Four men’s college basketball teams remain going into the weekend. The tournament is an annual wonder.
As long as you don’t look at it too closely. The NCAA tournament resembles the making of sausage and political legislation — a lot goes into the end product that you don’t want to know about.
The joy of each upset is etched on the faces of the winning players. Their emotions are genuine. Their hugs are heartfelt. Even if many have one foot half out the door waiting to commit to play for another school next year where they will also love their teammates for the time being.
Plus, on another front that will make you squirm, today, the U.S. Supreme Court is scheduled to hear a case that could determine whether college athletes get paid to play.
That is a huge issue facing schools whose athletes are rebelling because they don’t believe a free education is valuable enough compensation for them for playing ball.
Remember the concept of working your way through school, of families of parents compiling life savings so the kid can earn a college degree? Remember what a blessing it was if your kid could obtain a scholarship and receive free tuition, books, room and board so you didn’t have to worry about his future or bankrupt the family to ensure it?
That doesn’t seem to mean anything anymore. It can cost $50,000 annually for four years for someone to attend an elite school. Not enough, athletes say. Not enough for the school to provide health care. Not enough to pay out of emergency funds to send an athlete home for a family member’s funeral.
College sports has always been conducted under some definition of amateurism. The Supreme Court may tamper with that, may decide it is OK for college players to sell their autographs, jerseys, photographs and make money because they play and receive television exposure such as that seen during March Madness.
Another issue insidiously rotting college basketball from the inside are rules governing transfers. It used to be that if an athlete wanted to leave his team for another, he had to sit out a season as a penalty. This was designed to prevent illegally wooing players.
Now, it’s a free-for-all. You may hear announcers mention the “transfer portal” on March broadcasts. It sounds like a science fiction term, but what this fairly recent innovation means is that athletes can jump teams virtually at will.
You know that appealing sophomore with the breakout game of 20 points in the Sweet Sixteen? Root for him now because he may be gone tomorrow. This is not an occasional development these days.
As in every other sports statistical category known to mankind, someone keeps track of players who enter the transfer portal. Last year, more than 1,000 did so. A recent look shows more than 900 are doing so this year with the number still climbing. The names fill 72 8×10-inch sheets of paper. Those are astounding numbers. Apparently, nobody is happy anywhere.
Coaches formerly recruited for four years, growing their own players. Now, they dive into the rent-a-player marketplace. It’s not so different from NBA free agency. It will become less so if the courts rule college players can make money through salaries or endorsements for playing.
Intercollegiate athletics are supposed to be an extracurricular activity, supplementing classroom work.
Watchers of the tournament games may also notice a commercial with the truest words the NCAA speaks. It states of all the student-athletes, 98% will go pro in something besides sports, becoming doctors, lawyers, accountants, business owners and otherwise.
In between the dribbles, it is a reminder college is still about education.
Lew Freedman is the Sports Editor for The Tribune. Send comments to [email protected].