The NCAA needs to do several things to stabilize college sports and one of them is allowing players to transfer and be eligible immediately when a coach is fired or leaves to take another job.
This directly applies to Sarr, who was blindsided when Wake Forest fired Danny Manning as its head coach on April 25th. While the NCAA has rarely granted waivers for immediate eligibility following a coaching change, this would be a step in the right direction to doing what’s right for student athletes.
Both the Division 1 Council and the Division 1 Board of Directors have publicly expressed in the last few weeks that this is not an appropriate time for a one-time waiver for student athletes to receive immediate eligibility as transfers as suggested by the Transfer Waiver Working Group.
This though, still doesn’t have anything to do with Sarr’s situation.
Part of the reason why the NCAA is in the scenario that it’s in with this very topic is because a gray area exists when it comes to student athletes who apply for transfer waivers. Some are passed and some aren’t, but there’s really no rhyme or reason for any of it.
Part of the way to stabilize college sports is to eliminate waivers for immediate eligibility all together unless a student athlete is a college graduate or has to deal with a coach being fired or taking another job.
This applies directly to Sarr, who will be a game changer for Kentucky if he’s able to play next season.
The 7-footer averaged 13.7 points and 9.0 rebounds for Wake Forest as a junior while averaging 19 points and 12.3 rebounds over his final four games.
His presence on the baseline next to Keion Brooks would immediately solidify Kentucky’s front court and again make the Wildcats a favorite in the SEC.
Let’s hope the NCAA does the right thing and allows this young man to finish his college career during the 21-22 campaign.
Sam Hauser should be a Preseason All-American and the ACC Preseason Player of the Year
Out of sight, but not out of mind.
The 6-8 Hauser redshirted last season for Virginia after three productive years at Marquette, which were highlighted by his efforts as a junior.
Two seasons ago, Hauser averaged 14.9 points and 7.2 rebounds while shooting 45.9 percent from the field and 40.2 percent from three-point range while making 88 shots from long distance. Despite that level of efficiency, he still took 223 less shots than Markus Howard, who was the Golden Eagles’ top scorer.
Now Hauser joins a team at Virginia that is coming off the worst statistical offensive season that Tony Bennett has had since he’s been in Charlottesville.
The Cavaliers only shot 41.3 percent as a team and 30.4 percent from three-point range while averaging just 57 points in 19-20, but still won as many ACC games (15) as both Duke and Louisville. Those three averages are all statistical lows for Virginia under Bennett.
How is Hauser a candidate to be ACC Preseason Player of the Year before ever playing a game in the conference?
Look at the other options.
Garrison Brooks put up big numbers (16.8 points, 8.5 rebounds) last season for North Carolina, but the Tar Heels also finished tied for last in the conference in what was far and away the worst year of Roy Williams’ Hall-of-Fame career.
Louisville and Duke both do not return a double-figure scorer.
Florida State — the team that won the league last season — returns a double-figure scorer in M.J. Walker, but he isn’t ready to be in that type of conversation just yet. Neither is Georgia Tech’s Michael Devoe (16.0 points, 3.9 rebounds, 3.4 assists), a burgeoning star who needs the Yellow Jackets to win at a higher level before he’s mentioned for those types of accolades.
And the freshmen?
I’ve never been an advocate of associating first-year players with that type of pedigree before they’ve ever played a college game.
It should be noted though that Florida State’s Scottie Barnes and Duke’s Jalen Johnson are both five-star prospects who could play their way into the conversation once games start.
For now, the league’s most known commodity who’s produced in a winning situation is Hauser, a breathtaking offensive talent who’s linking up with an offensively challenged team.
We’ll see if it’s truly as perfect of a fit as it sounds next season.
It’s time for the NCAA to cement an early entry withdrawal deadline date for the NBA Draft
Enough is enough.
The NBA’s decision to postpone both the NBA Draft Lottery and NBA Draft Combine a few weeks ago means that the NBA Draft itself is destined to be postponed.
That means that the NCAA’s early entry withdrawal deadline of June 3rd for underclassmen who wish to return to college is likely to be postponed as well.
At what point will the NCAA step in and offer clarity to the situation?
It’s been roughly 10 days since the NBA came out with the announcements regarding the postponement of both the lottery and the combine and there’s been nothing from the NCAA.
According to several sources, the NCAA would prefer to give its student athletes approximately a month before the draft to make its final decision on what they plan to do for next season.
But in all seriousness, there’s no combine and no draft workouts right now due to coronavirus. So in essence, what are these kids truly evaluating?
If the draft is pushed back until September or October, is the deadline going to be pushed to 30 days prior to when the draft is set for?
Either way, the NCAA needs to start offering some answers with clarity.
This and That:
– UConn’s addition of five-star big man Adama Sanogo should push the Huskies into the conversation among the tier teams in the Big East. Don’t be shocked if Dan Hurley’s squad is picked in the league’s top five right behind Villanova and Creighton in the conference’s preseason poll next October. UConn hasn’t played in the NCAA Tournament since 2016.
– Several Pac-12 coaches are viewing Utah as the conference’s sleeper team in 19-20. The Utes are set to return every single player from a 16-win team that beat Kentucky last December in Las Vegas. Utah will also add an impact freshman in four-star prospect Ian Martinez.
– Villanova and Virginia will play a neutral site game at Madison Square Garden on Dec. 19th. Kudos to both Jay Wright and Tony Bennett for making this happen. As expected, both teams will be ranked in the Top 10 to start next season and be the favorites to win their respective leagues.
– Cincinnati and Richmond are finalizing a home-and-home series that will begin next season at Fifth Third Arena, according to a source. There will be a return game at Richmond during the 21-22 season. Barring something unforeseen, this should be Chris Mooney’s best team since he led the Spiders to the Sweet 16 in 2011.
– How good was the Big Ten last season? Seven teams from the league ranked in the Top 10 nationally in strength of schedule while nine teams ranked in the Top 13. If there was an NCAA Tournament played in March, the Big Ten would have likely had 10 of its 14 teams in the field.
