Stop the Madness!

Why does the NCAA allow schools to approach coaches about jobs before the basketball season is over? Do the players really deserve to be overshadowed or, at a minimum, distracted during what should be one of the most exciting and special times of their young lives? It’s absurd, and yet the NCAA has complete control over this, yet lets it happen at the detriment of the kids. It makes no sense to me whatsoever. Of course I know it’s a business, but there is also a human side to it that the NCAA apparently disregards. There needs to be a rule that, under no circumstances, should a school be allowed to approach any coach until after the NCAA Championship game. These educational behemoths can wait an extra couple weeks, especially if everyone is playing by the same rules, just like in recruiting :) That means you Calipari!

That’s a nice segue into Kentucky announcing that five of their players are leaving the school for the NBA, only Patrick Patterson’s Mom heard the news after receiving calls from family and friends to congratulate her and her son. Now maybe we don’t know the entire story, and perhaps Patterson did tell Calipari that he was leaving, but at the expense of these soon to be NBA players, Kentucky used this major announcement as a recruiting tool, saying “We’ve got playing time for you, you one and doners!” I mean does Calipari, who has his own set of “rules” really need to upstage these kids who brought him a ton of glory this year? Apparently the answer is YES!

And finally, to finish up my bashing of the NCAA and university head’s of administration, I read an article about how the firing of WF’s Dino Gaudio took the stellar 5 player recruiting class by surprise. As I continued to read, I was once again astounded at the ignorance of another school administrator, WF’s athletic director Ron Wellman. Here’s a link to the article and here’s the quote:

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/blog/the_dagger/post/Wake-Forest-recruits-shocked-by-Dino-Gaudio-s-?urn=ncaab,232802

Wellman urged the five recruits to be "patient" while Wake Forest conducts a search to replace Gaudio.

"Don’t do something at a peak emotional that you would regret later on," Wellman said. "Let us hire the new coach, meet with the new coach and see where it might go."

First of all, I am hopeful that the quote is merely a typo b/c Wellman sounds like an idiot. Beyond that, the arrogance he has to tell these five players to be “patient” and to not do something “at a peak emotionally” is just shocking! My assumption is that these kids were thrilled to be going to WF to play for Gaudio, making the biggest decision of their young lives, and he’s telling them NOT to be emotional? What about you who fired Gaudio after the fade towards the end of the season. Was that done at “peak emotion” or did you really think about that for months? It’s just crazy to me, and ignorant. I know most of these kids don’t really want to be in school and the NBA is the ultimate goal, but it still doesn’t mean that they should be treated like a piece of meat. Yet they are, and it’s all very sad. To the WF recruiting class, there’s another ACC school up in College Park, MD that has a hall of fame coach, lots of talent, and would like to talk to you. Good luck guys, and just be patient.