With the Best Interest of the Players in Mind

Tipoff

The sports world was shocked when a recent top draft pick failed to sign with the pro team that selected him 10th overall. Fortunately, Kumar Rocker, a pitcher for Vanderbilt, has several fallback options. He could spend another college season next spring and go back through the draft again in 2022 (although reports indicate he does not want to go that route). If Kumar had been a basketball player, his options would be very different. Meanwhile, the national mood has been all about player empowerment. In basketball, that only goes so far.

Recent changes to Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) policies have come about as a result of a broad realization that the rules were unfair for college athletes. States with both Democrats and Republicans calling the shots at the statehouse have passed similar legislation. Sure, student-athletes got room and board as well as tuition. But they didn’t control their own intellectual property. NIL legislation has been a big win for college basketball players as well as the sport itself. Top high school prospects such as Jalen Duren and Dariq Whitehead have reportedly turned down hundreds of thousands of dollars in professional contracts to commit to Memphis and Duke, respectively. The day before he committed to Duke, Whitehead even posted that he was grateful to receive the $500,000 offer from the NBA’s G-League.

If the NCAA is interested in committing to improve the lives of players, they could look to baseball for the next set of rule changes. Presently, basketball players have to make a firm go/no-go decision shortly after the end of the college basketball season. After going through pre-draft workouts, they have to decide if they are in or out of the draft. Staying in means they cannot return to college basketball, even if they go undrafted. Kumar Rocker got drafted by the New York Mets and yet can still return. The NCAA and Major League Baseball have decided that is ok. If the NCAA wants to make life easier for their basketball (and football) student-athletes, they would adopt similar rules across all sports.

The Mixtape

The Field of 68 team puts out lots of great content each week. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights.

• Big news! Jalen Duren, one of the top players in the Class of 2022, shook the college basketball world when he announced his commitment to Memphis and Penny Hardaway. Tigers fans won’t have to wait to watch the big man play, either, because Duren will suit up this fall. Rob Dauster breaks down what makes Duren so special and what it means for the college game. In short, Memphis has to perform this season with Duren patrolling the paint. If not, this might be the beginning of the end for Penny’s time on the sidelines at his alma mater. But if it works? The good times might just be rolling. Duren might not be the only big name to play for Memphis this season, either. In short, all eyes will be on Memphis this season.

• Jalen Duren isn’t the only big name from the Class of 2022 looking to make a splash. Emoni Bates, who some consider to be one of the best high school prospects of the last decade, has also announced plans to graduate high school this summer and could join Duren in Memphis. The two are teammates on Team Final AAU and recently played together at the EYBL Peach Jam event. For the first time since Zion Williamson and RJ Barrett played at Duke in 2019, a team could feature the top two high school prospects together in college. Rob Dauster discusses Emoni’s path to college, what makes him so special, and how he could play in college for two seasons (or none).

• There was a big guest on the Go Terrapins, with Travis Garrison podcast. Who? Mike Jones! Travis and Mike were part of the 2004 ACC Tournament Championship team. The two recalled their college years. Jones also gave an update on his career, where he is coaching high school basketball, and what it is like to coach during COVID without fans.

Coming Soon: The Field of 12

The Field of 68 media network is excited to welcome a brand new network, the Field of 12, a podcasting network focused on college football. There are 12 teams in the college football playoffs. You know, like how there are 68 teams in the NCAA men’s basketball tournament? It’s a thing. Eventually, we might all be part of the Field Sports Network (I have not discussed this with Rob yet, so let me know what you think in the comments). Who knows? Anyway, The Field of 12 is a Shoot Your Shot production. We’ll have more to share soon. For now, here is a quick preview of The B1G Show with Joshua Perry and Christian Hackenberg:

Four Point Play

Each newsletter throughout the summer, we’ll check in with one of our podcast hosts and see what they’re up to in addition to producing compelling content for us at The Field of 68.

This week, we check in with Travis Garrison, a former McDonald’s All-American, standout at Maryland men’s basketball, and host of the Go Terrapins with Travis Garrison podcast (Available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you access podcasts).

1. If you listed the resume of a coach that included more than 220 wins over 10 season and has gone to 5 of the past 6 NCAA Tournaments (excluding 2020, because COVID, where the Terps finished the season ranked #12 in the AP Poll), you would not assume that coach is on the hot seat. And yet, Mark Turgeon seems to always be on the hot seat. Perhaps it is the long shadow of Maryland legends Lefty Driesell and Gary Williams. Perhaps it is the restless Terps fanbase. How hot is the seat in College Park for Coach Turgeon and why do you think that is the case?

• I think it is lukewarm, maybe mild-hot. I say that because he continues to get it done, get into the Tournament. The year before last, they had a chance of possibly winning the whole thing. The next season, they lost some key players. This past season, they got into the second round of the Tournament. For the fans, they want to see another National Championship. They got a taste of it once. They saw how Gary (Williams) was and how he connected with the fans. The fans and alumni want another great season, another National Championship. Coach Turgeon is winning, he’s getting into the Tournament. Do you let him go because he isn’t winning enough? From the inside, we know how much of a grind it is. But you want another National Championship. Sometimes, if you don’t get that right away, the fans panic and maybe want a new coach in place. I understand both sides of it.

1. Let’s take a look at the upcoming season. The Terps lost standout junior Aaron Wiggins to the NBA Draft (picked in the 2nd round by the Oklahoma City Thunder). They added a couple of key pieces, including a true point guard in Fatts Russell from Rhode Island and a true big man in Qudus Wahab from Georgetown. What do you think of the prospects for Maryland in 2021-22?

• I think they have a really good shot. Losing Wiggins, that was a key piece. It was a pretty good team without Wiggins, though. As you said, they added a big man and a point guard. The fans, they always expect a winning season, going further than last season. They have the potential of going very far in the season this year and the fans are going to expect that as well.

1. Conference realignment is back on the table with Oklahoma and Texas leaving for the SEC. Maryland has a history with changing conferences, having left the ACC (as a founding member) for the Big Ten. You played during the heyday of the ACC, in the mid-2000’s when Duke, Georgia Tech, Maryland, and North Carolina all reached the Final Four. Looking back, has the move to the Big Ten been good for Maryland overall and for the college basketball team in particular?

• Overall, in the sense of all sports at Maryland… for football, it was good. That was why the move was made. The other sports, all those rivalries were there. I went to a football game and the feeling was different. It was awkward. I played in the ACC, so I am biased. Every day you had to wake up and play a big game. You had to play Duke and then you had to get up for Clemson the next night. I’m not saying the Big Ten isn’t tough, but it is different. I am not a fan from a basketball perspective. It depends on what you are looking for, like revenue or competition. You have to take it for what it is. Maryland is not going back to the ACC. That’s just my opinion. It’s a business at the end of the day.

And one!

1. When I spoke to Christy Winters-Scott of the Christy’s Court podcast (part of the Field of 68 network), I asked her this question. Like Christy, you’re from and of Maryland through-and-through. You graduated from DeMatha Catholic High School and played for the legend Morgan Wooten before playing for Gary Williams and the Terps. It doesn’t get more tried and true than that. I’d like to play a game with you, F@!k, Marry, Kill, Maryland edition. In this game, you have to choose one item to sleep with, one to marry, and one that has to go. Your three choices are The Maryland state flag, crabcakes, and Old Bay seasoning. What do you choose?

• Crabcakes, marry it; Maryland flag, sleep with it; Old Bay, kill it. I just had Old Bay on some chicken wings, and it was good, but that’s my choice.

Stay tuned for upcoming episodes of Go Terrapins with Travis Garrison. Travis recently spoke with former Maryland standout Jamar Smith and will feature him on an episode in the coming weeks.

Stock Report: SEC Edition

Now that the transfer portal and NBA Draft decisions are mostly settled, we take a deeper look into a conference. Which teams are rising, which are holding steady, and which might be taking a step back heading into the season?

Rising: Auburn

• Teams that fly close to the sun often fall back towards Earth the next season or two. Such was the case with the Auburn Tigers. After the run to the Final Four in 2019 and COVID cancellation in 2020, the core of the team either went pro or graduated. The result was a 13-14 record and roster turmoil. Star freshman guard Sharife Cooper sat and waited for the NCAA to clear him, which they finally did in early January. Another promising guard, Justin Powell, left the team to transfer to Tennessee. Freshman JT Thor was inconsistent but decided to go to the NBA Draft anyway. So why the optimism for next season? Some of the young players are still around, including scoring wing Allen Flanigan and forward Jaylin Williams. Head coach Bruce Pearl also snagged the highly-rated center, Walker Kessler, from North Carolina and Eastern Kentucky’s Wendell Greene, a scoring dynamo that can play point guard. Pearl also will welcome top-10 freshman forward Jabari Smith, an athletic and versatile player that should pair well alongside Kessler in the frontcourt by stretching the floor with his jumper or making highlight-reel plays at the rim. The roster is stacked again at Auburn for another postseason run. How high can they fly this time?

Holding Steady: Alabama

• Head coach Nate Oates announced himself as a star on the rise at Buffalo. He backed up the talk last season at Alabama. In addition to clapping back at Coach K over COVID concerns, the Crimson Tide’s coach led his team to an SEC Tournament title and close loss to UCLA in the Sweet 16. Most of the roster is back in Tuscaloosa to go for another run. John Petty, Jr. Herb Jones, and former Yale transfer Jordan Bruner are gone, but dynamic freshman guard JD Davison and Canadian big man Charles Bediako have joined the herd. Few teams will be able to match the sheer collection of talent in the Alabama backcourt. Questions remain up front, however. Bruner and Jones were talented rebounders, especially on the offensive glass. Their absence will put a lot of pressure on Bediako and former Furman stretch-4 Noah Gurley, who has transferred to the SEC champs. The new-look frontcourt will have to hold their own if Alabama has sights set on another SEC banner and deep run in the NCAA Tournament.

Falling: LSU

• Few freshmen were as much of a surprise last season as LSU’s Cameron Thomas. While he was a consensus top recruit, Thomas exceeded expectations, scoring 23 points a game. That was good enough to get drafted in the first round of the NBA Draft. Junior point guard Javonte Smart and sophomore forward Trendon Watford joined Thomas in the draft. To replace this talent, head coach Will Wade will look to a number of new faces, including former Illinois guard Adam Miller, former Missouri wing Xavier Pinson, and freshman center Efton Reid. There is talent on the roster, in addition to a few holdovers. Forward Darius Days should be in contention for an All-SEC team, for example. Talent has been the norm throughout Wade’s time in Baton Rouge. The question is if he can find another breakout candidate to keep the Bayou Bengals in the NCAA Tournament picture.

Rising: Kentucky

• It was a tough season in Lexington by every measure. The gut punch came afterwards when Terrence Clarke died in a car crash while training in Los Angeles for the NBA Draft. The dark clouds over last season are breaking as fans look forward to a return to the Top 25. Head coach John Calipari has taken on a new approach to restock the roster this time. There are a couple of one-and-done recruits, to be sure. Guard TyTy Washington and forward/center Damion Collins should both provide highlight plays. Washington is strong and fast and can score or distribute while Collins has seriously long arms that should help protect the rim. This time, though, the standout freshmen will share the court with a roster full of experienced players. Former West Virginia big man Oscar Tschiebwe will share the frontcourt with Collins and rising junior Keion Brooks. Calipari has prioritized shooting this offseason and brought in former Davidson standout Kellan Grady and former Iowa guard CJ Frederick to help Washington spread the floor. Meanwhile, Davion Mintz is back and will compete with former Georgia guard Sahvir Wheeler for primary ball-handling duties. Wheeler led the SEC in assists last season and should thrive with so many scoring options around him. The roster looks different, but the goal remains the same. Will the clouds part for Kentucky next season?

Holding Steady: Florida

• Expectations were high in Gainesville entering last season. The record scratched when preseason SEC Player of the Year Keyontae Johnson collapsed on the court and was rushed to the hospital. Fortunately, Johnson survived the ordeal. On the court, the Gators regrouped, holding off Virginia Tech in overtime of the NCAA Tournament first round before falling to Max Abmas and Oral Roberts the next game. The Gators lost point guard Tre Mann to the NBA after the season. Head coach Mike White replaced him with Penn State transfer Myreon Jones. The scoring guard and rising senior Collin Castleton should form one of the best frontcourt-backcourt duos in the nation. Castleton came on strong throughout the season and will look to join the elite big men in college basketball next season. The Gators may boast one of the most experienced rosters in the nation next season, which will keep them in the postseason hunt.

Falling: Missouri

• Few teams in college will cope with the sheer amount of attrition that Missouri and head coach Cuonzo Martin have endured. Just two of the top 7 leading scorers will return to Columbia next season, including forwards Kobe Brown and Javon Pickett. Neither of those players averaged more than 22 minutes per game last season. Martin will rely on Brown to score and rebound, as the Tigers are expected to only have one player taller than 6’7” play significant minutes this upcoming season. That player is Yaya Keita, a 6’9” freshman center ranked in the top 150 of all high school recruits by 247Sports. Martin will rely on a number of transfers, including former Kansas State guard Dajuan Gordon, former UMass forward Ronnie DeGray III, former Green Bay guard Amari Davis, and former Ball State guard Jarron Coleman. Martin relies on an attacking, pressing defense that will make use of all those guards. On offense, it could be a struggle as only Coleman is known as a deadly 3-point shooter. With a bunch of new names and faces, a player or two could surprise. However, expect a step back following an NCAA Tournament appearance last season from the Tigers.