Full-slate Friday

The NCAA gave an update on Tournament expansion, Memphis finally got a point guard and we explored some thoughts on high school recruiting

Author

Mike Miller
July 14, 2023

Keep Dick Vitale in your thoughts. The college hoops broadcasting legend announced this week that he has vocal chord cancer and will need six weeks of radiation treatment.

For an 84-year-old guy who’s already gone through treatments for Melanoma and Lymphoma, it hardly seems fair for him to have to fight yet another life-threatening condition. But if positive thinking carries the day, there’s hardly a better person to cope with something like this than Dickie V.

Read more about what he’s dealing with here.

Let's get to Thursday’s news.

1. NCAA tourney expansion ‘not imminent’

Here’s news that should bring a smile to many college basketball fans: The NCAA said Thursday that it has discussed the possible expansion of the NCAA Tournament, but any move isn’t happening soon.

Several stories circulated last summer and occasionally during the season about the possibility of going from 68 to as many as 90 teams, stemming from a D-I transformation committee recommendation of expanding championships by 25%.

The NCAA D-I Men’s Basketball Committee acknowledged that it spoke about expansion at this week’s meeting. Any change is still far off.

"The committee must be good stewards for the Division I Men's Basketball Championship," said Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball. "They are committed to doing their due diligence looking at a few different models to make an informed decision that's in the best interests of the championship, and that may very well include deciding against expansion."

"The committee and staff will continue studying options and gathering feedback from various constituents," Gavitt said. "Whether the tournament expands or not remains to be seen."

The NCAA Tournament hasn’t expanded since 2011 when it went to 68 teams, and hasn’t done any significant expansion since 1985 when it went from 53 teams to 64 teams.

Expanding the Big Dance is the best way to start an argument between college hoops fans. Many wish it was still at 64 teams, while others recognize that as the total number of D-I teams expands, adding spots to the NCAA Tournament should follow suit. An expansion could benefit mid-major schools.

But without an imminent expansion, there’s no need to start an ongoing argument. Yet.

Southwestern Athletic Conference Commissioner Charles McClelland will chair the committee starting Sept. 1, while North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham was elected as vice chair for 2023-24 and will serve as chair in 2024-25.

2. Special delivery for Memphis

For the second straight season, Penny Hardaway secured an elite point guard from the transfer portal — not to mention continuing the trend of grabbing players with significant college playing experience.

Jahvon Quinerly steps into the role vacated by All-Conference PG Kendric Davis, who thrived in his lone season at Memphis. Quinerly isn’t the same type of scorer, but he’s a dynamic playmaker and is a genius with the dribble.

A 5-star prospect in the class of 2018, he spent one year at Villanova, then transferred to Alabama. Quinerly thrived in Nate Oats’ system, serving as an electric sixth man during the Tide’s 26-7 season in 2020-21, starting 27 games as a junior before tearing his ACL in March, then coming off the bench again as a senior as he recovered from the injury.

He averaged about 13 points a game as a sophomore and junior, and was slowed a bit as a senior, but came on late, going for 14.4 points and 4 assists over Alabama’s last nine games. He also shot 38% from beyond the arc. Perhaps most impressive? Quinerly’s 32% assist rate last season actually placed him ahead of Davis (30.2%).

Quinerly is a graduate transfer and is immediately eligible to play. He’ll have a familiar face with him, too. Louisiana transfer Jordan Brown played with him during the 2018 McDonald’s All-American game.

This gives Memphis at least eight transfers for its 2023-24 roster, while it’s also awaiting news on freshman Mikey Williams (facing the resolution of six felony gun charges) and the continued career of forward DeAndre Williams (vying for a seventh college season).

Man. With that much experience, they’ll fit right into my Thursday night men’s league …

In other transfer portal news:

3. High school recruiting ain’t what it used to be

Recruiting high school players has always been an inexact science. Player development, coupled with late-blooming athletes often made it tough to pinpoint the right players for your program (if you could convince them to come).

Now, with the transfer portal’s rise as the most important recruiting route, the high school scene has been cast to the margins.

Some college coaches think the entire system needs an overhaul. This article from Kevin Sweeney highlights the challenge of seeing a player at Peach Jam, which should never be an issue.

And through that, there’s reportedly less patience than ever before when it comes to high school players. On both sides. Players want playing time. Coaches want experience. And sometimes, they’re willing to not fill a roster spot that used to go to high school recruits.

What’s a prep prospect to do? Maybe you just wait it out. From Matt Norlander:

"There is an element of continuity to a program which is hard to find right now," Oklahoma State coach Mike Boynton said. "High school recruiting is probably still the most effective way to do that. But when you factor in how transient the industry is, in every respect, it's hard to feel comfortable as a coach living in that space and certainly at the high-major level. It's because high school kids, by and large, usually aren't ready to help you win early. And now, they don't stick around long enough to develop. So it's a challenge, for sure."

Recruits, outside of five-stars, aren't being as prioritized as they once were. That has widespread effects that are felt broadly, even if they can't be seen in the micro with each recruit. Ed Cooley, just three months into his new gig at Georgetown, hasn't used all 13 scholarships in years and doesn't believe he'll ever do it again.

"I'm able to sell our future, given that it's only one more year left of COVID players," Cooley said. "So, college basketball is going to stay old, really old, for one more year. You have this year and then next year. … The value of the young high school kid right now is, for Georgetown, we can sell you on the future. I always say, 'I'm going to help you fail early, so you're really good in five-to-seven months.' You can't sell that to older kids. So, their value is their future with respect to where the future is going to take them. You couldn't do that three years ago."

In talking to a couple dozen coaches at the Peach Jam, there is a belief that, even if the value of a recruit has dipped for now, once the bonus COVID years are expired, it could rise again. The portal (in theory) might have 1,200 names a few years from now instead of nearly more than 1,800 (this year's number). The COVID bonus year has also led to an untold number of Division I-level players who never got scholarships due to the trickle-down in this environment.

COVID changed everything, not just in college hoops. But it certainly did a number on recruiting. Most programs don’t have the NIL to stock up each year from the transfer portal and will have to stick with the development route. But that doesn’t mean they’ll use the same approach when it comes to recruiting high school players.

Spending less time on the road and less time trying to coax teenagers into significant life decisions sounds like a decent thing for coaches.

But I’m guessing as some of the Top 100 recruits that used to find spots at high-major programs start to bloom at smaller schools, you’ll see some of those programs creep back into the mix. After all, who wants to miss out on an impact player?

Let’s go Peay

Corey Gipson played at Austin Peay and returns to his alma mater for the 2023-24 season as its new coach. Gipson, 42, thrived last season in his debut season as a head coach and has high hopes for the Governors. He discussed what’s ahead with Terrence Oglesby.

Links as you monitor Novak Djokovic’s quest for a 24th Grand Slam.

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