Time to Pay Up

Tipoff

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp made no bones about where he stood on the debate over name, image, and likeness (NIL) for college athletes. In short, NIL legislation allows players to cash in on their image through endorsement deals. It is a debate that has been before Congress and in several state legislatures in recent years. The Georgia State Legislature passed their own version of an NIL law that is scheduled to go into effect this July. This start date coincides with similar bills from Alabama, Florida, Mississippi, New Mexico, and Tennessee. Kemp decided that the University of Georgia football team “recruiting lounge,” whatever that is, was the ideal setting for signing the law.

In Georgia, a clause was added to the legislation that will allow colleges and universities to take up to 75% of the revenue generated from deals individual players sign to go towards other scholarship athletes at the same university. This feature is unlike any other NIL state law. This kind of discrepancy and the July start date finally forced the hand of the NCAA to act soon or allow states to innovate in ways that could lead towards an uneven patchwork of rules and regulations that vary across state lines. NCAA president Mark Emmert acknowledged these first-of-their-kind state laws were forcing the organization’s hand.

Both sides of the aisles of Congress and blue- and red-state legislatures alike have come to consensus around support for NIL legislation. In an era of extreme partisanship, I suppose we should pause and celebrate a rare moment of bipartisan consensus. The NCAA must have seen this coming but have waited for the very last moment to act, mere weeks before different state laws are in place. This inaction until the last minute is par for the course for the NCAA. In college basketball, major programs and individuals were indicted years ago by the FBI for their involvement in schemes to pay players for their decision to play at certain schools. Don’t expect the NCAA to pick up the pace when it comes to major decisions, though. Their Board of Governors recently extended Emmert’s contract another five years. The Board unanimously agreed to pay Emmert almost $3 million a year to wait until the very end to make the important decisions. 

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.

• In April, The Field of 68 launched a new series, Candid Conversations, which features the voices of college coaches on hot-button issues, such as the transfer portal, diversity in the coaching ranks, and more. Each week, Jeff Goodman goes through his extensive rolodex (he probably still has one of those) and connects with the leading voices in the field. In the inaugural episode, Goodman and Rob Dauster were joined by Oral Roberts assistant coach Russell Springmann to discuss the reasons why Coach Springmann turned down a $1 million per year head coaching job at Mississippi State. Then, they talk with a number of coaches about the out-of-control transfer portal.

• The NCAA is considering a number of rules changes, including 6 fouls per player and de facto quarters. As you might know, every level of basketball has quarters except for men’s college basketball. High school, women’s college basketball, the NBA, and FIBA all have quarters. The rules committee for the NCAA is considering new rules for the men’s game, including resetting fouls every 10 minutes without changing the structure of the two halves. While that is a move in the right direction, it is a quarter-step of the way (see what I did there?). Rob Dauster, De’Sean Butler, and John Fanta discuss this half-measure (can’t stop, won’t stop with the puns).

• The Field of 68 was breaking news thanks to Devante’ Jones. The former Coastal Carolina point guard and 2021 Sun Belt Player of the Year was choosing between Memphis, Michigan, Texas, and Texas Tech for his final year in college. Jones joined Jeff Goodman to announce his commitment to Juwan Howard and Big Blue. Jones gives the Wolverines a much-needed point guard to complement the talented frontcourt headlined by rising sophomore center Hunter Dickinson and top 25 high school recruits Moussa Diabate and Caleb Houstan. Goodman and Jones discussed how he envisions fitting in with his new team and why he is going through the NBA draft process while maintaining college eligibility.

• On the House of Hoosier podcast, new Indiana University head coach Mike Woodson joins A.J. Guyton to check in now that he has the top spot in Bloomington. Mike and A.J. both played for legendary head coach Bobby Knight. After a long tenure in the NBA as a player and coach, “Woody” is back in college again. He discusses his life and growing up in Indianapolis, his days playing basketball, and what led him to consider this high-profile and high-pressure position. It’s a must listen for any IU fan.

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 Indiana University legend and former Big 10 Player of the Year and All-American, A.J. Guyton, host of the House of Hoosier podcast (available on Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts).

1. Let’s start off with a little hypothetical situation. The year is 2027 and Mike Woodson has been given a contract extension on his initial 6-year contract as head coach at IU. What did he do to earn it?

• I would guess that he has shown his ability to galvanize the fanbase; reunited the alumni; shown that he can recruit Indiana basketball players; and that he put in a system that is reminiscent of the old days but reflective of the way that the game is played today. I don’t know the part where he will have a fantastic offense or defense yet, but he has done the other things already.

2. You played for Bobby Knight and were outspoken in support of him at the end of his tenure. Coach Knight was known for winning at a high level and had a famous temper. Let’s just say that some of his outspoken behavior directed towards players, the media, and others are not as appropriate in today’s world. On the other hand, Coach Knight knew how to coach. What do you think are some of the ways Coach Knight approached the job that holds up today?

• The way Coach Knight approached the job was no-nonsense. The coaching and education staff approached the job the same way, with accountability and the expectation of winning. You cannot coach the way Coach Knight did in the 90’s, 80’s, and 70’s, but you cannot sacrifice accountability, discipline, and integrity. You need to approach the fanbase and program with honesty and integrity. You can change the way you approach recruiting and coaching, but you have to start with culture.

3. Coach Woodson and his staff have done a heck of a job so far putting a roster together for next season. He convinced Trayce Jackson-Davis to stick with IU for his junior year, Khristian Lander to come back for his sophomore year, and pulled in a couple of high-major transfers in former Pitt guard Xavier Johnson and former Northwestern forward Miller Kopp. On top of that, he got a commitment from incoming freshman guard Tamar Bates, one of the top high school seniors. How do you assess the roster for next year and what do you think IU is going to play under Woody?

• I don’t know what they are going to play like, to be honest. Like most coaches, I assume Coach Woodson is going to want to get up and down and have the team take good shots. On paper, it looks like a team that can compete for the top half of the Big 10. I am not sure if they are Big 10 Championship material at this point. I think there are questions about the point guard position. I am not saying that Khristian Lander had a bad freshman year; he had the kind of struggles freshmen have. Just looking at Coach Woodson and how he coached in Atlanta and in New York, I know he is going to focus on getting stops. We’ll get a good feel early on if the team is going to compete. It will come down to how the players adjust to his coaching.

And one!

4. Bloomington is known as a home for IU and the Hoosiers, but it is also famous for the “Little Five,” an amatuer 500-mile bicycle race held at a velodrome in town. There was a famous movie about it, Breaking Away, starring Dennis Quaid. You have to put together a Little Five team of 4 other teammates you played with in college, the NBA, or overseas. What’s your team?

• I’ll take Jamal Crafword and Ron Artest (AKA Metta World Peace) from the Chicago Bulls, Kirk Haston and Dane Fife from Indiana. Dane would be good at defense.

Stay tuned for more House of Hoosier podcast episodes. We just had Mike Woodson on the podcast and have new Hoosier Miller Kopp coming up soon.

Enter the Portal 

Players are on the move during college basketball’s offseason. We’ll highlight a few of the big moves of the past week and name winners and losers.

Winner: Washington State

• Let’s just be honest here; the Cougars have not had much to celebrate on the hardcourt over the years. There was that brief time in the late 2000’s under Dick and Tony Bennett when things started to look up before the Ken Bone and Ernie Kent eras deflated that momentum. Entering his third year, head coach Kyle Smith has something going in Pullman. He was able to snag Michael Flowers, a dynamic scoring guard by way of Western Michigan and more recently South Alabama, to help inject life into the offense. On defense, look no further than Kim Aiken, Jr., the Big Sky Defensive Player of the Year at Eastern Washington last season. That dynamic duo should help a Cougar team that has struggled to score. 

Loser: Georgia

• Head coach Tom Crean won an early recruiting battle when he convinced former Virginia guard Jabri Abdur-Rahim to play for the Bulldogs. Since then, however, Crean has seen a mass exodus of players, including 4 of the 5 starters and several key reserves. Point Guard Sahvir Wheeler is expected to announce his new destination soon while promising freshman KD Johnson announced his intention to transfer just this week. Crean made a big splash with Anthony Edwards and a top recruiting class in 2019, but he has failed to translate that talent into wins and now faces a huge roster overhaul.

Winner: Kentucky

• Head coach John Calipari is used to dealing with roster turnover. This offseason, he has noticed that his teams have had trouble shooting the ball. The Wildcats haven’t had a team ranked in the top 100 in 3-point shooting percentage since the 2015-16 season. Say hello to the new guards, former Davidson player Kellan Grady and former Iowa marksman CJ Frederick. Both can light it up from behind the arc. Grady was a 3-time All A-10 player and can score the ball. They should bring both experience - often in short supply in Lexington - and outside production. Now all UK needs is a true point guard to set up the shooters. 

Loser: Texas A&M

• Buzz Williams has been a winner at every stop of his career to date, which includes Marquette (where he replaced Tom Crean) and Virginia Tech. His second year in College Station has ended with a mass exodus, though. A whopping 9 former players from the 2020-21 season have departed the Aggies. Leading scorer Emmanuel Miller, a 6’7” forward, is off to Big 12 rival TCU. It is not all bad news for Buzz, though. Former top 50 high school recruit Henry Coleman III from Duke has transferred to Texas A&M as well as former A-10 Freshman Team member Jordan Hall from St. Joseph’s and Mountain West Rookie of the Year Marcus Williams from Wyoming.