- Adam Silver promised to make changes when he replaced David Stern and it appears that the first one will have a bigger impact on college basketball than the NBA. According to reports, Silver wants to raise the age limit to 20. This probably would not go into effect until the 2016 NBA Draft at earliest, but it would have a profound impact on college basketball it was passed. Players would essentially need to go to school for two years. That is unless the players decide to go overseas or play in the NBDL (as some owners suggested). There will obviously be push back from certain groups, but if the NFL can get away with making players wait three years we don’t see why the NBA cannot get away with two years.
- One of the running themes of the Morning Five over the past few years has been the frequent use of family hardship waivers. It appears that the NCAA has noticed this too as the Division I Leadership Council recommended that players transferring for this reason be granted an extra year of eligibility, but would make the player sit out a year. While unpopular with some (much like the idea of raising the age limit) this would address two key issues: the abuse of the waiver and still allowing the player to get all of his or her years of eligibility. This won’t affect graduate student transfer waivers, but those are much more difficult to cheat with since the athlete should be leaving with an undergraduate diploma at that point.
- Tennessee’s search to replace Cuonzo Martin as its men’s basketball coach appears to be focused on Louisiana Tech coach Michael White. When Martin left Knoxville to become the new head coach at California we figured it would be much tougher for them to land a coach than their fans would expect given the way that Martin had been treated. Although White has never made a NCAA Tournament appearance, he has been successful in his three seasons at Louisiana Tech compiling a 74-31 record including going 56-15 the past two seasons. White also has a reputation for being a top-notch recruiter and with his experience at Ole Miss as a recruiter is well-versed in SEC recruiting.
- We have heard of short-lived commitments, but Kareem Canty might be in a class by himself. The Marshall transfer, who committed to Bruce Pearl and Auburn on Saturday night, backed out of that commitment less than 24 hours later and will visit South Florida as well. To be fair to Canty, he has not ruled out Auburn as he says he just wants to compare it to another school. Canty averaged 16.3 points and 5.5 assists per game last season and will be among the most highly sought-after recruits on the market. Normally we would not give South Florida much of a chance to land a player like this, but much like Bruce Pearl at Auburn, the presence of Orlando Antigua will make them competitive for recruits they previously would not have been in the running for.
- St. John’s had a big addition over the weekend, which would not be particularly newsworthy, except that the addition is
current/formerplayer Chris Obekpa. Obekpa, who is one of the premier shotblockers in the country, had announced his intent to transfer before changing his mind. It appears that Steve Lavin has accepted him back with open arms although some of that may have to do with how shorthanded the Red Storm might be next year in the frontcourt with Jakarr Sampson already declaring for the NBA Draft.