The Last Angry Fan dug up a little dirt on John Calipari’s first season at Kentucky. It turned out that a bunch of one-and-dones didn’t care all that much about academics. Shocker!

Of all the athletic teams at the University of Kentucky, no team had a lower cumulative GPA than Calipari’s squad. In fact, Kentucky’s basketball team scored their lowest GPA since the 2002 season.

High-fives all around!

How bad was UK’s GPA? Think low, then take off a point or two and you’re almost there. For the fall semester, their cumulative GPA was a meager 2.025, easily the worst amongst the nine SEC teams that released their GPA’s to the public.

This is a side effect of the NBA’s age-limit rule. When you force kids to go to college that wouldn’t otherwise go to college, and only for a year, they’re not going to work all that hard in the classroom. They know they only have to pass a few credits in the fall semester to be eligible to play in March Madness, and after that they’re off to the NBA.

What a joke.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

You don’t hear this often from anyone not named David Stern, but Brandon LaChance of BullsHome.com says that the NBA should keep its age-limit rule because it allows the NBA to get a better look at prospects. Let’s go point-by-point:

The draft entrance law does hurt the college game. There is no doubt about it. Players leaving after one year hurts a team’s roster and team chemistry. The star player gets all the shine while the rest of the players and the school itself are forgotten. I know who John Wall is but couldn’t list one of his Kentucky teammates.

No offense, but if LaChance can’t name DeMarcus Cousins, Patrick Patterson or Eric Bledsoe, maybe he shouldn’t be commenting about how a rule affects the college game.

If a school has a problem with a player leaving after one year, then don’t recruit the athlete. Instead of Derrick Rose, OJ Mayo or Kevin Durant, go after Tyler Hansbrough.

That’s fine, but there are only so many Tyler Hansbroughs in the world. When you force a kid to go to college for a year, he doesn’t want to be there and he doesn’t want to go to class. It makes a mockery of the so-called “student-athlete.” Basketball programs are going to do what is in their best interests in terms of winning, and under this flawed system that means some will recruit clear one-and-done players like John Wall. You can’t force a flawed system on the NCAA and expect everyone to forgo the best available talent. One-and-done players only have to pass a few credits in their first semester to become eligible to play in the NCAA tournament. They don’t even have to go to a single class in in their second semester. This is ridculous.

One and done gives the NBA and the players a showcase, practice and a scale to place talent. There are millions of college hoops fans turning on their television sets to watch a big game or Sports Center for highlights.

The stud player is showcased to the world. The fans hearing how good he is at the college level will more than likely pay attention to him at the next level. Carmelo Anthony helped Syracuse win a championship in his one year. Anthony did his one year before the rule was a rule. Denver drafted him and their ticket sales went up along with media coverage of the Nuggets. The NCAA showcased his talent for the world to see and the NBA cashed in on it.

Yes, the one-and-done rule gives NBA teams a better look at a prospect, but that’s not the point. It’s wreaking havoc on the college game. High schooler LeBron James went ahead of Anthony in that draft and he’s doing just fine.

Remember a guy named Kwame Brown. Brown was drafted straight out of high school by the Washington Wizards in 2001 with the number one overall pick. He is one of the biggest busts in NBA history. In 2003, his best statistical year, he only averaged 10 points and 8 rebounds. This may not be completely accurate, but if he would have played a year in college, the Wizards may have noticed weaknesses. Brown may have needed the year to further develop. He might have decided to stay longer to develop skills if he couldn’t be a big time performer in the college level.

Ah, yes, the Kwame Brown argument. Yet there are plenty of examples of players that were busts coming out of college. What’s the NBA’s excuse there? On the whole, players drafted straight out of high school have a much higher success rate than those that played in college. In other words, why is the NBA forcing their rule on the NCAA to fix a non-existent problem?

The one and done deal may not be the best solution ever but it is the best now. University’s get one year of excitement and the NBA gets to cash in off of the marketing the NCAA does for the players. I think it is a great system and should stay in place. If the NCAA wants students to stay longer or participate, they have to do something.

What is the NCAA supposed to do? You can’t force a kid to stay in college — the only entity that could do that is the NBA (by requiring any players not drafted straight out of high school to play two years of collegiate ball before entering the draft again). That’s the system I support. Allow players that are good enough to go to the NBA straight out of high school to do so, but if they enroll in college they have to play for two years. That way, the NBA gets a good look at the fringe NBA talent, the NCAA gets some semblance of continuity, and those same kids get an opportunity to develop for two seasons at the college level.

Everyone wins.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Per SI.com (via the Dan Patrick Show)…

“If [a kid is] good enough, he should be allowed to come right out of high school,” Kryzewski said.

But Coach K thinks if a player does go to college, he should take academics seriously.

“If they go to college, they should be there long enough to take core courses that could eventually lead to a degree,” Kryzewski said. “Otherwise it’s a sham.”

When the NBA age-limit rule was implemented, I conducted a study that found that players that were drafted straight out of high school had a higher success rate than players that were drafted out of college or via international ball.

I think the best system would be to allow high schoolers to be drafted, and if they go undrafted, they’re able to enter college. Once they do enter college, they’ll have to play a minimum of two years. That way, the players that are NBA-caliber at 18 can go straight to the league, while those that need seasoning will have to put in a couple of seasons on the collegiate level. The two-season minimum is to ensure that these players will put in some academic effort while in school (which will hopefully result in a degree somewhere down the line). One season isn’t enough. Right now, players have to pass just six hours in the first semester to be eligible to play for the entire year. That’s a joke.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Speaking at a fundraiser at the Indiana Hall of Fame, Coach Knight had this to say (via ESPN)…

“We’ve gotten into this situation where integrity is really lacking and that’s why I’m glad I’m not coaching. You see we’ve got a coach at Kentucky who put two schools on probation and he’s still coaching. I really don’t understand that.”

Finally. Someone of note calls out John Calipari for his long history of shenanigans at the college level. He has had two Final Four appearances vacated by the NCAA after scandals at UMass (Marcus Camby accepted gifts from an agent — probably not Calipari’s fault) and Memphis (Derrick Rose’s SAT — partly Calipari’s fault). He hired Dajuan Wagner’s father as his Coordinator of Basketball Operations, hired Tyreke Evans’s personal strength coach as his administrative assistant, and allowed Rose’s brother to travel with the team for free (another NCAA violation that would have vacated the team’s Final Four appearance even if Rose’s SAT came back clean).

Knight wasn’t done…

“Very few people know this, but a kid can play the first semester as a freshman, pass six hours of anything and play in the NCAA tournament without ever attending a class in the second semester. I don’t think that’s right.”

This is the unseen drawback to the NBA’s one-and-done rule. Freshman that know that they’re going pro the next year have no incentive to go to class during their second semester. This is a great reason why the NBA rule should be altered so that players can come out straight from high school, but if they do enter college, they need to attend for a minimum of two years. That way, there’s at least a chance that they’ll have enough credits to eventually graduate.

Photo from fOTOGLIF

Maybe, according to SEC commissioner Mike Silve. Per ESPN…

A source also told ESPN.com that Kentucky has been investigating Wall’s eligibility for months because his former AAU coach was a certified agent.

Brian Clifton, Wall’s AAU coach, was a certified agent with FIBA, basketball’s international governing body, for nearly a year. Under NCAA rule that equates to Wall accepting illegal benefits from an agent. Consequently Wall could have to repay any and all expenses Clifton footed during that period before he can play with Kentucky.

NCAA rule also stipulates that an athlete can be withheld from at least 10 percent of a team’s games as part of the punishment.

Wall was one of the top recruits — if not the top recruit — of the ’09 class and if he’s ineligible for any part of the season it’s going to be a blow to the Wildcats. If not for the NBA’s age-limit rule, Wall probably would have headed straight for the pros, so this is another situation that could have been avoided if qualified high schoolers could bypass the collegiate ranks and play in the NBA immediately after graduating.

I love sports, but that doesn’t mean they’re perfect. Here are ten things that drive me crazy on a regular basis, in order of increasing stupidity:

10. The scoring system in tennis
Love? 15? 30? 40? Deuce? Actually, I kind of like “deuce.” But why not just go to four, win by two. It’s the exact same thing and a lot easier to follow when you’ve already thrown back a couple of Bloody Marys.

9. The overkill of NASCAR
Does it really take 500 laps to figure out which car and driver are the fastest? Here’s an idea: Make every race 50 to 100 laps and limit the number of pit stops. Every decision will be magnified and second-guessed and strategy will become an even bigger part of the sport.

8. Offsides (in soccer and hockey)
Anytime that you have defenders trying to encourage offsides calls by pulling up as they run/skate back to protect their goal, it’s not a good thing. There’s no offsides in basketball and it works just fine. When Randy Moss outruns a cornerback, play doesn’t stop because he has a clear path to the endzone. Why not reward anticipation and speed, and make soccer and hockey that much more exciting by creating a flurry of one-on-one situations between the striker/forward and the goalie?

Read the rest of this entry »

Five of the 10 starters in last night’s Game 4 skipped college altogether. In his pregame press conference, Stan Van Gundy says that the age-limit is a sham and blasted the NCAA.

Van Gundy was on a roll, decrying the NCAA as “the worst organization going,” and the NBA/NCAA’s one-and-done rule as “a sham,” telling the press that he doesn’t “understand how we got away with [the one-and-done] rule as a league.”

I’m not a fan of the age limit. I understand the goal — to make the NBA a more mature league and (hopefully) increase the quality of the product. But the one-and-done rule is hurting the college game, and it isn’t doing much for the NBA. High school players have a high rate of success in the NBA, so those that get drafted should be allowed to play straight out of high school. If a player doesn’t get drafted, then he should be allowed to attend college. Once he enrolls, he should have to play for a minimum of two years before making himself eligible for the draft again. Case closed.

Despite the rather lackluster 2009 NCAA tournament, March Madness is – historically speaking – the most exciting sporting event in the country. Still, as I watched the games this year, I noticed that a few things need changing. Here are my top five gripes about college basketball:

1. No more one-and-dones.
I understand why the NBA wants an age limit, but the one-year-out-of-high-school rule is hurting the college game. Amongst the major programs, there is little continuity season to season and it has thrown blue-chip recruiting on its head. Some of the best coaches in the college ranks are reluctant to recruit the top players because they know they’re just going to have a hole to fill the following summer.

Players should be able to declare for the draft directly out of high school. But if they decide to enroll in college, they must stay a minimum of two seasons. Typically, high schoolers that are good enough to be drafted are good enough to stick in the league. If a high schooler enters the draft (but doesn’t hire an agent), he can always pull out and enroll in school if it doesn’t look like he’s going to be drafted in the first round. This is the same rule that college players have to follow. (And yes, I realize that this is the NBA’s fault, but it’s still a problem for college basketball.)

Roy, back up three feet. Your guys will be able to hear you just fine.

2. Get the coaches off the court.
One thing that drives me nuts about college basketball is the leeway that the officials give head coaches. They’re allowed to stomp around the sidelines like petulant children, throwing hissy fits anytime a call doesn’t go their way. Okay, so maybe the refs are instructed to give the coaches some slack on the proverbial leash, but that doesn’t mean that head coaches should be running onto the court to shout instructions to their teams. It seems like every game there is a near-collision between an official running downcourt and a head coach that is stepping on the sideline (or is on the court all together). I’d like to see the official call an automatic technical if he sees the coach step on the sideline – that would clean this up really quickly.

Read the rest of this entry »

Remember Brandon Jennings? He’s the #1 basketball recruit of the class of 2008 that decided to forgo college (due to trouble with the admissions tests) to sign with a professional team in Rome.

We brought you some excerpts from his blog just after Christmas that stirred up some controversy but weren’t all that controversial. Now he’s on record (via email to the New York Times), and it seems like his frustration level is rising.

“I’ve gotten paid on time once this year,� Jennings said in an e-mail message. “They treat me like I’m a little kid. They don’t see me as a man. If you get on a good team, you might not play a lot. Some nights you’ll play a lot; some nights you won’t play at all. That’s just how it is.�

“I don’t see too many kids doing it,� his e-mail message said. “It’s tough man, I’ll tell you that. It can break you.�

“My role is to play D and take open shots — that’s it,� he said. “And I’ve accepted that role.�

I can’t imagine that these quotes will endear him to the coaching staff in Rome. My guess is that he’ll be running a few extra sprints after practice. And this is one of the advantages (or disadvantages, depending on how you look at it) of the internet, blogs and email. These athletes are so accessible now, even ones that are living in Italy, that journalists can get a quote without flying around the world or having to track them down via telephone. Maybe the Times caught him at a bad time or maybe this is just how it is playing for Lottomatica Virtus Roma.

But even though his minutes are inconsistent and he’s only averaging eight points a game, it doesn’t look like Jennings’ time in Rome will hurt his draft stock, at least according to one anonymous NBA assistant coach.

An N.B.A. assistant coach who has been to Europe and has watched Jennings play said his potential draft standing had not been harmed. The coach requested anonymity because he was discussing a player currently ineligible for the draft.

“I think it is good for him,� he said. “He was getting a defensive component that he needed. If I was a scout and I needed a point guard, I would be extremely impressed with what he has done over there.�

Sonny Vaccaro, who in many ways brokered the deal for Jennings to go to Europe, also commented.

But Vaccaro said there had been a change from last summer, when he worked on the deals for Jennings. Economic conditions in Europe are just as difficult as they are in the United States, and he said he underestimated the emotional strength a player needed to compete overseas.

“A less-driven kid would have come home,� Vaccaro said. “They practice twice a day, and the Europeans play everybody. It is not like one of these silly college games where the same seven guys play every minute of every game. When it’s over, the fact he was able to handle it is going to be more landmark than him just going over there.�

What is Vaccaro smoking?

“It’s not like one of these silly college games where the same seven guys play every minute of every game.”

I’ve played and watched a lot of basketball in my life and the best teams have a regular rotation of guys. Some coaches use a six- or seven-player rotation, and some can find eight or nine guys that they trust. Rarely do teams regularly play a full 12-player roster. With that many guys going in and out of the game, it is impossible for most of the bench players to find any kind of rhythm. I’m not sure why Vaccaro felt the need to use the term “silly” as it just makes him sound foolish.

At the end of the day, I don’t think Europe will be a viable option for most high school seniors. As long as the NBA age-limit stays at 19, most players will prefer to play at the college level due to its comfort and familiarity. But for players like Jennings, who have difficulty getting into college, Europe will remain an option. It just may not be as attractive of an option as it was a year ago.

Related content: Brandon Jennings

Rich Zvosec, former college basketball coach (and friend of The Scores Report), has written a book, Birds, Dogs & Kangaroos: Life on the Back Roads of College Basketball. In Zvosec’s humorous way, the book outlines what life is really like at the low Division I level.

I played ball at what would be considered the high Division III level and it sounds like we had more resources, support and continuity than a few of Zvosec’s teams. Coach Z is an engaging writer and has a plethora of funny/outrageous/touching anecdotes to relate as he goes through his entire coaching career.

The Scores Report had the opportunity to talk to Zvosec about why he wrote the book, what it’s like coaching in New York City, and the hurdles he had to overcome to develop into a successful color commentator for ESPN.

The Scores Report: Hi, this is John Paulsen from The Scores Report. How are you doing?

RZ: Hey, John. How are you doing?

TSR: Pretty good. I just finished reading your book over the weekend. I enjoyed it. It brought back some memories of when I played Division III ball – sounded like some of the same crazy stories. Can you tell me a little bit about why you decided to write the book?

RZ: When I first got the job at St. Francis in New York, some of the different things happened. My mother always told me, “You should save all these stories and write a book someday.� I guess I kind of wrote it for a number of different reasons. It’s kind of a cathartic look back at 25 years of kind of chasing a dream – college coaching. And the other part of it is, I wanted to give the reader a different perspective on college basketball. So often the media only covers the highest of levels and consequently everything is portrayed as just a business transaction, so to speak. Whether it comes to recruiting or wins and losses. I wanted people to get an inside look at what a coach actually goes through. And certainly it’s a little different at a St. Francis than it is at North Carolina or Kansas.

TSR: You said in the book that you coached at ten different schools. Could you give our readers a brief rundown of where you coached?

RZ: I spent 25 years, 16 as a head coach. I was the head coach at the University of North Florida, where I started the program. I coached at St. Francis college in New York. There was Millersville, Pennsylvania. And my last stop, as a college coach was at the University of Missouri at Kansas City, where I was at for the last seven years.