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Author
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Topic: From Tradition to Transactions
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Tiptree
Administrator
Member # 844
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posted 01-26-2026 10:04 AM
Well, we have nobody to blame for the current state of college athletics but ourselves. In particular, John Calipari. Yes, his "one-and-done" approach was a rational adaptation to the NBA union rules that forbade kids going straight from HS to the NBA... but that move, which was widely copied by the major basketball powers, was the first step in the destruction of college athletics. Talented players did not really care who they played for, as long as they had a better shot at being a lottery pick the following summmer. There wasn't any money (at least, not 'officially'), but the focus changed from "come play for four years at the greatest basketball program of all time, develop your game, and then move on as a professional" to "come here for your one year "probation" period, and I can get you a higher draft position". I had a hard time keeping up with the roster changes every year... and finally pretty much gave up trying. I just enjoyed the brief time those superstars spent playing for our university... and grumbled.
Then came, in rapid order (and I don't recall which came first, nor do I care) the COVID "transfer portal" madness, and the NIL lawsuit that opened the door to turning college athletics into a professional league with no binding contracts. It is now a madhouse, a circus, without the redeeming features of either the pros or what used to be college sports. And now I don't grumble, I b*tch out loud.
Withing the span of a little over a decade, we went from 'tradition' to 'transaction' as the foundation of sports.
And, I don't think it can be fixed.
[ 01-26-2026, 10:07 AM: Message edited by: Tiptree ]
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Tiptree
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 13749 | From: Terre Haute, IN | Registered: Sep 2000
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Bama Cat
Player
Member # 153
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posted 01-26-2026 04:42 PM
Not sure most of those in the know would want to fix it. Those that have the NIL $$$$ sure don't want to change it. It should be called the National Collegent Basketball Minor League (NCBML). And let them go back and forth with any tean they like (most $$$) until their 4 years are up. No distinction between NBA and NCBML but if you're not curretly able to make an NBA roster you can pick you a school with the most $$$$ and return for a year (or two). Hell, we've got a lot of good players who can't stay up in the NBA that we could get back for a year or two. I can't believe this garbage just came out of my mouth. Adolph Rupp is right now turning over in his grave and Joe B. is tearing up his program he always carried. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
Posts: 14471 | From: berea, ky, usa | Registered: Sep 1999
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Tiptree
Administrator
Member # 844
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posted 01-26-2026 04:49 PM
I guess what I am circling around is that there really isn't a real connection between the college and the athletics department any more. Scholarships are pocket change compared to NIL riches.
Perhaps the solution is to completely disassociate universities from their sports programs. Stop pretending that this has anything to do with higher education. Let there be a "Kentucky Athletics Club" with all the NIL sports, with ZERO reference to the university.
The UK Athletics Association already laid the legal groundwork to be a separate entity. Make it official. Make it the last edict of the impotent, woke, ridiculous remnant of the NCAA that universities under their jurisdiction must divest their athletic programs completely. Let's end the farce.
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Tiptree
“If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be.” Thomas Jefferson
Posts: 13749 | From: Terre Haute, IN | Registered: Sep 2000
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