NCAA Basketball: Amidst NCAA scandal, Rick Pitino makes comment about players NBA eligibility
By Jordan Maly
Ex-Louisville head coach Rick Pitino finds himself in the midst of the largest NCAA scandal in history, but his comments about NBA eligibility days prior could be forecasting change.
The 2017-18 college basketball season has yet to even kickoff but found its way to the top of the sports news cycle the past few weeks. The Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced on September 26 that multiple people involved in college basketball programs were being charged with wire fraud, money laundering and conspiracy to commit fraud.
The allegations of cheating, fraud, pay-for-play, and everything in between has lit a fire under the NCAA. More specifically, it has shined a spotlight on the University of Louisville and now ex-head coach Rick Pitino.
In Pitino’s case, reaping the cash benefits while throwing the unpaid laborers some free gear. The Courier Journal’s new reports saying that 98-percent of the cash in Louisville’s Adidas deal went to Rick Pitino.
"The Courier-Journal reports under the current deal with Adidas, which expires July 1, 98 percent of the cash provided by Adidas goes to Rick Pitino.In 2015-16, for example, $1.5 million went to Pitino under his personal services agreement with the apparel company while just $25,000 went to the program, according to a contract. The year before, Pitino also got $1.5 million, while the department banked just $10,000."
The entire investigation when concluded could have the ability to completely reconstruct the college basketball landscape.
What intrigues me the most is how the NBA, a league who uses college basketball as an unofficial farm system, will look at future eligibility. Months before this investigation was public, commissioner Adam Silver was already talking about NBA Draft eligibility changes.
This is where Rick Pitino comes in again. Just days prior to this open investigation going public, Pitino was featured in a short thirty-second video on ESPN.com’s homepage. You can see the video in which he talks with Marty Smith about the leverage of recruiting and the difficulty of landing top stars. What caught me was at the end of the video, where Pitino, unprovoked, tells Smith that he believes the NBA will be making changes to their eligibility rules.
Pitino’s comments from the video were questionably confident:
"“…I think the rule is going to change back to that, high school players are going to be able to go pro again. I think the commissioner is going to do it within two years.”"
After what has transpired with the investigation, I don’t expect anyone to have an ounce of credibility attached to Pitino’s name. What I do think is interesting is his willingness to speak openly of it, as if he knows more than what he can actually reveal.
It’s no secret that Rick Pitino is a very well connected basketball figure (even more evident now) and I do not doubt hears rumblings of league-wide recruiting and eligibility changes in the NCAA and NBA. The investigation shows the dark side of college athletics, where players are being used as pawns by coaches who want to maximize their profit.
All the more reason why the NBA would want to step in and capitalize on their latest innovation, the G-League. Since the eligibility rule change in 2006, players have had to spend at least one season in college or overseas in order to enter the NBA Draft. While it seems there is a clear indication that change needs to be made by the NBA, this investigation might have just accelerated that process.
If the NCAA wants to limit any more embarrassing scandals like the one they are currently under, they should begin to consider compensating athletes – we all know their stance on that. While it’s not necessarily the NBA’s concern whether the NCAA is having issues, it does open up the possibility of NBA taking advantage of it.
The NBA is clear that they want the G-League, their minor league affiliate teams, to be a success. It seems to have taken well with fans and personnel in the league too. If the NBA decides to open it’s doors to 18-year-old athletes, the NCAA could lose out. Big time programs will be able to stay relevant, not every player will decide going pro is the best decision, but the overall competitive balance will shift.
Next: Everything we know about the FBI investigation so far
I expect this to be a pretty highly regarded discussion among NBA and NCAA officials, especially once this investigation concludes. Rick Pitino may be slick, but he also might be speaking the truth about major reconstruction to eligibility and recruiting whether he meant to or not.