Here are the biggest takeaways from the past week in NCAA basketball, including a look at Kentucky’s struggles, Duke’s X-factor, and much more.
The craziness of this NCAA Basketball season continued on Saturday as Villanova upset top-ranked Kansas, 56-55.
It was the fifth time the No. 1 team has lost the season, which is the most before January in the sport’s history (the previous record was three). There will also be a new No. 1 team on Monday when the new rankings are released – likely Gonzaga – and it will be the sixth different program to top the polls this season (the NCAA record is seven).
That story will take some of the headlines early next week, but many will still be devoted to the biggest news of this week – James Wiseman’s decision to leave Memphis and prepare for the 2020 NBA Draft.
This decision makes sense for Wiseman for a number of reasons. He’s going to be a top-three pick in the draft no matter what (that’s how good he is and how weak this draft will be) and avoids risking injury or hurting his stock. The timing of the decision is certainly weird as he has already served seven games of a 12-game suspension, but it is certainly understandable.
Media pundits have run with this news and sensationalized it, calling it an indictment on the NCAA and that college basketball is becoming irrelevant. This is, of course, ridiculous.
This year’s draft class is certainly different as three of the top five prospects have opted against playing in college (LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton are playing in Australia). There has been plenty of discussion in the past that one year of college is rather pointless for the country’s top prospects, and we’ve seen more and more projected top picks make decisions to earn money overseas or take a year off to avoid injury.
But that is an indictment of the one-and-done rule, not college basketball as a whole. Uncoincidentally, the one-and-done rule is expected to go away in a few years.
When the happens, college basketball will still be in a good place. Obviously, having top talent in your sport helps, but that will only be taking away a handful or two of prospects every year. The G-League is not luring players away without massively upgrading their salaries and there is significantly more interest and fan attachment to college teams.
Don’t forget, there’s still value in increasing your visibility and marketability by playing in college, something Zion Williamson experienced in a big way last year. This is especially true when players will eventually be allowed to profit off their name, image, and likeness in a few years.
Anyways, let me step off my soapbox now. As we look back at the actual on-court player from the past week, what are the biggest things we learned? Here are the top takeaways in this week’s Rauf Report: