Is the NCAA Starting to “Get It” on Recruiting?

Could the NCAA be ready to turn over a new leaf? A recent news release about discussions among the Division I Leadership Council suggests it might be possible. As refreshing as that would be, however, we shouldn’t get ahead of ourselves. Let’s remember that this is the NCAA that we’re talking about.

The NCAA has long wanted to regulate the world of grassroots basketball, and they have attained some measure of that in recent years. None of it has been good, though, and that’s true by just about any measure. They first took away the ability of Division I coaches to attend fall travel team events, then reduced the spring to only events sanctioned by state high school associations during the month of April. A couple of years ago, that went away, leaving coaches with just the month of July for seeing a large number of players in one setting. It wasn’t good for many coaches, and they weren’t alone.

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The Call to Pay College Football and Basketball Players a Good Excuse to Abolish Title IX

Special to Hoopville

Preliminarily, you need to know who you are reading. I was once upon a time a college basketball assistant, most recently spending a year on Dan Dakich’s staff at Bowling Green. Later, I spent four years as a radio analyst (and Hoopville writer) in Boston, the last two for Northeastern’s Bill Coen. Most of the rest as a litigator, most of those years representing insurance interests. I developed the view that most civil lawsuits are frivolous, that we have too many lawyers in America (by a factor of 10), and that nothing I can think of is more disgusting than middle class Americans with a lawyer’s phone number on speed-dial (don’t much like the concept of speed-dial, but really hate individuals’ rights of recent-vintage to sue). The reader should know I have worked Title IX lawsuits (in fact, on the plaintiffs’ side), so I know from whence I speak.

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Paying Players Not Likely to Happen or Solve Problems

The subject of paying players in addition to the scholarships they receive is certainly not a new one. Questions have been asked about it for quite a while, with many feeling like players should be paid and for a litany of reasons from television contracts to coaches’ contracts to sales of player jerseys. And while the discussion seems poised to go to another level now that the NCAA is exploring the subject, two things remain true: pay for play will be very difficult to make reality, and if it ever becomes reality it’s not likely to solve the problem of NCAA violations that proponents think it will.

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2011 Boston Best 40 Another Success

WESTON, Mass. – The Rivers School was once again home to the Boston Best 40 on Saturday. The event brought together some top talent in the area in grades 6-9, with sixth and seventh graders starting the day and eighth and ninth graders following that. The event was run by Rivers coach Andrew Mirken with some assistance from ESkillz Academy.

The young players went through a series of drills before playing in games against one another. The eighth and ninth graders were also shown a more extensive set of drills that they can use to help improve their skill level.

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Powerade Hardtop Challenge Another Success in Boston

ROXBURY, Mass. – The Powerade Hardtop Challenge, formerly known as the “Sprite Tournament”, was held at the Reggie Lewis Track and Athletic Center this weekend. It’s part of an annual national tour run by Powerade with the help of people in the basketball community in each city.

The event featured competition in four boys and two girls age groups. While there were some teams that made the trip from out of town, including a couple from Pennsylvania and several from New York, the event had a decidedly Boston feel, especially when it came to the championships. This year, a handful of games were played on Friday night of the weekend, after having games only on Saturday and Sunday in the past. In part, that was to accommodate having two girls age groups that were added this year.

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Looking Back on Over 100 Games in 2010-11

It’s always a challenge to see so many games from a lot of standpoints. There are schedules, which make it difficult to see some teams at all, and there are logistics. This winter was not a fun one in much of New England with seemingly constant snow, and it made getting to some games difficult as one might imagine. In some ways, that made covering over 100 games for the third year in a row a little nicer this time around.

With that in mind, and with the 2011-12 season just another couple of months away, here is a look back at over 100 Division I games in the 2010-11 season.

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