For all the talk about changing the rules of college basketball to limit one-and-done players, this year’s Final Four is a throwback to a day gone by where the best teams were lead by upper classsmen. Both Florida and the Huskies of UConn are led by fourth year players who have stuck it out in college will get degrees and have also managed to play themselves into first round draft pick level players, and arguably the best player on the Wisconsin Badgers is a junior who could be sticking around for another year of college ball.
Naturally the lone exception to the conversation are the Wildcats out of Kentucky led by John Calipari who believe that the best players regardless of their age win championships. If Calipari had it his way he would be able to have twelve new players each year and would battle it out for championships each year. Calipari who is on his way to his fifth final four, although his first two (1996 and 2008) were later vacated, is no stranger to the debate about players taking the one and done route. Perhaps the blame does not fall completely on the coaches his shoulders since he Calipari has the job of recruiting the kids who he thinks gives Kentucky the best chance to win and if they only stay one year Calipari cannot do much to stop that.
That is not to say that Calipari seems to mind very much as each year he continues to stockpile major talent year after year only to have stay in Lexington for one year. Of the major names that Calipari has brought in at Kentucky two one and done players were the number one overall pick in the NBA draft, John Wall and Anthony Davis and Nerlens Noel would more than likely been the third had it not been for blowing out his knee in postseason play.
However this year Calipari finds himself in the minority among his peers. The consensus favorite Florida are lead by seniors Patric Young and Scottie Wilbekin who carry Billy Donavan back to the Final Four and Shabbaz Napier has all but carried Kevin Ollie and the Huskies into the last four. For the Wisconsin Badgers their upperclassman stud is Frank Kaminsky who operates as first mate for captain Bo Ryan.
Three teams and coaches who all believe that the sum of all parts equal a team and that the best price paid on team is the sweat equity left on the gym floor. Ollie, Donavan, and Ryan combined are not going out to try and recruit the best player in the country to try and hoard them on the belief of a possible championship in one year and the riches of the NBA the next. Instead they believe in building a team finding out what works and capitalizing on that. Under Kevin Ollie UConn has never had been in the discussion of potential NCAA allegations, and Ryan along with Donavan are near the top of list most respected coaches in the game.
Calipari has become his own worst enemy in that regard by continuously endorsing the one and done mentality and saying time and time again he has no problem with the concept. Yet, time and time again it seems the bright blue of Kentucky seems to invade the arenas of the Final Four.
Yet, Calipari is not alone in the blame, if one can even call it that, with this borderline pandemic. This year the focus was on the sensational freshman class that ascended to the ranks this year. If it was not for the restrictions that the National Basketball Association, or NBA, restrictions in the collective bargaining agreement both Jabari Parker and Andrew Wiggins would be playing in the NBA this year. Instead they toiled their craft in Cameron, North Carolina and Lawrence, Kansas respectively a far cry from the major NBA cities.
But for all the talk that followed those players all year long they find themselves watching the Final Four on the sidelines and not as participants; yielding the floor to seniors who stuck it out in classrooms, in dorms, and on buses instead of abandoning the dream of college diploma for practice gyms, luxury hotels, and private planes the chance for one more moment under the banner of amateurism, and while the golden age of college basketball, where players stayed in college for all four years is since long gone it is important to focus on years where the Final Four provides the opportunity to cheer on players who chase the dream of college diploma and a championship ring.
Thank you for reading. Please take a moment to follow me on Twitter – @LastWordBkerr. Support LWOS by following us on Twitter – @LastWordOnSport – and “liking” our Facebook page.
Interested in writing for LWOS? We are looking for enthusiastic, talented writers to join our Basketball writing team. Visit our “Write for Us” page for very easy details in how you can get started today!
Main Photo:
