As the college basketball world waited with the proverbial bated breath on Saturday for more fallout from the FBI investigation into recruiting in the sport, what it got instead was largely a bunch of ‘nothing to see here-check out the shiny object there!’ along with one major development.
Major college compliance offices were conducting and completing remarkably thorough investigations into eligibility in record time Saturday, with one player after another ‘cleared.’ Not just ‘we’re looking into this as deeply as we possibly can and will see what we can find out.’ Cleared.
One would think especially in the case of a player being discussed with the number $100,000 being thrown out there, as was the case with Arizona’s DeAndre Ayton, that there’s way more to be looking into than what can be covered in literally a couple hours. It’s enough to make one wonder if these investigations aren’t being performed by some of the cynical media members who-in pushing louder and harder for college athletes to get paid endorsements-have suddenly decided that boosters overrunning college sports is a positive, and the only problem with all the rule-breaking is that there are rules at all.
(Heaven help us if this was the attitude in the 1950s when point shaving was rampant-and then eventually brought under control. Also: as long as college athletics are conducted by educational institutions, and as long as we purport to be a country where education matters, then those institutions should be held to a tiny bit higher standard than that.)
It also may be a sign that schools are either perfectly happy to challenge the NCAA to give them a slap on the wrist at most (oh no, not vacated wins…), or that they’re getting advice from the NCAA itself to not sweat the details and that their athletes are clear for what in the rulebook are violations. If so, and if rule changes may be on the way to essentially legalize what was illegal before in regards to agents buying meals for recruits (as Seth Davis discussed on CBS Sports Network), it only leads to more questions of just where have the NCAA and its member schools making the rules been on this issue in the past? And who’s making the decisions for them on it now?
Of course, there was one big development, and once again it was at Arizona, which announced before its game with Oregon that coach Sean Miller would not coach the team last night. Friday night’s Yahoo! Report that Miller was on tape discussing a $100,000 payment as part of Ayton coming to Arizona clearly has put his job in danger, even as Miller insisted in a statement Saturday that he is confident he will be, quote, “vindicated .”
Without Miller and with former Washington coach Lorenzo Romar in charge, it looked like Arizona would get by with a win in Eugene, but the Ducks rallied for a 98-93 win in overtime, this despite Ayton having a huge game with 28 points and 18 rebounds. The Wildcats led by 11 in the second half, shot 57.6% for the game and even outrebounded the Quack Attack, but surrendered 14 three-pointers and committed 17 turnovers, crumbling late.
Side Dishes
- Several teams clinched conference titles on Saturday, and the list starts with-who else?-Kansas. The Jayhawks won their 14th straight Big 12 title, continuing their incredible streak with a hard-earned 74-72 win at Texas Tech. Incredible. Not far from KU’s achievement is Gonzaga’s of having now a part of 18 of the last 19 West Coast Conference championships, including an outright title this year after a 79-65 win at BYU.
- UNC Asheville also won the Big South, even though the Bulldogs were defeated 72-61 by Gardner-Webb, as second-place Winthrop also lost 78-75 to Charleston Southern. And New Mexico State wrapped up the WAC title with an 82-58 rout of Missouri-Kansas City behind another fantastic performance by Jemerrio Jones, who had 15 points, a career-best 23 rebounds and even seven assists on Senior Night.
- Murray State also won the Ohio Valley regular season championship, winning at rival Austin Peay 73-64, but it took a little extra time to do so. The game at APSU’s Dunn Center in Clarksville, Tenn., was halted late in the second half after lightning struck the arena, putting a hole in the roof that resulted in rain leaking onto the arena floor. One fan was hit in the head by debris and taken by ambulance to the hospital, but the hole was repaired and the game resumed eventually after a 3+ hour rain delay. With it, the Racers completed a major-league comeback, outscoring the Governors 49-27 in the second half after trailing by 14 at the half. Jonathan Stark scored 31 points for the Racers, and he’s at the top of the list of players who many may not know about but just might explode for a monster game in March.
- The MEAC game between Hampton and Morgan State ended with more than 13 minutes of play remaining after a fight between the two teams reportedly led to Morgan State coach Todd Bozeman pulling his team off the floor. The game was called with Hampton picking up the 57-38 win.
- Among the other top individual performances of the day: Jon Elmore drilled nine three-pointers and poured in 38 points for Marshall in a 103-75 win over UNC Charlotte. Kendrick Nunn scored 37 for Oakland and his team needed all of them in a narrow 72-70 win over Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Zane Martin fired in 36 points for Towson, but the Tigers lost to Hofstra 91-86, finishing the CAA regular season with a disappointing 8-10 mark after a 10-1 start to the season. Also, Ty Cockfield scored 35 for Arkansas State but also in a loss, 88-81 to Coastal Carolina.
Today’s Menu
- It’s still a busy Sunday, even as conference tourneys are just around the corner. It starts with surprisingly tough Tulsa on the road at Cincinnati, where the Golden Hurricane will try to pound it inside against the Bearcats’ tough D (Noon Eastern, CBSSN).
- Michigan State is at Wisconsin, which has played a bit better of late, winning three straight as Ethan Happ has gotten a little more help, particularly from Khalil Iverson. (1 p.m., CBS)
- The Horizon League race comes down to the final day of the season. Northern Kentucky holds the lead, but the Norse have a tricky one at IUPUI, which has won four of five to become a tough out of late. Wright State can still tie NKU for the title, but the Raiders are at Illinois-Chicago, which is in third a game back.
- Temple hosts Central Florida for what will almost certainly be another low-scoring American game (2 p.m., ESPNU). The Owls almost certainly need to win out if they entertain any NCAA tourney hopes.
- The Southern Conference also wraps up its regular season. East Tennessee State has led wire-to-wire, but the Buccaneers have now lost three of four and are in danger of losing out on first as UNC Greensboro has made a late charge, much like last year. ETSU hosts a good Furman team, while UNCG welcomes Samford.
- Add the Metro Atlantic to the list of leagues where the regular season title chase comes down to the final day. Canisius and Rider are tied for first entering Sunday, and both are at home with the Golden Griffins welcoming Marist and the Broncs with a tough one against always-dangerous Iona.
- Nevada continues to hang in the top 25, and the Wolf Pack have another TV showcase when they host Colorado State (4 p.m., CBSSN).
- UCLA is one of those teams that nobody knows just what the NCAA selection committee might think of. We think more than most that the Bruins are in pretty good shape, but they’d be highly advised to win at Colorado (4 p.m., ESPNU).
- Penn State is at Nebraska (5:15 p.m., Big Ten Network), and whether these teams make the NCAA Tournament or not, it can’t be forgotten that both have had very nice years.
- Finally, Florida State goes to North Carolina State (6 p.m., ESPNU) for a matchup of two disruptive defensive teams that force a lot of turnovers.
Have a relaxing Sunday.
