It’s Just Not Fair
Major college basketball is not fair. It never has been and likely never will be.
I’m not going to pretend that the good ole’ days of freshmen ineligibility and outlawed slam dunks were devoid of recruiting scandal and overzealous, rule-breaking “boosters.” Today’s college basketball landscape is full of creative ways to maneuver around the NCAA’s often too-strict rules and regulations. Some teams like to hire the high school coaches of big-time recruits to the University’s staff. Some other teams like to direct high school stars to prep schools in an effort to get both the player qualified and coordinate his arrival with an open scholarship. Speaking of open scholarships, some coaches like to force out under-performing players to make room for a recruit. The general college basketball viewing public turns its collective head from these sorts of shady transgressions. And as a college basketball enthusiast, sports columnist and overall average dude, I generally turn my head to these sorts of activities.
But one recent news item has forced me to re-evaluate my apathy towards college basketball’s culture of rule bending. The headline: “Wisconsin Swing Ready to Go.” What’s Wisconsin Swing you ask? No, it’s not a fancy dance-step involving Brett Favre and a bratwurst. It’s a brand-shiny-new AAU basketball team based in Madison, Wisc., named after the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s offense, and potentially coached by University of Wisconsin-Madison’s head coach Bo Ryan’s son.
Whew! That’s a mouthful of under-handed activity. Let me start at the beginning.
The Wisconsin Swing is an AAU team, or Amateur Athletic Union team. AAU teams are traveling all-star teams, made up of various aged kids looking to improve their status with college recruiters. These teams are often sponsored by athletic shoe companies, travel all over the U.S., and attract the dregs of the college basketball community, ranging from shady agents and boosters to hangers-on and entourages. The AAU circuit is virtually free from the NCAA’s tyrannical rule because it is not sponsored by the NCAA. While the AAU circuit provides an opportunity for some kids to receive a college scholarship when they otherwise wouldn’t have due to a lack of exposure, it simultaneously exploits its better athletes and undermines the recruiting process. That aside, it is perfectly legal within the realm of the NCAA’s current rules. Now, let’s get to the shady part.
Will Ryan, son of Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan, has been asked to coach the Swing’s 17 and under team. This will be a team consisting of top talent, most likely top in-state talent. The same talent that would interest… oh, I don’t know… Bo Ryan. Will Ryan, who by the way is the video coordinator for the Badger basketball program, would likely teach these kids the swing offense employed by his father. And let’s not forget that the team is based in Madison, where there will be plenty of Wisconsin alumni, boosters, cheerleaders etc. singing the praises of Bucky Badger. Finally, and most interestingly, the Wisconsin Swing will likely secure sponsorship from a large athletic shoe company. It may even be Adidas – coincidentally the same athletic shoe company that sponsors Badger basketball. You don’t need to be Oliver Stone to see the conspiracy at work here.
In short, it is quite possible that you are going to have a team full of all-star high school basketball players coached by Bo Ryan’s son, playing and practicing in Wisconsin’s home town, sponsored by Wisconsin’s shoe company and running Wisconsin’s offense. The shadiness at work here is as plain as Ron Dayne’s gigantic belly. Yet, none of this is illegal. Will Ryan is allowed to coach a summer team while working at a University as long as he’s not an “on-the-floor” coach. And since the NCAA has nothing to do with the high school summer basketball leagues, these teams can recruit whatever talent they’d like, play in whatever city they’d like, secure sponsorship from anyone they’d like and employ just about anyone they’d like.
Welcome to college basketball’s version of minor league basketball. I can just see Jerry “Tark” Tarkanian sitting in a hot tub in Vegas right now, thinking to himself, “I can’t believe I didn’t think of that!”
