As we touched on yesterday, it appears that a big change is coming to college sports, including basketball. But as anyone following college basketball knows, change happens all the time. Nowadays, it seems to happen more than ever, between coaching changes, early entrants to the NBA Draft and transfers.
From one season to the next, many fans will need a program for their favorite team.
Coaching changes are always a big subject as Championship Week gets going, as many teams’ season ends there. Last season was no different, as over 50 schools changed coaches, though not all were the school’s decision as some involved coaches leaving for vacancies that had opened up elsewhere. As is usually, the case, some were widely expected, such as Buzz Williams leaving Virginia Tech for Texas A&M, while others were not, such as William & Mary firing Tony Shaver after a great run at the school that included four CAA championship game appearances and with a team that would have been favored to win the conference had it returned intact.
The changes didn’t stop in late March or April, either. Cleveland State fired Dennis Felton in July, while Niagara will not have the new head coach they originally hired as Patrick Beilein resigned suddenly last week. Many more assistant coaching changes occurred as well, a good number spurred by head coaching changes.
That’s hardly the beginning, though. Over 80 players declared for the NBA Draft and remained there on draft night, while many more declared but pulled out by the final deadline after the combine. This hits some conferences harder than others, and a few well-known programs always expect to lose a few players early for this, but it is one big source of change from one season to the next and has been for a couple of decades now.
The final big source of change has been getting bigger every year, which is transfers. While debate continues about who gets to play right away and who doesn’t, as well as reasons for transferring, what cannot be debated is that a large number of players are going this route lately. One transfer list for this past season has topped four figures, and a former college head coach had a very interesting tweet last month noting that a large number either never ended up at a new school or were still looking as of the start of school at most places.
There are many reasons players transfer. Some stem from missed evaluations by coaches who then over-recruit a player; some stem from players who just were not good enough. Still others are the result of a player not fitting a team’s style of play or not getting better, or players who think they can do better in another situation or have more to prove at a higher level of college. Related to the last one, transferring up has become increasingly common, especially among graduate transfers. Personal reasons come into play as well, from family matters to homesickness.
All the same, it’s one more way college basketball changes from one season to the next.
In just a few days, a new college basketball season will begin. You may not recognize more than a few faces on the floor as well as on the bench for your favorite team, and that is one more constant in this world nowadays. On this Halloween, it might be safe to say that big changes from one season to the next is a less scary thought all the time.
Side Dishes
Don’t look for much change among the chief contenders in the Big West this season, as perennial contenders UC Irvine and UC Santa Barbara look like the leaders again this season. The Anteaters return three senior starters, while the Gauchos return four starters including a solid perimeter trio. Cal State Northridge, Hawaii and Cal State Fullerton look like the best bets to push them.
The CAA is widely perceived to be a wide-open race, with five teams getting first place votes in the preseason coaches, media and SID poll. Hofstra loses the Player of the Year but returns a deep perimeter unit led by Eli Pemberton, while College of Charleston has a solid Player of the Year candidate in Grant Riller and still has Earl Grant on the bench, and Northeastern lost key pieces but had a deep team last year and still has Bill Coen on the bench. James Madison has a nucleus that has grown up the past two seasons and should also be in contention.
Western Kentucky leads the way among Conference USA contenders, aided by the return of Charles Bassey after he flirted with the NBA Draft. The Hilltoppers return three other starters and will battle the likes of UTSA, Louisiana Tech and Old Dominion among others who should push them.
In the Horizon League, two of the usual suspects lead the way as last season’s regular season champion Wright State and Northern Kentucky should be among the picks to win. The Norse won the conference tournament and should continue where they left off with new head coach Darrin Horn, and UIC and Oakland look like the best bets to push them.
The Ivy League has been on a good run of late, and the top of the league should still be very good. Harvard will be the team to beat, although not prohibitively as Penn should be right there with them. If healthy, the Crimson will boast a very deep lineup, as will the Quakers, and their two meetings should be epic this season. Yale and Princeton are not to be dismissed, nor are the other four teams on any given night.
Tonight’s Menu
The Major League Baseball season came to quite an end on Wednesday night with the road team winning all seven games in the series as the Washington Nationals won an unexpected championship. Will college basketball have an unexpected champion this season? It was close last year with Texas Tech getting to the national title game. We will find out about this season starting in a few days.
