How would you change college basketball?

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The Truth

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Some interesting discussions the last few days on college basketball and the state of it. What are some changes that you would like to see or think are needed? Here are mine:

-Elimination of early signing period. The intentions for its implementation were good (allowing more kids to play their senior season without the pressure of the recruiting process) but it's now more trouble than it's worth.

-Allowing coaches more time in the recruiting process to develop relationships with players. Frankly, the "periods" are often times confusing and lead to problems. Open them up to allow more interaction between coach and players. What this will do is take some of the sting out of the "influence peddlers".

-A reigning in of the AAU system. Too many opportunities for kids being used as commodities and not enough time for learning how to play the game.

-An overhaul of the practice rules. Kids need to spend more time on skill development (especially if they aren't getting it at the lower level) and having rules that say you can have skill development in the off-season but only 4 players at a time in the gym is ludicrous. A summer practice session ala Spring Football would be nice.

-Non-binding LOI's in the event of a coaching change or scandal. Also, ease the transfer process in the same situation for kids already at a program. I still think the "sit out" rule should apply in cases not involving a coaching change or some sort of scandal, I do like the NCAA's new habit of reviewing cases on a hardship basis but keep the process legitimate and have real guidelines in place i.e. death in the family, illness, extreme financial distress for the family, etc.

-The NCAA taking charge of the officiating process fully and make it more uniform across the country. Take the officials out of the hands of the conferences and limit some of the "temptation" officials have.

-Rule changes: The restricted area underneath the basket. I'm all about kids stepping in to take charges but it's becoming way too much of a problem.

Expand the three point line out to NBA range. I know that's blasphemy (and I have my own problem with the NBA game) but as we all saw the line change didn't really do anything to affect the game either in a positive or a negative way. Extending it out will make the three point shot even more of a challenge and probably put a higher premium on shooting and shot selection.

Reward good defense by both eliminating the alternate possession rule and the 10 second rule in the backcourt on a second attempt inbounding the ball.


-Academics: Have the NCAA fund an academic scholarship for each team that doesn't apply to the normal scholarship restrictions. The NCAA funding a scholarship program that encourages former athletes who have exhausted their eligibility or left early and haven't completed their degrees to come back and get them.


-Fantasy: Players are taller and faster these days with more skill handling the ball on the perimeter. I've always entertained the notion of expanding the sidelines a foot or a foot and half to allow more operation on the perimeter. The logistics of that are out of the question and it might be too radical a change in the game.
 

rule change:

My pet peeve rule change would be no longer allowing players on there way out of bounds calling a time out.
 

I agree with not being able to call a timeout going out of bounds, which I think they actually changed last year, but I could be wrong.

They should also cut the amount of timeouts that each team gets in half. I dont even know how many they give them, but its way too many. I say 2 in the first half, 3 in the second half, none of them transfer over if they dont use them in first half. I realize that NCAA likes to have as many timeouts as possible, because every one equals extra Ad revenue, but a team shouldnt be able to call timeout after every made basket when they are down 8 points with a minute to go. Theres nothing more annoying than that.

I also think this would eliminate "jumping on a loose ball and calling timeout" as a good play, If you do that, it better be an important end of game situation. Make them have to pass it to someone, dammit.


I dont remember what the rule used to be, but it seemed like teams were given way less back in the 90's. Anyone know the specific rules on timeouts and what it used to be?
 

I have thought this for years. Instead of scholarships, let's hire the kids, sort of like on the job training, some of the financing coming from the multi-gazillionaire NBA/NFL/MLB owners. If a kid flunks out, he/she loses hisher job. If he/she cheats, he/she loses his/her job. If he/she makes the grade, he/she can move on to the pro ranks. But to do that, we need Beej, G4L, TT GopherLady, SS, etal, and me to police it. But, we will need help from all of the fans, whom we will do background checks on. Sorta like a job search. And FOT will be our assistant, in charge of monitoring and supervising all of the Coaches. This project will fall under the tutelage of Tubby Smith, who will hold the Cabinet Position and report directly to Vice President Joe Biden.
 

Time outs

It's funny what annoys one person doesn't annoy the next. It doesn't bother me when a player calls a time out as he goes out of bounds or time out to stop the clock after a made basket. What does bother me is that coaches can call times outs to save their players when the other team is making a great defensive play or their team is in jeopardy of a 10 second call.
 


When was the last time a team pulled a Chris Webber, calling a timeout when they had none and getting a technical foul? Jeez I hardly remember that happen since then. I'd like to bring back the potential for that.

I guess maybe the NCAA didnt like the National Championship being deciding by such a strange play, but hey, I liked it.
 

1. I'm with Bob Knight. Instead of a bunch of rule changes, let's start by calling the game the way the rules are written and intended. The game has become too much of a rugby scrum with the low scores to prove it. I'm still bitter about the way the Gophers' season ended: being brutalized with no calls on the inside while our guards are being called for ticky tack crap on the perimeter.

2. Let the athletes get paid work study wages for time spent practicing and playing. That would be just and fair.
 

Bad Gopher: You said what I really meant, I just got carried away:

"Let the athletes get paid work study wages for time spent practicing and playing. That would be just and fair."

And I also agree with your item #1.
 

1) Eliminate the three point line: The increase in scoring is artificial. You are awarding more points for fewer baskets. That's just one problem.

2) Ban the Slam: My reason isn't directly related to the flow of the game, rather it would be my attempt to get younger, athletic players to think a bit more about the basics like shooting and ball handling and less about their dunking form.

3) Give a team the option to decline foul shots and take the out of bounds instead (with a new shot-clock).
 



Mikie S said:
1) Eliminate the three point line: The increase in scoring is artificial. You are awarding more points for fewer baskets. That's just one problem.

2) Ban the Slam: My reason isn't directly related to the flow of the game, rather it would be my attempt to get younger, athletic players to think a bit more about the basics like shooting and ball handling and less about their dunking form.
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You sound a lot like one of my uncles. Really old school B-Ball coach who thinks the three point line and the dunk don't belong.


Really like the work-study idea but the money would have to be paid directly from the NCAA and how long would it be before players/schools start screaming about the free market? Is a 5 Star guy at a UCLA worth the same as a 1 star guy at UC-Riverside? A lot of mines in that field.

Kids get paid for work study (I did. Manned a desk in my dorm Freshman year.) all the time but I just wonder if it is workable.
 

1. Limit time outs as when someone takes a time-out with 11:15 to go and then two seconds later after the ball goes out of bounds we get another TV time out!

2. Let the NCAA schedule all the games in fb amd bb or at least set some strict guidelines where each school would have to play at least 6 non=conference games (2 in football) against major conference foes - 3 home and 3 away and NOT on neurtal courts!
 

Player Time outs only

Do not allow timeouts from the bench. Teach the players to manage the game on the court.

The three point shot where it is levels the playing field, and gives the little guy a chance. Moving it to the NBA line will suppress the number of attempts and give the bigger players and schools an even greater advantage.
 

Dr.Don said:
Bad Gopher: You said what I really meant, I just got carried away:

"Let the athletes get paid work study wages for time spent practicing and playing. That would be just and fair."

And I also agree with your item #1.
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Players on full ride D-I scholarships get more than just their room & board paid. They also get some cash for living expenses.
 



Grunkiejr....when I was an undergrad, I did not get room and board paid for and living expenses additional. I paid for my own room and board, and worked extra for living expenses. Maybe I am too old to understand all of this free ride stuff??????
 

Reduce the number of team time outs. There are way too many TO's called given the number of TV timeouts in a game. Makes it hard to keep a flow to the game and makes it tougher for fans to stay into it.
 

- ... ease the transfer process in the (event of a coaching change or scandal) for kids already at a program. I still think the "sit out" rule should apply in cases not involving a coaching change or some sort of scandal, I do like the NCAA's new habit of reviewing cases on a hardship basis but keep the process legitimate and have real guidelines in place i.e. death in the family, illness, extreme financial distress for the family, etc.
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I suspect an unintended consequence of this would be the continued ratcheting up of coaching salaries ... with this rule in place, an AD would have to factor in the possibility of having a program gutted by a coach leaving and I suspect schools would get into bidding contests.

This would be a real dilemma for mid-major schools or schools the lower echelons of major conferences.

As to permitting incoming players the ability to opt out of an LoI, I'd tend to agree but would add the limitation that they cannot follow the coach who leaves to the same school that hired away the coach. (Otherwise, you permit greater leverage for coaches who would 'sell' the package of coaching talent and recruits.)
 

And speaking of ratcheting salaries, how about capping coach salaries to no more than a multiple of the salary of the school's President? (I'm not sure what the multiplier would be ... but for example, it could be set at no more than 4 times the school's President)
 

1. Do not allow calling timeout as your going out of bounds.
2. Do not allow throwing the ball off someone intentionally as your going out of bounds.
3. Use 24 second clock.
4. Use International 3-point distance.
5. Use International lane.
6. Use International goal-tending rules.
7. Allow only one timeout in final 2 minutes.
 

MNSnowman said:
And speaking of ratcheting salaries, how about capping coach salaries to no more than a multiple of the salary of the school's President? (I'm not sure what the multiplier would be ... but for example, it could be set at no more than 4 times the school's President)
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Do you really think that schools like, say, Kentucky really wouldn't raise the pay of the President so they can pay a coach insane amounts.

Speaking of Cal's pay. Did anyone else see the ESPN article about it. He has a large incentives package, which is standard in today's coaching enviroment. Any way he get 500000 or something like that for a NC and only 50000 for having a graduation rate of 70%. First of all that says every thing you need to know about not only Kentucky but also college basketball as well. While 50 grand is alot of cash but is pennys on the dollar for on the court performance. Also a 70% graduation rate while it is better than many major program isn't something crazy high, and there isn't a level above that is crazy.

But what would you expect from the same fan base that justified the Billy G paying Daniel Orton dad for "talking about recuiting" at one of his basketball camps. And the sad thing is that it all legal.
 

mnboiler said:
Do you really think that schools like, say, Kentucky really wouldn't raise the pay of the President so they can pay a coach insane amounts.

Speaking of Cal's pay. Did anyone else see the ESPN article about it. He has a large incentives package, which is standard in today's coaching enviroment. Any way he get 500000 or something like that for a NC and only 50000 for having a graduation rate of 70%. First of all that says every thing you need to know about not only Kentucky but also college basketball as well. While 50 grand is alot of cash but is pennys on the dollar for on the court performance. Also a 70% graduation rate while it is better than many major program isn't something crazy high, and there isn't a level above that is crazy.
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I actually agree with you in this but it's a question of economics. Calipari's base salary is the same as Minnesota's football coach but it's the outside money derived from merchandising and media deals that drive things up to astronomical levels.

I would love to sit here and pay a coach 500,000 for a high APR but it will never happen. Why? Because the money isn't there. It's not cost effective. IMG pays all the money to Calipari while dolling out his services to it's partners and selling ad space for the basketball team on radio, tv, the internet, in the stadium and probably on the side of a bus in New Delhi. They're hoping for a HUGE return.

Considering what can be made in terms of donations, merchandise, future season ticket sales, etc for a national championship at a Kentucky-like school 350,000 (which is the actual figure he would get for a title. 150,000 for a FF appearance) pays for itself many, many times over. What is a high APR worth to a University? Academic prestige (which is noble) but that doesn't buy new dorms or libraries.

If you want the APR to improve and have that reflect in coaches contracts tie the APR into monetary punishments/rewards. Again, that's an NCAA issue and until we're all socialists it's never going to fly in a capitalistic, money driven business like college athletics.

What is really crazy is that private schools like Duke and USC don't have to release what their coaches make although USC/Carroll did leak that he makes more than Saban. For all we know Duke is paying Coach K 100 Gajillion Dollars and he's afforded the use of the blood of three vestal virgins per semester.
 

I am far from a traditionalist but I too do not like the three point shot. It does not necessarily level the playing field. Syracuse beat U Conn because Rautins got hot from behind the arc. We see it time and time again. If you have a hot three point shooter you have a much more significant advantage than a hot anything else.

Look how those four threes in less than a minute during the Texas game totally took our Gophers right out of the game. The kid just got Hot. it wasn't that he was left wide open (OK maybe a couple of them he was) but those four shots were way more devastating than any normal two point shot would have been.

In the Penn St. game we made 9 threes. PSU had no chance. Next time we played them we didn't make 9 threes and it was a different game.

At least move it out to the NBA distance. Make it actually worth three points.

I also don't like the coaches baling their players out by calling time out. JMO
 

I agree with Knight, consistency in calling the rules already on the books, specifically I would like to see:
-Travel called when players slide their pivot feet (see:Hansbrough, Tyler)
-Fouls called when in loose ball situations, the 2nd and 3rd players on the scene dive in and tackle the player with the ball
-Fewer calls when the defender has his hands straight up. Too often, defenders are helpless to do anything at all when games are called closely
-Call the moving on the ball screens. This play has become really popular of late, but is often poorly executed.
Changes I would like to see:
-The charge call is taking away the offensive aggressiveness of the game. Players should not be able to slide under a player who is already in the air. I hate watching all of the charges called, but I like watching blocked shots. I'd rather see more "hand is part of the ball" in the lane and less of players putting on an act to get charging calls.
-6 fouls and no technical counts as a personal foul (esp when we have the 5 foul rule)
-eliminate the 10 fouls=2 shots. All not shooting fouls should be 1 and 1. This rule was put in because they thought there was too much fouling lengthing the end of games. Well guess what, it hasn't decreased the amount of end of game fouling. Players should have to make their first to earn a second. With so many poor foul shooters, I think it would speed up the game because we wouldn't see a lot of the second attempt.
 

mostly I like the college game. there are only two things that bug me.

I'd like to see that timeouts can only be called when a player has complete control of the ball. It can not be used to save themselves from a great defensive play. No scrum timeouts, no trap timeouts. they can announce their intention but the ref will not blow the whistle until he feels the defensive play is over. Thus as soon as the trap is broken the whistle sounds. Or as soon as the ball is passed out of the scrum the whistle blows. But never as a tool to conserve the possession.

I'd also like to see a limit on the size of a conference to 10 teams.

i would entertain the thought of an auto timeout (uncharged) at 2:00 and then no others for the rest of the game. maybe, you could use them to stop the clock, but no strategy session, straight in bounds and substitution only.
 

gopher24, I'd like to add your last point to my list (eliminate the double bonus). I've had that on my mind for some time.

To echo some others, I too have been getting more and more down on the 3-point field goal all the time. It distorts the game and overemphasizes one aspect of the game over all the others. As one poster noted about the Penn State and Texas games, the three-pointer essentially decided those games. Too many individual games are being determined by whether one player on either team gets hot as a pistol.
 

One of my very few changes would be this:

Eliminate tattoos. Starting in 2010 any new recruit can't have a tattoo visible with his jersey on. This IMHO cleans up the game and gets rid of the thug image that bestows upon the game today. If a kid already has a tattoo he can still play but has to wear sleeves or high socks to cover it up. If a recruit gets a tattoo he should be suspended and when he gets back cover it up.

Wait till the NBA to get your tats gentlemen!
 

mnboiler said:
Do you really think that schools like, say, Kentucky really wouldn't raise the pay of the President so they can pay a coach insane amounts.
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Some may ... but I'd rely upon political pressure (and public pressure) to keep salaries of university/college presidents in line for the vast majority of major conference schools. (Obviously, private schools wouldn't have the same political problems that public schools would encounter.)

It's not a perfect solution, but it would go a long way to rein in what seems to be an escalating problem.

The Truth writes:
Calipari's base salary is the same as Minnesota's football coach but it's the outside money derived from merchandising and media deals that drive things up to astronomical levels.
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That can be addressed as well via contractual definitions of total renumeration. It's not uncommon for employment contracts in other industries to define limits on external employment and/or how remuneration is to be handled. Moreover, there's a question of competing interests when remuneration from external sources competes with the salary obtained from the school ... for whom does the coach really work?
 

thebarnsback said:
Eliminate tattoos. Starting in 2010 any new recruit can't have a tattoo visible with his jersey on.
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Based on some high school games I've seen, there are kids who are sophomores in high school (probably some even younger) ... you'd probably have to put this into effect in 2012 or 2014 ..... ;)

It seems to me that the way tatoos are perceived is a factor of both a generational and cultural divide. I still am mystified by their allure but clearly tatoos aren't looked at the same way that they used to be.

BTW, I know three high school coaches who have "Christian" tatoos (the fish, a "WWJD?" and a Christian Cross). I assume those three would need to cover 'em up as well?

-----------------

I guess if I were going to try to eliminate the "thug image," I'd try to focus more on the behavior of the athletes both on-court (e.g. the strutting and celebrations of dunks, etc) and off-court (NCAA-wide mandatory suspensions after certain infractions such as toting a gun, involvement in physical assault including domestic abuse, etc)
 

Schnoodler

Schnoodler said:
mostly I like the college game. there are only two things that bug me.

I'd like to see that timeouts can only be called when a player has complete control of the ball. It can not be used to save themselves from a great defensive play. No scrum timeouts, no trap timeouts. they can announce their intention but the ref will not blow the whistle until he feels the defensive play is over. Thus as soon as the trap is broken the whistle sounds. Or as soon as the ball is passed out of the scrum the whistle blows. But never as a tool to conserve the possession.

I'd also like to see a limit on the size of a conference to 10 teams.

i would entertain the thought of an auto timeout (uncharged) at 2:00 and then no others for the rest of the game. maybe, you could use them to stop the clock, but no strategy session, straight in bounds and substitution only.
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I like these ideas.

I would add, in the final 2 minutes any non shooting foul is 1 and 1 and the ball. I hate the way the last 2 minutes play out.
 

From the start of the game....May I suggest that all back court fouls are 1 and 1 until the last two minutes of the game. In the last 2 minutes of the game, ANY foul allows the team to take the 1 and 1, or the ball out of bounds, their choice. I have never been so bored in the last 2 minutes of games than I have the last 5 or 6 years.
 

year of the gopher said:
Reduce the number of team time outs. There are way too many TO's called given the number of TV timeouts in a game. Makes it hard to keep a flow to the game and makes it tougher for fans to stay into it.
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I'm with you here...Limit the number ot time outs during the last 5 minutes of the game. It not, the game will continue to be played at a snails pace at the end of games. The flow and the strategy is lost... Thank God for DVR's so we don't have to be slammed with all the the TV & team time outs, along with the commericials that insult the intelligence of even 8th graders...
 

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