The Dad posted on January 23, 2011 21:02
The NCAA has been trying to get under-handed practices of some summer-ball programs under control for some time now with limited success. However, the NCAA is not giving up. The rule passed to eliminate the spring evaluation period for Division I men basketball coaches rocked the landscape of non-scholastic events held in the Spring. The summer evaluation period (July) will be next on the chopping block. Does this mean that D1 coaches will no longer evaluate players in the spring and summer? Well, coaches would not stand for that so the NCAA has a plan. It’s called “iHoops”!
Money, Recruiting and Sharks
OK, let’s put all the cards on the table. NCAA Division I Basketball is BIG business. We are talking multi-millions of dollars. If you want to make a high 6 or7-digit salary as a collegiate basketball coach, you’ve got to win consistently at the highest level. To win at the highest level, you HAVE TO recruit the best college-eligible players and convince them to sign and play at your school. In order to keep or acquire such salaries along with notoriety, product endorsements, movie deals and other perks, some coaches will shell out lots of cash to get the big fish. Where there is money flowing, the sharks will smell it and pursue it aggressively.
This may be over simplified, but money IS flowing, rules are being broken, and principles are people who run somebody’s school. The NCAA does not like it so it intends to have coaches only evaluate at scholastic events AND at events that THEY control!
It is more than likely, in my opinion, that this July will be the last NCAA evaluation period for non-scholastic events that Division I men basketball coaches can attend! If you can read the tea leaves, you will recognize that this is a done deal. Here is what the NCAA has written (January 2011) to event operators who seek MCAA sanction for their events.
Men’s Basketball - Summer Recruiting. At the end of October, the Board reviewed a request from the Collegiate Commissioner’s Association (CCA) to eliminate the summer evaluation period in men’s basketball beginning in the summer of 2011. The Board did not support the immediate elimination of summer recruiting, rather it noted its intent to sponsor such legislation in the 2011-12 legislative cycle and, in the meantime, assigned the Leadership Council, along with appropriate stakeholders, the responsibility to evaluate and create a new comprehensive recruiting model for men’s basketball. The Board also suggested that the Legislative Council not take action on proposals in the 2010-11 legislative cycle that impact the recruiting calendar in men’s basketball.
So, the NCAA has announced that it will sponsor legislation to end the summer evaluation period AND “… create a new comprehensive recruiting model for men’s basketball As T. D. Jakes loves to say, get ready, get ready, get ready.
Teaching Skills, Mentoring Skills and Values for Coaches!
You can bet that the “new” plan has already been formulated. As a matter of fact, the NCAA has tipped its hand. I call this portion of the NCAA’s multi-faceted plan, “The NCAA Train Up a Coach in the Way He Should Go Education Program”. Check it out:
iHoops Coached Education Program Available Soon - Set to launch in early 2011, the iHoops Coaches Education program provides experienced coaches and those new to the profession with substantive tools to improve teaching skills, coaching techniques and strategy, and knowledge of the game and its values. iHoops Coaches Education program offers innovative lessons and valuable continuing education for coaches who want to provide young players with fundamentally stronger instruction, develop their mentoring skills, be more organized, and understand the needs of a variety of age groups is focused on helping coaches teach the game positively, play the right way competitively and with enjoyment, while making the safety and well-being of young players a priority. For more information see iHoops Coached Education Program Announcement or check out www.iHoops.com
Sounds great, right? No doubt the program will be very good for coaches and for the athletes that they train. I seem to remember an ancient Trojan Horse that eventually led to a change in the status quo! I am NOT saying that a change in the status quo is a bad thing. The desire to help and provide key resources for coaches and players drives what we do here at The BBC. We applaud all efforts to make things better for college hopeful athletes and their parents.
It would not be surprising to see this program morph into a certification system for coaches and a tool to “remind”’ college coaches of ethics requirements and the penalties for violations. The program could also be the place for college coaches to get on board with the new “recruiting system: and to access ‘First Team’ (see below) athletes.
In my opinion, iHoops is at the core of the NCAA plan to get their hands on the best basketball players in the country! How will they do it? Well, they have already started. Plans are underway for iHoops Elite camps, clinics and tournaments. Check out the link that heads this paragraph. Guess who will be allowed at these events? Division I college coaches! Do you want a D1 coach to evaluate you? You can hope that they come to your HS practices and/or games; or. Yu can become an iHoops elite athlete.
I will dig into iHoops and its future impact on recruiting in a future article. Just note that with the NCAA, the NBA and other deep pockets bank-rolling it. iHoops can offer blue-chip players a lot of incentive to jump on the iHoops bandwagon! Players could receive professional training, professional college prep services, world-wide travel and exposure, and nationally televised events to name a few. Players will be assured that every big-time school will know about them, after all, you’re an iHoops Elite athlete! And of course, college coaches can see you play in the spring and summer iHoops events. Are you starting to get the picture?
For this master plan to succeed, iHoops has to get its hand on the best players. The one trump card in the NCAA hand is the summer evaluation period, and we know that they are reaching for that card now.
Chaos in the marketplace
The NCAA plan will send shockwaves throughout the summer-ball circuit. The money-changers are going to have their exchange tables flipped by an angry lord. Certainly, there will be fallout. What will the money-changers do to counter-attack? How will those late-bloomers get evaluated by D1 coaches after the high school season ends? What will be the impact on mid-major and low-major D1 prospects? There are many other questions that need answers. The bottom line is that change is coming and lots of people and entities are going to be affected. Stay tuned for more…
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