data-mm-id=”_ra1lrslh7″>Today, we saw two of the top high school basketball recruits in the class of 2020 opt to skip college and head straight to the pros. ESPN's No. 1 recruit in the nation, Jalen Green, and No. 13, Isaiah Todd, both decided to take advantage of the new rule allowing elite 18-year-old prospects to join the NBA G League instead of heading to college. This follows the paths of LaMelo Ball and RJ Hampton, two of the top 2020 NBA Draft prospects, to play overseas this past season instead of playing in college. Guess what? That's the best thing for college basketball. Since the NBA instituted a rule in 2006 requiring players to be one year removed from high school before entering the draft, the aptly-nicknamed "one-and-done" rule, college basketball has lost its identity. The ultimate team sport has transformed into an individualistic game where the superstars are praised and highlighted on television. while the teams that actually grow together and eventually win don't get nearly as much attention until the media has no choice but to acknowledge them. Let's take the 2018-2019 season as an example. Zion Williamson was all the talk of college basketball and more people tuned in to watch him. Hell, Barack Obama went to see him play. Then, when he got hurt, it was national news for weeks. What happened to his shoe? Can Duke recover? Will he play again? That's all anyone wanted to talk about. Meanwhile, veteran-led teams like Virginia, Michigan State, North Carolina, Texas Tech and Gonzaga were having outstanding seasons and no one seemed to care. Looking back at the great teams in college basketball, the ones pundits praise and debate whether it was the best team ever, all of them featured veteran players who developed chemistry over the years and then won it all together. Sure, there are individual stars on those teams, but what made them great, and what was discussed and written about during the season, was the team. The one exception was Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, but those two always were the exception. That's what the NBA is for, not college basketball. The NBA shouldn't deny these kids an opportunity to make money if teams deem them talented enough to jump to the pros straight out of high school and college basketball shouldn't deny what its greatest strength is. Like the 1960 and 70s UCLA Bruins, the 1980s Indiana Hoosiers, the 1990s Duke Blue Devils and even the 2000s Florida Gators, it's not about the individual in college, it's about the team. Ultimately, having these talented young players skip college basketball and go straight to the pros will eliminate the one-and-done rule and help college basketball reclaim the magic it built under the watchful eye of John Wooden. Outsiders and capitalists might look at the game, and specifically as these individual players, as a cash cow with the opportunity to suck it for every cent they can, but that's not what college basketball should be. Thanks to these kids skipping it, college basketball will be better off.
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data-mm-id=”_n688f1ok5″>The first round of the 2020 NFL Draft has been completed. Here's a look at the biggest losers from the draft's first night. New York GiantsThe Giants had the fourth pick in the draft and could have gone in a number of ways. They chose to select Georgia offensive tackle Andrew Thomas, who is a fine, solid player. But at No. 4 a franchise needs to either find an elite, next-level talent or trade down to stockpile picks. The Giants did neither. I had Thomas as the fourth-ranked tackle on my board. He's a high-floor, low-ceiling guy but isn't an elite talent. The Giants passed up playmaking Clemson linebacker Isaiah Simmons, who could be an elite defender in the NFL. Instead they opted for a guy many people thought would be a mid-first-round pick…
data-mm-id=”_cgf4aa7e8″>The 2020 NBA Championship is up in the air right now. Top seeds look vulnerable and teams who might not even make the playoffs look unstoppable at times. On Saturday, the Dallas Mavericks beat the Milwaukee Bucks in overtime on ESPN. Luka Doncic had a 36 point, 19 assists, 14 rebound triple-double and he did this.THIS LUKA DIME ? pic.twitter.com/L94BcqX4zz— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) August 9, 2020To quote Jeff Van Gundy – "Wow."Coming off that win, you have to ask yourself if the Dallas Mavericks can win the title right now. It is both crazy and totally plausible. On the one hand, this was just the Mavericks' second win in five games since the restart. On the other hand, they have an unstoppable star and are capable of scoring any number of p…
data-mm-id=”_uo838e7gn”>The Big Ten is about to change its own rules for the 2020 football season to ensure Ohio State gets maximum exposure and to increase the Buckeyes' chances of being selected for the College Football Playoff. Yes, the entire league is going to bend over backwards solely to help land the extra payday involved with having a team make the CFP. And the conference's decision-makers will do it regardless of what every member agreed to at the start of the season. With Ohio State's matchup with Michigan cancelled this weekend, the Buckeyes will finish the season 5-0. Before the campaign began the conference ruled that to qualify for the Big Ten Championship Game, a team had to play in at least six games. Therefore, Ohio State will be ineligible to compete. …
data-mm-id=”_pps6mnqre”>On Saturday, May 13, the Arlington Renegades defeated the DC Defenders in the XFL Championship Game to cap off the league's first season under the patronage of Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson and in partnership with ESPN. To be able to finish the season at all made the league a success after the previous iteration collapsed before reaching the playoffs thanks to the coronavirus pandemic, but the XFL and ESPN should feel great about 2023 through pretty much every lens. Everything went off largely without a hitch, the talent pool was solid, the new rules made the game interesting, and most importantly, the league's ability to draw eyeballs was about what was expected. The 2023 XFL season was bookended by two significant viewership events. The season …