Top programs dominate Final Four
Big-time schools arrive with big-time baggage
NEW ORLEANS— Looking for those charming underdog stories? Go find the DVD from last year.
This year’s Final Four brings together an ensemble of big-name schools, all saddled with typically big-time issues — a reminder that everything in college sports is not as pure as the NCAA and its “studentathletes” would like us to believe.
In Saturday’s semifinals, Kentucky plays Louisville and Ohio State meets Kansas. All the schools have made headlines for a variety of off-the-court reasons over the last few months, including the proliferation of one-and-done players, stories about coaches in courtrooms and a handful of financial misdeeds involving recruits, players, coaches and even ticket managers.
And so, while there are no little vs. big stories this year — the way tiny Butler or overlooked VCU beat the odds last season to make it to basketball’s pinnacle — we’re regaled with tall tales of redemption and resurrection: Teams and coaches that overcame their problems and got everyone thinking about basketball instead of the underside of a business driven by a $10.8 billion (U.S.) TV contract.
“There are a lot of good players out there who are performing right now,” Kentucky coach John Calipari said.
For his part, Calipari is perfecting the art of luring a player for one, maybe two seasons, to contend for a championship, then saying a guiltfree goodbye. During his more candid moments, he’ll tell you he’s no fan of the rule that allows players to leave college after a single year. But it’s out of his hands. It’s the NBA that put in the rule stating players must be 19 to enter the draft. What’s a coach to do? “I think they trust that when the year is out, they’re going to get the right information and be treated fairly,” Calipari said. “They don’t worry about it. Historically, we don’t convince kids to stay who should leave. They are going to get the information, and they know that. They are just going to play basketball.” It means freshmen Anthony Davis and Michael Kidd-gilchrist, both projected as high lottery picks, probably will be gone after this season, and it’s not impossible to think the rest of the starting lineup — all freshmen and sophomores — could leave, as well. Calipari, who has had NCAA trouble at every step along his college head-coaching career, said this is a price worth paying for running a “players-first” program — with players who worry about winning first, then reap the benefits when the NBA comes calling.