The appeal deal
Letting Cunningham, Oklahoma St. into tourney would be right thing
IN THIS job, you don’t root. You don’t pull for teams. It’s part of the press box ground rules — even in virtual times.
But I’m willing to make an exception. I’m rooting for Oklahoma State to get into the NCAA Tournament. I’m pulling for Cade Cunningham to go dancing. I’m hoping the NCAA’s infractions appeals committee doesn’t make a decision on the Cowboys’ appeal before March Madness begins. That would enable them to be included.
Cunningham, the potential No. 1 pick in the NBA draft, deserves to play in the tournament. Oklahoma State does, too. The sport would be better for it, in a year when several elite prospects — most notably Jalen Green and Jonathan Kuminga — opted to take the new lucrative G-League Ignite route.
Oklahoma State handled everything right with its scandal, as one of the schools involved in the FBI’s investigation into corruption into college basketball. It fired assistant coach Lamont Evans, who pleaded guilty to accepting bribes, immediately. It cooperated with the NCAA. Evans, it should be pointed out, was at the school just one year. He worked only a few months under head coach Mike Boynton, although the two were assistant coaches together for one season.
This isn’t Arizona, Kansas or LSU, where head coaches Sean Miller, Bill Self and Will Wade continue to skate by denial after denial, by throwing other people under the bus and being fortunate those same people are loyal and don’t do the same to them. Oklahoma State didn’t try to use the self-imposed postseason-ban trick in a season it was expected to be down, like Arizona and Auburn.
The punishment of a postseason ban came down long after Cunningham picked Oklahoma State over North Carolina, Florida, Kentucky and Washington. He would’ve been able to get out of that commitment. The ultraskilled point guard could’ve taken the money and joined Green and Kuminga in the G-League. He could’ve transferred to a blueblood program and gotten eligible.
But Cunningham stayed. The 6-foot-8 Texan was loyal, in part due to the presence of his older brother Cannen, an assistant coach at the school. He has lifted the program to a tie in the loss column for third place in the Big 12. The Cowboys are hitting their stride at the right time, with four straight wins and five victories in six games. Cunningham, averaging 19.8 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.0 blocks, does a little bit of everything. He’s shooting a team-high 43.2 percent from 3-point range and is coming off his best performance as a collegian, a 40-point, 11-rebound masterpiece in an upset of in-state rival Oklahoma.
In recent years, the one-anddone route has lost its luster. The
G-League is offering high school players big money. College has been dominated by experienced teams. Duke and Kentucky are having poor seasons for them.
Cunningham has been different. He’s been exceptional in every possible way. He’s proven an elite freshman — the right one — can change a meandering program, in ways that top prospects Ben Simmons, Markelle Fultz and Anthony Edwards could not in recent years. When he opted to stay with Oklahoma State, Cunningham said part of the reason was the opportunity to play on such a big stage in the Big 12.
“I want the average basketball fan to know who Cade Cunningham is,” he said last summer.
Hopefully, Cunningham is given the opportunity to really showcase himself over the next few weeks. Oklahoma State could make a big run. He could pull a Danny Manning.
The player and the school deserve the chance. It would only add to what should be a terrific tournament. Most importantly, it would be the just thing.
Bottom of the barrel
The Big Ten is a very good league. At worst, the secondbest in the country after the Big 12. It is not historically good though, as some experts predicted in November. The top half of the conference is terrific. The bottom half was vastly overrated.
I can see multiple Final Four teams coming out of the Big Ten. Michigan, Illinois, Ohio State and Iowa are all capable. With the right draw, Rutgers, Purdue, Wisconsin and Maryland are potential Sweet 16 teams. The rest of the league doesn’t belong in the dance.
Indiana and Minnesota have proven to be pillow-soft teams that don’t belong to even be considered on Selection Sunday. Michigan State’s home loss to Maryland on Sunday could be devastating for them barring an upset of Michigan this week. A team three games under .500 in conference play does not deserve a bid. Penn State, Northwestern and Nebraska have merely fattened up the records of the teams ahead of them.