College basketball’s deterioration of play has become alarming

After North Carolina and UCLA fumbled and bumbled their way through 40 turnovers, 66 missed shots, 21 missed free throws and 46 personal fouls in the CBS Sports (Non) Classic last weekend, a media friend offered the perfect summation.

“I’m just glad Dean Smith and John Wooden were not alive to see that,”he said.

The same would hold true for this entire college basketball season. It’s a bad product right now, people. I know we still watch — or at least I do — and will continue to do so. But through a convergence of factors, the game itself has deteriorated to the point where in many cases it’s darn near unwatchable.

The bigger story is who’s not playing. Potential NBA lottery picks LaMelo Ball and R.J. Hampton decided to skip the college game altogether. Both are playing professionally in Australia. Then news came last week that Memphis’ suspended freshman star James Wiseman decided to hire an agent and prepare for the pros rather than wait around for his Jan. 12 return.

Not that we should be surprised by any of this. College basketball’s reliance on one-and-done stars was always a tenuous undertaking that is soon to end now that the NBA is expected to lower the age limit to 18.

Many college stars don’t really want to play college basketball.

Those left behind are not as skilled as in past years. Fundamentals have hit rock bottom. Consider that last year, 38 college basketball teams turned the ball over more than 20% of the time. This year, that number is 98.