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The Diminishing NCAA Basketball Quality

Odds & News | HHA ( Thu 18th, February 2010 )

Is it still possible to follow the NCAA basketball "stars"? Nowadays, it's like we do not know our heroes anymore. They seem to pass by like a flash in the history of college rivalries and traditions.

There were good times, when players would stay for at least 4 years in college, playing for their team and forming a good reputation while leaving their mark in their fans.

Now take a look at this situation: Kevin Durant's number is going to be retired after just 1 season, Carmelo Anthony played only 1 season in college, and Kobe and Lebron never played at the NCAA level in the first place.

Long gone are the days of Patrick Ewing, Michael Jordan, or Tim Duncan; not only were these players prominent in the NBA ("prominent" being an understatement), but they also had long and successful college careers. Today, the College regular season is more like a series of auditions or a showcase for the next NBA draft. These young players, looking for a spot among the pros, arrive with a lot of natural talent to the NBA, but with little knowledge of the basics and fundamentals of the game.

Still many fans think that a player who remains with his team for more than a year is not that good and consider him a lesser talent.

What's worst about this whole situation is that because of the leak of talent in the NCAA, successful teams in 2009 like North Carolina now struggle in 2010 due to their changes around their rooster. The age of the dynasties, when building and consolidating teams was a matter of years, is gone. This happens as a detriment to enjoying the league itself. Now it's going to be very difficult to see the teams go back to back; the talent all around the league is somewhat watered down now. If a team manages to get a star player come back for the following year, that they will perform better is almost granted, but now most of them fall prey to the promise of wealth the NBA offers.

For the most successful teams, it's almost like a bad omen: a really good season precedes a struggling one, especially if a championship is reached, or worse, won. And with March Madness just a couple of weeks ahead, we are likely to forget this during the tournament, due to the excitement. But let's no forget that is called "March madness" for a reason.

FFor now, the only thing we can do is to wait for the official picks, watch the games and get entangled in all the craziness of the brackets while all the Cinderella stories from our favorite "star" players take place. In the end, let's just hope we get see some familiar faces within the teams next year.

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