Stop trying to tear down nonconference multiple-team events.
For those who love and cover the sport of men’s and women’s college basketball, the goal should be to celebrate these events and show why they are a positive for all involved. I have yet to meet a single player, coach or support staff member who didn’t enjoy the week of games in Maui, Las Vegas, Orlando, Anaheim, San Juan, Nassau or New York. The team bonding, especially at water-based destinations, is hard to duplicate back on campus. For decades, I have covered Thanksgiving week tournaments and my memories are of the pure joy everyone has during the event.
Look, for full transparency, I do social media coverage for the Maui Invitational. But for 18 years I worked at ESPN and gladly promoted ESPN events because of all the good they did for the sport and our parent company at the time. As Feast Week begins — an ESPN-branded term that so aptly describes the holiday hoops — the schedule is loaded with matchups we wouldn’t get normally and on neutral-site venues that are usually in vacation spots.
The Players Era, the newest on the scene, is growing to 18 teams this season and the goal is for 32 participants next year. The Players Era pays the players through the teams and it’s a model that works for some, while a few of the elites find more value in single-game events.
Having more tournaments is a good thing for men’s and women’s college basketball. The fields can be stronger or weaker, depending on the year, but this is all cyclical. Legislation that would allow teams to go more frequently to events is changing, and most of the tournaments are looking to adapt in the near future.
The long-term effects of playing three games in three days may not be sustainable, but certainly two games would make sense for the majority of Division I. And that also cannot be ignored. The majority of power conference teams need a nonconference tournament of some sort, as scheduling true home-and-home series is very difficult for most teams.
If the schedule goes to 35 games allowed, it will have an impact on nonconference events. But you still need MTE’s, since the power conference teams want quality opponents that could help them enhance their resumes for Selection Sunday.
So, as the week unfolds, this shouldn’t be a competition among Maui, Players’ Era, Battle 4 Atlantis or anything else. The events in Baha Mar, St. Thomas and Charleston have shown why the high-level competition matters. These wins, the entertainment value, and the overall life experience is hard to duplicate for the players.
Shoutouts
To Arizona’s Jaden Bradley: Bradley was nowhere to be found, including here, in preseason All-American lists. But three weeks into the season it’s hard not to put him next to Purdue’s Braden Smith on the first team. Bradley is averaging 16.8 points and 3.8 assists and has stepped up big-time in Arizona’s biggest games, with 21 points at UConn, 15 against UCLA and 27 against Florida. Bradley is the best closer in men’s college hoops.
To Louisville’s Ryan Conwell: He’s on his fourth school in four years (South Florida, Indiana State, Xavier and Louisville) and has increased his production each season. Mikel Brown Jr., may get the majority of headlines but the Cardinals wouldn’t be undefeated if it weren’t for Conwell. He has risen to the big-game challenge with 24 against Kentucky and 25 versus Cincinnati.
To FS1 for one of the best double-headers in nonconference play in some time: The Arizona at UConn and then Alabama vs. Illinois in Chicago twin bill last Wednesday was something special. Both games felt like they could be in the Elite Eight — in November.
To knowing time and score: USC and Wake Forest players were paying attention. The Trojans pulled off the miracle shot when Rodney Rice intercepted an errant Troy pass, knew to pass downcourt to Jordan Marsh, who saw he had no time but to double-clutch the shot up in the air for the win. Meanwhile, Wake Forest had practiced the famed Valparaiso “Pacer” play. And they ran it to perfection with Myles Colvin burying the game-winning shot after getting the bang-bang pass from Tre’Von Spillers to beat Memphis in Baha Mar.
To the WCC: The league, which will lose Gonzaga, Oregon State and Washington State after this season to the new Pac-12, has been on fire through the first three weeks. Six teams have win streaks of three or more, including Seattle, which beat Stanford, and San Francisco, which knocked off Minnesota. Loyola Marymount and Santa Clara, like traditional powers Gonzaga and Saint Mary’s, were undefeated through Saturday.
To the A-10: During a week in which longtime commissioner Bernadette McGlade announced her retirement, the league is off to a much-needed fast start. The A-10 had six undefeated teams through Saturday — Davidson, George Mason, George Washington, Richmond, Saint Louis and St. Bonaventure. And right behind them with one loss was Dayton, who beat Marquette last week.
NCAA Denies Eligibility to Former NBA Player
The NCAA’s policy regarding college eligibility and NBA contracts is coming into focus. PLUS: Vanderbilt’s Tyler Tanner is making his case for SEC Player of the Year.
To Richard Pitino’s recruiting at New Mexico: Check out what three of his players are doing since departing Albuquerque. JT Toppin was Big 12 player of the year for Texas Tech and thus far this season in year two in Lubbock he’s averaging 21 and 10 (scored 21 in a win over Wake in Baha Mar). Donovan Dent was Mountain West Player of the Year and so far with UCLA he’s averaging 12.6 points and 6.6 assists a game. Tru Washington is averaging 14.8 for Miami and dropped 18 against Elon Saturday.
To Troy’s Cooper Campbell: The sophomore guard was flat-out ridiculous in nearly pulling off back-to-back road upsets in SoCal. Campbell helped the Trojans beat San Diego State in double overtime with 16 points and four assists. And then he went off against USC with 32 points and 8 assists in the triple-overtime loss at USC. Troy is a team NO ONE will want to see in the first round of the NCAA Tournament if the Trojans win the Sun Belt.
To Central Connecticut’s Patrick Sellers: The Blue Devils, who hail from New Britain, a suburb of Hartford, have knocked off teams from the ACC (Boston College) and Big Ten (Rutgers) on the road. The much-maligned NEC usually gets a 16 seed, and this season may be no different. But the Blue Devils are proving that if they were to earn the AQ that they won’t be intimidated by a power school.
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