A Case for College Hoops
Growing up in the ‘90s, college basketball often felt like a bigger deal than the NBA. Of course, that wasn’t actually the case, but the sport generated buzz approaching the major professional leagues.
I wrote a few years ago on my defunct blog about ESPN’s devolving attitude toward its college basketball coverage; how what had once been a tentpole for the network in the ‘80s and ‘90s turned into mere inventory commensurate with Disney out-bidding itself for NBA broadcast rights at the turn of the millennium.
I won’t belabor the point — this isn’t a commentary on media. Not exclusively, anyway.
Sure, ESPN downplaying college basketball once it purchased NBA rights (and with CBS and Turner locking down shared NCAA Tournament coverage) did the game no favors. But the arrival of the 21st Century also brought considerable change to college basketball.
Stars of the ‘80s and the first half of the ‘90s typically stayed in college until at least their junior year. There were plenty of freshmen stars who emerged — Wayman Tisdale’s debut season at Oklahoma was Naismith Award-caliber and Derrick Coleman was almost a proto-Carmelo Anthony as a frosh leading Syracuse to the National Championship Game — but it was largely an upperclassmen-dominated game.
Uptempo, high-scoring basketball also dominated in the ‘80s and early ‘90s. Coaches like Jerry Tarkanian, Lute Olson and Nolan Richardson flourished with fast-breaking teams that generated turnovers on defense and created instant offense.
Because the rules of college basketball differ from the NBA, the game saw more reward for shifting to a defensive-oriented approach in the 2000s. College hoops didn’t lose innovators at the turn of the millennium; they just emerged in the approaches like the pack line defense.
The college game slowing down at the same time the NBA adopted more restrictive rules on defense and incentivized points gave the former a bad rep it’s been trying to shake off for a generation.
But I’m not broaching new territory with any of the above. And I’m here to tell you these accepted facts are mostly bogus in 2021.
College basketball’s glory days featured established stars, exciting veterans who cultivated reputations and grew as players before our eyes. In the 2021-22 campaign, the sport welcomes back UCLA’s dynamic scoring wing Johnny Juzang, Illinois’ dominant post Kofi Cockburn, Gonzaga’s multi-skilled big man Drew Timme, Ohio State’s versatile EJ Liddell.
Other young returning talent, including Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis, are on the precipice of blowing up.
Mid-major basketball, the lifeblood of March Madness, is stacked with veteran experience and talent this year. Oral Roberts’ Max Abmas could be the nation’s scoring leader in 2021-22.
The extended grace period for players considering entering the NBA draft has had a positive impact evident in this class of returners. Meanwhile, the cycle that emphasized defense in coaching innovation has started to turn.
It happens in every sport; college football’s embrace of spread and no-huddle offenses in recent years and some programs like Georgia responding with a shift back to a hard-hitting approach offers a shining example.
In basketball, we’re coming off a Final Four in which the Championship Game featured the nation’s No. 1 and No. 31 scoring offenses. Emerging contender Arkansas has embraced a throwback to the Richardson era under Eric Musselman, playing a brand of ball that posts better than 80 points per game.
Arizona parted ways with defensive-minded Sean Miller in the offseason and hired Tommy Lloyd, Gonzaga’s recruiting guru and disciple of the Zags’ uptempo style. Look for the Wildcats to restore run-and-gun hoops akin to the Olson days in the desert.
It’s not the NBA — the NBA is home to the best fraction-of-a-fraction-of-a-percent of players — but the level of play in college basketball has undeniably risen over the last few years. This season in particular should be excellent with the extended eligibility due to last year’s pandemic campaign.
On the topic of the pandemic, this year’s return of crowds on campuses nationwide promises to make this season especially exciting.
The atmosphere inside an arena for a big-time college basketball matchup is almost impossible to match. I primarily covered football for my university newspaper, and sometimes wish I’d been on the men’s basketball beat. However, being in the student section as an undergraduate, watching a top 10-ranked team, produced some of my favorite memories of college.
There’s an energy that’s difficult to describe, but it seeps into your soul. College basketball at its best is a reflection of the youthful exuberance that makes those four(ish) years of life so memorable.
Gonzaga was No. 1 at 92.1 points per game, Baylor No. 3 at 84.4.