NCAA Tournament And Final Four
Which is the quietest basketball game at the University of Kentucky?
Senior Night.
Why? Because there are never any seniors. Not any who played meaningful minutes, who starred in the season just past. Kentucky is a one-and-done school.
Did you enjoy Duke’s season? Hope so. Because Zion Williamson, R.J. Barrett and Cam Reddish, the three freshman standouts, will be standing out in the NBA next year and the Blue Devils will again have a totally different look.
The NBA’s insistence that it will not draft players who under 19 years old – a policy likely to change soon – has created this one-year farm system where talented kids go to college to major in basketball. It is, unlike junior college, not even a two-year program. One and done.
Do we fault the kids? No. Here’s hoping a year occasionally spent on campus and possibly once in a while in a classroom helped them learn about life and mature a bit. It probably did not teach them how to handle millions of dollars and hangers-on or how to cope with the pressures accompanying those dollars and hangers-on.
Then there’s Michigan State, which beat Duke 68-67 on Sunday to earn its way into the Final Four. The Spartans start two seniors and only one freshman. Does that matter?
Well, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski made this observation after the defeat: “I thought they played older than we did. But that’s happened to us. We are young.”
Wonder how that happened. And expect that it will likely happen again next year. They’re out of the dorm before they’ve even unpacked.
Give me a team that can hold a Senior Night and actually honors seniors. Give me a team that plays old. Like 21 years old.
Post By: Larry Weisman, a longtime sportswriter for USA TODAY, blogs for Twistity.com. Follow him on Twitter @MrLarryWeisman
Electronic Music Can Ward Off Mosquitoes
-
Oklahoma and Texas will depart from the college sports conference at the end of the season. The Big 12...
-
Robert Kraft wants to re-sign Brady just long enough that he can retire as a Patriot. Earlier this week,...
-
The skilled third-baseman will be enshrined in Cooperstown. Scott Rolen is one of the most skilled and recognized third-basemen...
-
Brady’s 23rd football season has ended. On Monday, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the Dallas Cowboys went head-to-head for...
-
Smith has been fired after one season with the team. Over the weekend, the owners of the Houston Texans...
-
Pelé passed due to complications related to colon cancer. On Thursday night, the sporting world received unfortunate news: Pelé,...
-
His return heralded a victory over the Phoenix Suns. On Sunday, Houston Rockets coach Stephen Silas needed to take...
-
Mayfield will be available on waiver to other NFL teams. After an underwhelming performance in his current role as...
-
Mike White led the team to a decisive victory over the Bears over the weekend. On Saturday, the New...
-
The game has been moved out of New York due to an encroaching snowstorm. This weekend, the Buffalo Bills...
-
Negative pushback prompted the team to give the role to someone else. Recently, the Brooklyn Nets have been in...
-
The Bears got Claypool in exchange for a 2023 second-round pick. This week, the Pittsburgh Steelers cut a deal...