After tonight, the elite 8 will be set in stone and we’ll be a week away from the national championship. That certainly does not feel like the case. All year long, I couldn’t bring myself to watch any meaningful college basketball and I’m a true junkie. It was weird not having the blue bloods like Duke and Kentucky among the elite teams this year, let alone in the tournament. There also wasn’t a bonafide star that we can cling our attention to for most of the season.
The pandemic has ravaged our country and families, so talking about the depletion of quality in college basketball isn’t something I’m necessarily comfortable with; but this was a long time coming.
With the increasing amount of pathways to earn money after high school for these young hoopers, college basketballs’ (and frankly, the whole NCAA’s) chance of bringing in and maximizing elite talent again is letting athletes profit off of their NIL (name, image, and likeliness). The official decision on how and if athletes can profit off of their NIL hangs in the balance, and so does the future of the college sports.
