0:00
I don't think anybody in my position, a
0:03
Syracuse grad, would have ever thought
0:05
there'd be a day where a coach, unless
0:08
he had deep Providence or Rhode Island
0:12
would choose the Friars over the Orange.
0:15
But that is potentially what is at stake
0:17
right now as USF head coach Brian
0:19
Hodgson is apparently trying to decide
0:21
between the two. And this is not a
0:26
And I'm not biased or arrogant enough to
0:29
think that Syracuse should just be able
0:32
to land the big fish because they are
0:35
some type of great program and don't
0:39
have their own warts or own holes. They
0:42
do. And I've documented this at length
0:44
over the last month and a half because
0:46
Syracuse is in this very delicate
0:49
transition time where they have a new
0:52
chancellor. They just hired a new AD and
0:55
now for the first time really in program
0:57
history they have to have a widpread
1:00
coaching search. Beahheim was there for
1:02
45 years. Obviously college basketball
1:06
really changed from the primordial ooze
1:11
when he took over in the 70s to what it
1:13
would be from a couple of years ago when
1:15
he finally retired to then just
1:17
elevating Adrien Autry from associate
1:19
coach to head coach. So now they
1:21
actually have to have a search
1:24
and it is all about who's got more NIL
1:30
money. And I think for fans of schools
1:35
that that have had success in the past,
1:38
Syracuse has six final fours, a national
1:41
championship in this millennium. They
1:44
have a parade of NBA players that have
1:46
come through there. They have one of the
1:52
homecourt advantages possible to carry
1:54
your dome. A place that routinely sits
1:57
20, sometimes can seat up to 30 and 32.
2:01
The fact that that program might have to
2:04
lose out on a coach to a program like
2:08
Providence might be shocking to some in
2:12
the Syracuse community. But the reality
2:15
is everything that you thought you knew
2:18
about college basketball really has
2:20
shifted underneath the feet of the fan,
2:22
of the coach, of the ads, of everybody.
2:26
Doesn't mean that there isn't some old
2:28
brands that are still doing well. And
2:29
look, Duke's a one seed, Arizona's a one
2:32
seed. These are programs that have been
2:35
elite top tier power programs for
2:37
forever and they're still getting it
2:40
just means you cannot rely on what used
2:46
You can't rely on recruitment and
2:48
development. You cannot rely on the
2:52
homec court advantage, the numbers and
2:54
the rafters. It is simply a money game
2:58
and that is not refreshing in any way,
3:01
but it is reality. And I always abide by
3:04
the rule of thumb. You do business as
3:06
business is done. And you can complain
3:08
about it, but at some point, if you're
3:10
going to do business, you got to go do
3:12
it. And in this case, Providence does
3:16
not have a football program they have to
3:18
fund. They do not have to shift
3:21
resources away to make other parts of
3:24
the department happy. They have they're
3:27
in a very good conference. They're in a
3:30
very solid media market. They have a
3:32
really rabid fan base and they've got
3:35
deep pockets as well. And so it's just a
3:38
blinking light into the realities of
3:43
and the fact that Syracuse had to
3:46
elevate its own spending up to $8
3:50
million this year and 8 million bucks
3:53
which was triple reportedly what they
3:55
had spent the previous year. that $8
3:58
million got him. A losing record and no
4:01
NCAA tournament bid and not even an ACC
4:03
tournament win tells you how far it all
4:07
has to come for a program like that.
4:10
It's an awakening. It's a reckoning. It
4:13
is a reboot, a recalibration, and a
4:16
reality check for those of us such as
4:18
myself that have rooted for Syracuse
4:21
since we went to school and and maybe
4:22
even before then, or for those from
4:24
Central New York, or for whatever, you
4:26
know, ties you might have to that school
4:28
or other schools like it. It is right
4:31
now a simple numbers game. And if you
4:34
got the numbers, you're good. And if you
4:36
don't, you better hustle. And if you
4:38
don't have the numbers and you don't
4:40
have the NIL, you have to have a coach
4:41
that overcomes it. And that's not easy
4:46
to come by because these coaches are
4:47
making decisions based on the NIL bottom
4:51
dollar, which is apparently what Brian
4:53
Hodgson is doing right now. I don't
4:56
think college basketball is better for
4:57
it. It's just different. It is what it
5:00
is. College basketball to me has lost a
5:03
lot of national relevance. And I I say
5:05
this as somebody who has hosted a daily
5:07
talk show for 25 years. I think when I
5:10
started doing this in 2002, 2003 on a
5:14
daily basis, there was far more
5:17
recognition throughout the regular
5:18
season of these schools, of these
5:21
coaches, of these players. There was
5:24
continuity. There was familiarity.
5:27
Certainly, there was one and done. And
5:29
that hurt that that was a dam that broke
5:33
even before then. That was a dam that
5:35
broke in the in the mid to late 90s. But
5:38
today, the regular season of college
5:41
basketball is essentially only for
5:44
hardcore fans, the hardest of core fans.
5:47
Now, today, everybody celebrates and
5:49
you'll see all over social media,
5:51
hooray, the tournament bracket is out.
5:53
This is great. We love March. But ain't
5:56
nobody know anything. I mean, 90% of the
6:01
audience today that will be watching the
6:04
selection Sunday show didn't watch a
6:06
college basketball game until last
6:08
weekend and might not have watched a
6:10
college basketball game until this
6:13
Ain't nobody know anything. And so, I
6:16
don't think NIL and the transfer portal
6:18
is better for college basketball, but it
6:19
is where the sport is and you have to
6:21
match it. You have to match it if you
6:23
want to compete. And I think that's a
6:26
hard reality for a lot of ads, a lot of
6:29
head coaches, and why a lot of these old
6:32
All the things that you used to know are
6:35
actually no longer in play. And now you
6:37
have to be able to do business in a
6:39
totally different way. Some can. Some
