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Dan Wetzel
multiple authors
Kansas, Kentucky and North Carolina have a combined 54 Final Four appearances and 18 national titles. They have collectively produced some of the greatest players of all time, such as Michael Jordan (UNC), Wilt Chamberlain (Kansas) and the reigning NBA MVP. Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (Kentucky).
If you were to list the five best programs and most desirable head coaching jobs in college basketball – some combination of likelihood of success, fan passion, tradition, recruiting power and institutional support – they would be in the top five, if not the top three.
Yet for the fourth year in a row, no one will reach the Final Four and for the third time in six years, the Sweet 16 will be without any of them. From 1985 to 2020, collective failure to reach the second weekend of the tournament occurred only once, in 2006.
That was an irritant-induced anomaly. This very much seems to be a trend.
Being a so-called blue blood once assured a certain level of excellence, interrupted only by the occasional NCAA-enforcement or bad coaching hire that was quickly rectified.
What will happen now?
In this era of transfer portals, revenue sharing and voids, not to mention the diminishing influence of shoe companies in recruitment, is “blue blood” still a thing?
And what does it mean when the coaching opportunity potentially comes up at UNC (where Hubert Davis is) fired after five seasons) and KU (where Bill Self holds the position). discussed possible retirement Due to health problems).
While Kentucky’s Mark Pope appears to be safe after two so many seasonsDespite the huge zero spending spree, expect a lot to happen next season, otherwise the Wildcats will be back on the market too soon.
These were once the most prestigious jobs in sports. In 1983, Larry Brown left the NBA playoff team mid-season to take charge at Kansas. In 1985, then-Arkansas coach Eddie Sutton said he would have had to “crawl to Lexington” for the Wildcats job. In 2003, Roy Williams left KU to return to Chapel Hill, where he had once been an assistant.
There was a so-called pecking order in college basketball, a pyramid where each step up increased the chances of winning a national title.
Does it still matter?
Even UNC, Kansas and Kentucky are dealing with new challenges.
Big Ten and SEC athletic departments are largely fueled by revenue generated from football. That’s at least partly the reason those two leagues have a combined 10 teams in this season’s Sweet 16. There are only four combined from the ACC and Big 12, home to UNC and KU, respectively. (Kentucky is in the SEC.)
The rise in international players, who often have little knowledge, let alone attraction, of historical success or branding, limits the potency of past wins.
And the days of Nike and Adidas overwhelmingly dominating recruiting decisions for top high school talent have been greatly diminished by the NIL, not to mention 2018-19. federal conviction Many shoe executives, middlemen and assistant college instructors.
The willingness of shoe companies to help with their most important programs – whether it’s a push or outright payment – is either no longer attempted or can be mitigated by the deals offered above from any of the schools.
Anyone with the right coach, an attractive system of play, and a certain level of money can overcome a lack of tradition or physical distance from fertile recruiting markets. Even Nebraska is winning tournament games this year.
This is a different scenario.
When it comes to building rosters, each school is starting from scratch each year, facing the same changes and uncertainties that once shielded blue bloods. Despite spending a lot of money, there is no margin for error.
If nothing else, no school has been able to accumulate talent the way blue bloods once could. Thus, serious injuries helped derail UNC and Kentucky this year.
This does not mean that these three cannot be great or that they should never accept being great. They maintain extraordinary power, the ability to generate fan and media attention and resources.
It’s still Carolina. And Kansas. And Kentucky. They can all come back on top. After all, the Duke, among others, is traveling just fine.
That’s why if jobs open up, elite coaches from college basketball and even the NBA will be interested. That said, two years ago, Kentucky was rejected by Dan Hurley (UConn) and Scott Drew (Baylor), decisions that once seemed unthinkable.
If you’re Todd Golden (Florida), Dusty Mays (Michigan) or Tommy Lloyd (Arizona), do you leave places where you’re already fielding title-contending teams?
If – and this is an if – North Carolina or Kansas has a “better job” than what you have, is it still advanced enough that it’s worth giving up what you’ve built?
There was a time when decisions would have been quick and clear. Now, this is less so.
In an age when everyone can glow green, blue blood isn’t so important.
