Commission on College Basketball recommends ending one-and-done model

The Committee on College Basketball, which was formed in the wake of the FBI investigation into the sport, offered up its recommendations in a 60-page report on Wednesday morning. Among them: stiffer penalties for cheating—including lifetime bans for coaches involved—plus recruiting reforms and the end of the one-and-done model.

Of course, the problem with ending the one-and-done rule is that it’s not up to the NCAA, it’s up to the NBA, whose age restriction established the current system in college. But it’s a nice idea, I suppose. And actually one of the few recommendations that actually might benefit the players.

The rest is mostly just bureaucratic nonsense, like requiring college presidents to “certify annually that they have conducted due diligence and that their athletic programs comply with NCAA rules.” Clearly, what the NCAA and the sport needs is another layer of rubber stamps.

No consideration was given to establishing a system that would compensate college players, which is ultimately why all of this is a waste of time and money. If they will not address the fundamental gap between what players get out of schools and what they are worth, they’re not going to get rid of the sport’s black market.

And this idea is utterly preposterous:

If a change is not made to one-and-done, Rice said the commission will look into options, such as making freshmen ineligible or locking a scholarship for three or four years if the recipient leaves a program after one year.

Nothing like penalizing the players for things outside of their control. There’s probably no better example than this to illustrate how badly the people running college athletics miss the point. And why nothing much will change.