Here and There in Friartown
Craig Leighton's first article on our new site tackles topics ranging from recruiting, Ryan Gomes' next step, the future of college basketball, and more.
News, notes, and opinions on Friar Basketball (and other topics) during an offseason that will change college basketball forever...
It’s not your father’s college basketball game anymore. It has been an offseason of incredible changes. Between athletes being able to transfer and become immediately eligible, and players now being able to profit from marketing their names, images, or likeness (NIL) the college game will never be the same again.
With the new transfer rule players will be able to transfer at the drop of a hat if they are the least bit dissatisfied. Over 1600 players entered the transfer portal this season. Another effect of the new rule is that coaching staffs can immediately replace current players with a transfer if they are dissatisfied with the original player’s development. There will now be more brizzing than ever in college basketball.
Look for college basketball rosters to be made up of at least 50 percent transfers in the future. Currently, PC has seven transfers on their roster this season: Al Durham, Matteus Case, Jared Bynum, Brycen Goodine, Noah Horchler, Justin Minaya, and Ed Croswell. Conversely, the Friars have five scholarship players who came to PC as freshmen, and two of those are current freshmen Legend Geeter (River Rouge, MI) and Rafael Castro (Dover, NJ).
A potential problem with the new transfer rule is that it is going to really open up the possibility for tampering with players on other teams’ rosters. A few words here and there to the right people and you can let a player on another team know that you have interest in him joining your program. Already some mid major and low major head coaches are avoiding scheduling games against high major programs as they are worried about the poaching of their players.
Players being able to profit from marketing their names and likenesses is also going to be susceptible to tampering. Boosters will come up with huge marketing payments to players if they are allowed to get away with it. In fact, it has already begun. LSU football coach Ed Orgeron apparently already told a group of boosters: “We’re paying players now. So, if you guys want to start paying our players, you can go ahead.”
A side benefit of college athletes receiving NIL money is that a player may want to stick around and play an extra year if they are a borderline pro prospect. Kevin McNamara pointed out in a recent article that hometown hero David Duke may have had a tougher decision to turn pro if the new NIL rule was in effect when he made his decision.
Who is going to be the big winner on the Friars with the new NIL marketing rule? There may not be many other college basketball players across the country with the social media following of PC’s Nate Watson. He currently has 650,000 followers and 12.5 million likes on his Tik Tok account. Not a bad place to market t-shirts or whatever else.
There is a new documentary out on Netflix called Untold: Malice at the Palace. It is about the riot that ensued after Ron Artest of the Indiana Pacers and some of his teammates went into the stands after a fan threw a bottle at Artest during a Pacers-Pistons game. It wound up being the ugliest incident in NBA history between players and fans. There is a lot of great footage of the incident as well as a very interesting backstory. Friar fans will recognize a very familiar face in the footage as Austin Croshure was a member of the Indiana Pacers at the time.
Going forward there are going to be fewer and fewer elite level high school players going to college. Besides going overseas to play for a season, players can now opt for the G League. In the 2021, the second overall pick (Jalen Green), the seventh overall pick (Jonathan Kuminga), and the 31st overall pick (Isaiah Todd) in the NBA Draft all played for the G League Ignite team last season. This may just be the tip of the iceberg. There is a new league forming, Overtime Elite, whose goal is to sign some of the best high school talent to contracts of at least $100,000 a year to play in their league instead of going to college. Friar great Ryan Gomes has signed on to be one of the coaches in the new league. Overtime Elite just signed top point guard Jazian Gortman, a five star player out of South Carolina, and top Euro prospect Izan Almansa.
I originally thought that David Duke made a mistake when he declared for the draft and hired an agent, but it looks like he is going to get a legitimate chance with the Brooklyn Nets. He is starting for the Nets in the NBA Summer League ahead of three of their four draft picks, and is averaging seven points and seven rebounds a contest. More importantly, he has earned praise for his work ethic and hard-nosed defense.
One of the most exciting things about following New England prep and AAU basketball is when there are highly-touted local players to follow. A few years ago, native Rhode Islanders David Duke and Cole Swider provided a lot of excitement to the prep scene. This year Isaiah Miranda, a 7’1 prospect from Pawtucket, promises to do the same. He is currently ranked 39th in the country in the 2023 class by ESPN, and he will be playing this year at Springfield Commonwealth Academy.
After a full year without live basketball, I can’t wait for the first game at the Dunkin Donuts Center this season — even if it looks like we may all be wearing masks and showing proof of vaccination. Small price to pay, in my opinion.
The next player whose number should be raised to the rafters at the Dunkin Donuts Center is Mike Riordan. It is an honor that is long overdue.
That is all for now — except to say that it feels great to be writing again. I am so excited about our new venture.