College Basketball: Potentially Disastrous

College basketball is facing a potential disaster. Yet most fans across the nation during Midnight Madness this past Friday were oblivious to what they were witnessing. For college basketball fans, the first night of official practice celebrates the return of their sport and their teams. The slate is clean, the recruits have arrived and the upperclassmen (what's left of them) are ready to go out with a bang. The beauty of Midnight Madness and the college basketball season is that hope that your team can make some noise in the conference, grab a bid to the NCAA Tournament and either contend or upset a few higher seeds.

Well, it's time to face reality -- if fans witnessed a potentially great team during Midnight Madness, chances are they'll never see their expectations met. For some, that sounds cynical. But for early-entrants into the NBA draft, that sounds like the cash register busting open. Why? Because these players are cashing in on their basketball "potential," and it's detracting from the sweet game of college hoops.

I'm prepared to face the harsh reality of the sport as it affects my team, the UConn Huskies. This year's squad, led by Hall of Fame coach Jim Calhoun, has a chance to win back-to-back titles down the road. The Huskies have 13 players on its official roster -- five sophomores and eight freshmen. Most of them won't be amateurs anymore in one or two years, but imagined if they stayed. Imagine a team of five juniors and eight sophomores next year, five seniors and eight juniors two years from now, or eight seniors in three years time. Nobody in college basketball today has that kind of upperclass experience and talent. And nobody will win consecutive titles because of it.

UConn fans are drooling over their incoming recruits, led by 7-3 Tanzanian center Hasheem Thabeet (billed as a more athletic version of Dikembe Mutombo by some), yet they'll hardly stay long enough to whet the fans' appetites. Additionally, sophomore AJ Price will finally suit up after a two year hiatus from competitive basketball (one due to bleeding in his brain and the other following his involvement with stolen laptops on campus), but don't expect him to fulfill his potential before entering the draft.

UConn fans are not alone either, as others will lose their young stars before they know it. These stars include Ohio State center Greg Oden, Texas swingman Kevin Durant, and Arizona forward Chase Budinger, among others. All freshmen. All potentially great. All flashes in the college pan.

Since NBA teams draft on potential, players like Thabeet and Price merely need to stay healthy, and they will all but guarantee themselves a few million. It's like playing college basketball is just a chance for these players to move up in the all-important draft order. Rudy Gay had a disappointing season last year for the Huskies, but you can find him in a Grizzlies uniform now making a few million dollars more this year than last. Everything is based on a player's potential.
So here's a "potential" change -- judge all games and awards on potential, too. Award the national title based on who looks best on paper. Give the Wooden Award to the player with most potential and the Final Four MOP to the potentially-greatest player on the potentially-best team. There, done and done. At least UConn would achieve the national success it's destined for ... potentially.