Pac-12 Commissioner Combines Good Idea With Dumb Suggestion

Caporegime Larry Scott, who runs the NCAA's west coast crew as the commissioner of the Pac-12, wants to arrange some kind of sit-down with the heads of all of the NCAA's families. He has a beef with basketball's so-called one-and-done rule, which requires athletes to spend one year pretending to be students before they're eligible to play in the NBA. That's good! So what's Scott's suggestion for a fix? Well, he doesn't have one, per se, but he wouldn't mind maybe seeing the rule expanded to sort of go beyond one year. That's dumb.

It's only been a few weeks since Scott sent a message to his bosses in Indianapolis seeking protection from the brazen new earner who threatens to spoil all the action in his territory. And at last week's Pac-12 football media day, Scott made every effort to show he's a stand-up guy who's not above doing what he can to straighten out what he sees as a situation.

The Arizona Republic used Scott's comments today to frame its story about the likelihood that University of Arizona freshman Aaron Gordon will be off to the NBA after next season.

Said Scott:

“Anyone that’s serious about the collegiate model and the words ‘student-athlete’ can’t feel very good about what’s happening in basketball with one-and-done student athletes."

He said "serious about the collegiate model and the words 'student-athlete.'" Can you believe this fuckin' guy?

“It’s crazy what’s going on,” Scott said. “We’ve managed with the NFL and football to have a reasonable policy that allows kids to go pro at the appropriate time."

Oh. So it's "reasonable" for you and your fellow capos to collude with your bosses to get the blessing of the NFL to determine when it's appropriate for an athlete to get a piece for himself, never mind how skilled he may be?

"We’ve managed to do it in baseball."

This is true. Go on.

"Basketball’s the only sport where we haven’t managed to come up with a responsible policy and the blame is with the NBA, the NBA Players Association ..."

That's part of it, yes.

"... and the NCAA,"

Now we're cooking with gas.

"... so now’s the time to take ownership of it. We’ve got time. We’ve made major changes in football. Now there’s time to make major changes in basketball."

Yes! Let some of these soldiers wet their beaks. Spread some of that action around. No reason to keep all these kids on the books when they're fully capable of arranging their own numbers and running their own outfit for themselves, as individuals.

"Scott didn’t offer a specific solution, but it sounded as if he favored keeping students on campus for at least two years."

Ah, nuts. It's too late. Indianapolis must have gotten to him already.

[ Arizona Republic]

Photo: Associated Press