Eye On College Basketball

Latest Episodes:

09/12: California is one step away from allowing players to be paid. The NCAA is threatening to eliminate state schools from championship competition Sep 12, 2019

Show notes

The only thing that awaits California college athletes the inalienable right to make money off their name, image and likeness -- and not face the threat of losing eligibility or a scholarship -- is the signature of state governor Gavin Newsom. It's led to a fascinating showdown between California and the NCAA. There are big-picture consequences that could alter the pillars of amateurism. Matt Norlander and Gary Parrish spend the first 40 minutes of the podcast explaining the actual law at stake, what the NCAA has said, what it can do and how things will play out in the years to come because of all of this. From there, they discuss Wednesday's report (40:20) that former Arizona assistant Book Richardson was willing to pay $40,000 to have a former Arizona player's high school transcript falsified to get him into school. They wrap with the somehow-still-ongoing recruiting of No. 2 2020 recruit Cade Cunningham (56:00). Oklahoma State hired his brother months ago, yet he's still being courted by Kentucky, UNC, Florida and Washington. Uh-oh?

09/05: Most coaches want more mid-majors in the NCAA Tournament and for their players to have a right to be paid Sep 05, 2019

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander provide one of their strongest episodes of the offseason with long discussions on why coaches want more mid-majors, and transparency, and consistency, with the NCAA Tournament selection committee (1:00). From there, they lay out the surprising results from their Candid Coaches poll regarding players being able to profit off their name, image and likeness (27:30) and lay out an enticing, if not controversial, environment that would come to college basketball when such things would be allowed. The podcast closes with thoughts on Michigan State (46:30) being the overwhelming pick by coaches as the best team in the sport for 2019-20.

08/28: Coaches spill their guts on the top league, most underrated jobs and toughest guys to scheme against in college hoops Aug 28, 2019

Show notes

Every summer, Parrish and Norlander poll 100-plus coaches to get insight into a number of topics inside and outside college basketball. Today's podcast starts with some thoughts on foreign tours that some teams are taking, but then exclusively gets into the results of five questions they've asked so far in their Candid Coaches series:

Would you visit Donald Trump's White House if you won the national title? (6:45)

Who was the best head-coaching hire of 2019? (18:40)

What is the most underrated head-coaching job in college basketball? (30:30)

Which league has the best stable of coaches, top to bottom? (39:00)

Who is the toughest coach to prepare for and/or adjust to? (46:05)

08/14: Nike gets accused in federal complaint of paying elite college athletes; Ken Pomeroy ranks every program in college hoops Aug 15, 2019

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander get going on today's episode by revealing how a man who does not play tennis winds up with tennis elbow -- in both arms. You already know which of the two this happened to. Then, they get to the curious story involving famed attorney Michael Avenatti, who is facing multiple serious charges in multiple cases, but nonetheless has become the figure at the center of allegations toward Nike for allegedly paying multiple high-profile high school prospects (11:30). Family members or representatives tied to Deandre Ayton, Bol Bol, Zion Williamson and Romeo Langford have been named in a federal complaint. This also leads to a quick conversation (30:00) on when the NCAA is going to drop those expected NOAs on big programs. Then it's a fun convo on KenPom's historic rankings of every program since 1996-97 (34:30). Duke, Kentucky, Kansas, UNC and Arizona round out the top five. The guys close on the repeal of the "Rich Paul Rule," (46:00) which saw the NCAA acting faster than it usually does to make change.

08/07: The NCAA wrongly changed its player-agent rule, angering LeBron James and presidential candidates in the process Aug 07, 2019

Show notes

On Tuesday, news leaked that the NCAA made major alterations to its rules regarding which agents could represent players in the pre-draft process. The rule modifications have been widely panned, most notably by LeBron James, who dubbed it #TheRichPaulRule, though the guys explain why that's not true at all. The podcast opens with a 25-minute conversation on this, then gets to Evan Mobley (26:45), the No. 1 prospect in 2020, finally committing to where his father and brother already are: USC. Now we wait on the No. 2 prospect, who has a family member employed at Oklahoma State, to commit. Cade Cunningham, what's the hold-up? The pod wraps with a cool story on a D-III player with NBA connections who wound up committing to Illinois this week (48:00).

07/29: Colorado Springs podcast! On USA Basketball, recruiting's latest and Kentucky's key weekend commitment Jul 29, 2019

Show notes

Hello from Colorado Springs! Parrish and Norlander have another from-the-hotel-room pod to share, this time with a recap of July's recruiting calendar, with commentary on many of the top prospects. They start with thoughts on USA Basketball, then get to stories, quotes and anecdotes on what the NCAA hath wrought with July (6:50). After a long conversation there -- including Norlander's story from UConn -- some highlights on the players to know in 2020, 2021 and 2022 (50:00) and BJ Boston's commitment to Kentucky (57:00). Oh, and some TRIVIA TIME! too.

07/13: LIVE! from the Peach Jam: Will 15-year-old phenom Emoni Bates ever play in college, and is this new recruiting calendar doomed to fail? Jul 13, 2019

Show notes

Straight from Norlander's hotel room, it's another face-to-face episode of the pod. Parrish and Norlander open with some unanticipated thoughts on things tangentially related to the Nike Peach Jam -- including a fun blind item about a coach -- then get into why coaches are still not satisfied with the current recruiting calendar (16:00) and what won't be done about it. From there, Norlander gets into the story of 15-year-old Emoni Bates (39:00), who is regarded by many as the most talented player in high school, regardless of age, and yet only has scholarship offers from Michigan State and Florida State. Will he ever play in college? Turns out, it's completely plausible. The guys close on NC State receiving its Notice of Allegations (58:00) earlier in the week, and discuss which school should be next and what punishment the NCAA could fairly dole out.

07/02: The NCAA slams Kevin Ollie, and UConn doesn't care because it's going to the Big East next year anyway Jul 02, 2019

Show notes

On Tuesday, the NCAA's Committee on Infractions levied a three-year show-cause against former UConn coach Kevin Ollie. The university was spared any meaningful/significant penalties. Norlander and Parrish open the ep by discussing that, the fallout, Dan Hurley's contract and more. After that, the duo gets on to UConn leaving the American to join the Big East (16:45) and debate that team's standing in college basketball going forward, in addition to weighing the options for the American in the coming years. Finally, the most significant transfer decision of the offseason, potentially, happened Friday (44:30). They close the pod with that -- and some #USWNT talk.

6/21: Late-night emergency podcast: NBA Draft recap, reactions, biggest takeaways Jun 21, 2019

Show notes

Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander go face-to-face for an in-person, late-night podcast to discuss the most interesting things to come out of Thursday night. This is going to be a memorable draft for a lot of reasons, many of them having to do with guys picked after first, second and third.

06/13: Let's guess which six schools the NCAA is going to hit with Level I infractions in the coming weeks Jun 13, 2019

Show notes

CBS Sports' Dennis Dodd reported a major story on Wednesday: an NCAA official told Dodd that six men's basketball programs would receive notices of allegations this summer, including two high-profile schools that would be notified by early July. The timing is surprising. So who will the schools be, and should any punishment be expected for the 2019-20 season? Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander spend the first 30 minutes of the pod discussing that, then get to their NBA mock drafts (30:00), and lay out their predictions for the careers of Zion Williamson, Ja Morant, RJ Barrett and more. They also discuss the players they have the most disagreement on in the first round, and touch on the diverging NBA paths of Darius Garland and Romeo Langford.

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