So long, Cinderella

College basketball's new normal is bad news for the little guys

Associated Press photo

Part of the fun of the annual NCAA tournament has been getting to know Cinderella. As often as not, there’s been a bracket-buster that sends casual fans scurrying to learn not only the players’ names, but the school location, mascot — and even makes a celebrity out of a centenarian like Sister Jean of Loyola-Chicago.

George Mason became one of the first Final Four gate-crashers in 2006, and others have followed: Butler in 2010 and ’11, VCU in 2011, Wichita State in ’13, Loyola in ’18, Florida Atlantic in ’23. These modern-day collegiate Hoosiers gave their fellow smaller schools hope that the court might be level after all.

Those days may be all but over, though, now that Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) is the overdue law of the land. Allowing athletes to cash in on their talents will only serve to make the rich richer — and more successful.

For just the second time since the NCAA started seeding teams in 1985, all four No. 1s (Auburn, Duke, Florida and Houston) advanced to San Antonio for Saturday’s national semifinals. The Sweet 16 was completely comprised of schools from major conferences (including seven from the SEC), and the only double-digit seed was an Arkansas team coached by John Calipari.

Not exactly a case for the little guy. And while there we undoubtedly be future surprises, they likely won’t be as frequent now that more money is involved.

To be sure, college basketball was never a purely amateur sport anyway. Calipari had two previous Final Four appearances vacated (at UMass in 1994 and Memphis is 2008), and Louisville’s 2013 national title isn’t recognized by the NCAA due to improper benefits given to players.

That’s all perfectly legal now, though, thanks to NIL. And if pending lawsuits are resolved as expected, schools will be allowed (if not required) to compensate their athletes at rates up to $20 million per school per year.

Toss in the turnstile transfer portal, and that means smaller schools with tighter budgets will find it increasingly harder to compete with their bigger brethren.

Let’s use the 2006 George Mason team as an example.

Jim Larranaga had assembled a veteran team that featured seniors Jai Lewis, Tony Skinn (now the Patriots’ head coach) and Lamar Butler, along with talented sophomores Will Thomas and Folarin Campbell. Those Patriots were balanced, disciplined and unselfish, with five players averaging double figures in scoring.

Their cohesion allowed them to upset Michigan State, North Carolina and powerful UConn on the way to the Final Four. The Patriots were significantly older than those heralded opponents, whose highly recruited stars often stayed in school for just a year or two before heading for the NBA.

While NIL money now gives players who aren’t a lock for the pros greater incentive to stay in school for four (or even five) years, the portal offers a chance to move up to a higher level of play (and income) if they succeed at a smaller school.

Two decades ago, the players most likely to transfer were those who originally signed with a power conference school but couldn’t earn significant playing time. They often moved down a notch in competition to excel.

Now, though, it’s the opposite. A player like Thomas or Campbell who had starred at GMU as a sophomore would be a hot commodity in the portal, with million-dollar offers from bigger schools.

Need proof? Auburn’s All-America senior center, Johni Broome, began his college career at Morehead State. He’s one of 10 transfers on Bruce Pearl’s roster.

Walter Clayton Jr., who shot Florida into the Final Four and is arguably the nation’s best guard, started out playing for Rick Pitino at Iona. The Gators have six transfers, and Houston leans heavily on transfer guards L.J. Cryer and Milos Uzan.

Even Duke, the new gold standard for one-and-done stars, has supplemented its talented young roster with veteran newcomers like Maliq Brown and Sion James.

A year ago, N.C. State’s improbable 2024 Final Four run was fun because of the presence of D.J. Burns, a 300-pound-plus center who began his career at Winthrop.

On the court, college basketball is as enjoyable as ever, thanks to transcendent stars like Broome, Clayton and Cooper Flagg. Off court, it’s chaos because the NCAA refused to adapt its model until it was too late. Now, every program that hopes to compete needs a general manager, and respected coaches like Tony Bennett and Larranaga have thrown up their hands and walked away.

Let’s hope the NCAA and its schools can find reasonable rules to ensure fairness to as many entities as possible. Until then, the rich will continue to get richer, and Cinderella may not find many glass slippers any time soon.