NCAA had record $71 million surplus in fiscal 2012
NCAA revenue increased and its endowment fund continued to skyrocket in fiscal 2012.
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Kentucky Basketball: 2012 or 2013 More Likely Moving Forward?
This is what John Calipari signed up for when he decided to welcome the best high school basketball players in the country, regardless of how long they might stay in Lexington.
He signed up to have a new roster every year—a roster filled with more players raised in the AAU-get-mine-first culture than any other roster in the country.
So how’s that working out for Calipari and Big Blue Nation?
The last two seasons have produced results at opposite ends of the spectrum. A 2012 NCAA championship and a ridiculous 2013 first-round ouster at the hands of Robert Morris in the NIT—no offense intended to the Colonials.
There can be a number of ways to define success. Calipari has talked about helping kids get to the next level. Obviously, winning a national championship is a success.
By either definition, or any other that can be offered up, the 2011-12 season was a huge success for Kentucky. They not only won the national championship, but had six players drafted into the NBA.
Six.
Anthony Davis (1), Michael Kidd-Gilchrist (2), Terrence Jones (18), Marquis Teague (29), Doron Lamb (42) and Darius Miller (46).
Davis, Kidd-Gilchrist and Teague left the Wildcats after only one season. Remember, this is what Calipari signed up for. Constant turnover. How did he replace them?
He replaced them with an outstanding recruiting class that had four of the top 40 players from the ESPN Top 100.
Nerlens Noel (1), Alex Poythress (13), Archie Goodwin (15) and Willie Cauley-Stein (40).
Same coach. Different players. Very different results.
Kentucky finished with a 21-12 record, and after winning the 2012 national championship did not get an invitation to this year’s big dance.
I know that the Wildcats lost their best player, Nerlens Noel, to a knee injury during the February 13 loss to Florida. They went 4-5 without him. Just keep in mind that they weren’t exactly tearing it up with him. The prevailing opinion was that Kentucky needed to beat Florida to make the NCAA tournament.
This wasn’t about talent. Kentucky had more than most of the teams they played. This was about Calipari not being able to get this year’s team to buy into playing for each other like he did with the 2011-12 team.
This is what he signed up for. It’s bad enough having to rely on college kids for your success. It’s much harder when those college kids are almost all 18- to 19-year-olds with very few 21- or 22-year-olds making serious contributions.
Next year?
We’ll have to wait a little bit to see what the exodus will be like this year. The Wildcats do lose two seniors. A recent mock draft has three players taken.
Nerlens Noel (5), Willie Cauley-Stein (10) and Archie Goodwin (27). Will they all leave? Will Alex Poythress join them?
Again, a new roster next year. Again, loaded with top recruits. This one is ridiculous.
The Wildcats have commitments from six of the top 18 players in the ESPN Top 100.
Six.
Julius Randle (3), Andrew Harrison (5), James Young (6), Aaron Harrison (7), Dakari Johnson (11) and Marcus Lee (18).
Earlier I mentioned that Kentucky had two seniors this year. And there are four players considering leaving for the NBA. College teams are allowed 13 scholarship players.
As it stands right now, Kentucky has 11 scholarship players and they’re bringing in six recruits. Let me get my abacus…that adds up to 17 scholarships.
If any of the four potential NBA kids come back, there are too many players on scholarship. Calipari will have to figure out who gets their scholarship revoked. They are not four-year scholarships, they are year-to-year.
This is what was signed up for.
So, moving forward which year is more likely to happen? A long run in the NCAA tournament with a possible championship? Or, what is considered by any standard a disappointing season that ends far short of the Final Four?
I give all the credit in the world to that 2011-12 Kentucky team. They bought in and played for each other. That is so hard to pull off, as evidenced by this year’s season.
I believe we will find out this year is more likely and last season is going to be the aberration.
It’s too hard to get today’s me-first kids to buy in, especially when you have so many of them staying for just one year and thinking about positioning themselves for the NBA.
You signed up.
Follow me on Twitter @sprtsramblngman
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Is Damian Lillard Having a Better Inaugural Season Than Kyrie Irving’s 2012?
Damian Lillard‘s rookie campaign is likely going to end with a Rookie of the Year Award and a ton of pride for the folks back at Weber State, but is he having a year comparable to, or even better than, that of Kyrie Irving‘s last year?
Both players came into the league with doubts. They were incredibly different doubts, but doubts nonetheless.
Irving was doubted because of the few games that he played in college thanks to the foot injury that held him out for the majority of the year.
Lillard was doubted because of the level of competition that he played against in the Big Sky Conference.
Both players similarly tore apart the competition while in college, and both players similarly took the league by storm once they wriggled their way into the NBA, the same way that they draw a defense’s attention as they wriggle their way into the lane.
Irving’s rookie campaign was a breath of fresh air after a supposedly weak draft class (which has since been proven false).
He hit his first game-winning shot a little over a month into his career after an eight-point fourth quarter yielded a game-winning layup against the Boston Celtics.
Irving’s rookie season was a lot more up than down, but his nicks and bruises here and there forced him out of a handful of games, while his quality of teammates kept their win total low.
His rookie year was historic. The only other rookies had averaged 18 points and five assists while shooting 46 percent from the floor in the history of the league include Alvan Adams, Grant Hill, Magic Johnson, Oscar Robertson and Michael Jordan.
That’s a hell of a list of guys with whom to be talked about.
Looking at Lillard‘s season in comparison is quite interesting. They’ve both taken a permanent marker and written their names on the Rookie of the Year Award in capital letters, but they’ve done it in very different ways.
Lillard is a machine of a point guard, over-topping Irving in both scoring and assists, but he plays on a different team with a different style.
While the bare-bones stats are similar, the efficiency that Irving puts into his game makes him visibly superior to Lillard.
Irving threw together shooting percentages of 47-40-87 (field goal, three point, free throw), while Lillard is closer to 43-35-86.
Meanwhile, Lillard has the advantage of playing alongside the likes of LaMarcus Aldridge and Nicolas Batum, while Irving’s best scoring options were Antawn Jamison and Alonzo Gee.
The 2012 incarnation of the Cavaliers shot an anemic 41.42 percent without Irving’s shooting stats included, while Lillard‘s Trail Blazers are shooting 45.3 percent without Lillard‘s numbers.
It seems that while Lillard has been racking up an impressive number of assists, a lot of credit has to be given to his teammates for making their shots, while we should endlessly deride Irving’s 2012 teammates for being utterly inept.
Moving forward we’ll be able to see which player does more for their team, as they’re both in position to rise with a promising young squad.
In the end, however, it seems as if Irving’s efficiency and other-worldly ability to score in the fourth quarter will win out over Lillard‘s impressive ascent.
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NCAA Basketball Rankings 2012: Mid-Major Top 25 for Week 15
Just like with the power conferences in college basketball, there has been a lot of parity among the mid-majors. Although a few teams have breezed by their mid-major competition, a bunch have also struggled to solidify spots at the top of the standings.
This past week, Belmont fell back to earth with a loss to Murray State. Creighton and Wichita State also lost, falling into a three-way tie with Indiana State in the Missouri Valley. South Dakota State and North Dakota State, two of the leaders in the Summit League, each lost at Oakland.
Read on to see the complete mid-major rankings.
Note: For the purpose of this analysis, a mid-major is defined as any team that does not compete in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Pac-12, Atlantic 10, Conference USA or Mountain West.
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College Basketball Recruiting: Impact Meter for Top 25 Players in 2012 Class
In decades past, a list like this wouldn’t exist.
Star freshmen would still be in the larval stages of their college careers, just now exiting the cocoons spun by their meddlesome coaches and tottering onto the national stage.
But, alas, times have changed, and with them, so has our timeline for evaluation. With no guarantees that any of these players will return for their sophomore seasons, we’re giving you a midseason update on the top 25 talents from the class of 2012 (as ranked by the ESPN 100).
And if you’re unhappy with where your guy ranks, take heart: Twenty games do not a college career make. For those who choose to stay, there is plenty of time to improve.
Note: All dashboard stats courtesy of ESPN.com and current as of Saturday night. Tempo-free metrics courtesy of kenpom.com.
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AP College Basketball Poll 2012: Complete Week 11 Standings Released
And then there were none.
After starting last week with three undefeated teams remaining (No. 1 Duke, No. 2 Michigan, No. 4 Arizona), we are down to zero following the first full week of conference play for most teams.
Duke’s loss was the least surprising, despite entering the game against North Carolina State as the No. 1 team in the country, because the loss of Ryan Kelly was going to limit what this team could do on both offense and defense.
Michigan traveled to Columbus to take on a good Ohio State team that has had problems playing up to its full potential this season. In what turned out to be a great game that almost no one watched because it was up against the NFL playoffs, the Buckeyes got their signature win of the season.
Arizona’s loss against Oregon felt inevitable. The Wildcats have been flirting with disaster the last few weeks, with close wins over Florida, San Diego State, Colorado and Utah before the losing in Eugene on Thursday.
With all this turmoil at the top of the standings, things opened up for Louisville, which took the top spot. The Cardinals actually snuck ahead of Arizona in the rankings before, despite having one loss already. That loss did come against Duke early in the season, so it was hardly a bad loss.
The Hoosiers, which moved up to No. 2, played one of the most exciting games of the weekend, though it did not start out looking that way. They jumped out to a 23-point lead at halftime against Minnesota, but wound up having to hold on for an 88-81 win to improve to 15-1.
Here is a full look at the AP Top 25 Standings for the week of Jan. 14-20.
| AP TOP 25 STANDINGS WEEK 11 |
|---|
| 1. Louisville |
| 2. Indiana |
| 3. Duke |
| 4. Kansas |
| 5. Michigan |
| 6. Syracuse |
| 7. Arizona |
| 8. Gonzaga |
| 9. Minnesota |
| 10. Florida |
| 11. Ohio State |
| 12. Creighton |
| 13. Butler |
| 14. North Carolina State |
| 15. San Diego State |
| 16. Kansas State |
| 17. Missouri |
| 18. Michigan State |
| 19. New Mexico |
| 20. Notre Dame |
| 21. Oregon |
| 22. VCU |
| 23. Illinois |
| 24. UCLA |
| 25. Marquette |
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AP College Basketball Poll 2012: Complete Week 10 Standings Released
The undefeated triumvirate at the top of the college basketball rankings got moved around this week, despite all three teams remaining undefeated through the first nine weeks.
Duke, Michigan and Arizona have held serve on the court all season, posting a combined record of 43-0. The Blue Devils have been atop the AP Top 25 Rankings since mid-December thanks to their impressive 14-0 start. They started ACC play on Saturday with a dominant win over Wake Forest.
Michigan has one more Big Ten tuneup to take care of against Nebraska before its showdown with an Ohio State team that will be looking for redemption after a humiliating loss against Illinois on Saturday.
Arizona got bumped from the No. 3 spot to the No. 4 in favor of Louisville. The Cardinals’ lone win last week was over Providence, while the Wildcats had to squeak out two wins over Colorado and Utah.
Moving back to the Big Ten, the Illini are building a solid resume to start the season. They have victories over Ohio State and Gonzaga, both of whom were ranked in the Top 15 at the time of the game. The Buckeyes suffered a steep drop, all the way down to No. 15, following their third loss of the season.
It is hard to gripe with the way Ohio State has played this season, though. Its three losses have come against No. 1 Duke, No. 6 Kansas and No. 12 Illinois.
Gonzaga has actually moved up in the four weeks since losing to Illinois, sitting inside the Top 10 for the first time this season. Mark Few’s squad appears to be getting stronger the more they play together.
We know the Bulldogs are always dangerous come tournament time, so it will be interesting to see how they fare down the stretch in West Coast Conference play.
Moving to the bottom of the rankings, Pittsburgh drops from the Top 25 after a brutal week in which it lost two Big East games to Cincinnati and Rutgers. That’s not the kind of start you want, especially heading into a game with a Georgetown team looking for vengeance after a one-point loss against Marquette.
Here are the AP Top 25 Rankings for the Week of Jan. 7-13.
| AP TOP 25 RANKINGS |
|---|
| 1. Duke |
| 2. Michigan |
| 3. Louisville |
| 4. Arizona |
| 5. Indiana |
| 6. Kansas |
| 7. Syracuse |
| 8. Minnesota |
| 9. Gonzaga |
| 10. Missouri |
| 11. Florida |
| 12. Illinois |
| 13. Creighton |
| 14. Butler |
| 15. Ohio State |
| 16. San Diego State |
| 17. Notre Dame |
| 18. Kansas State |
| 19. Georgetown |
| 20. North Carolina State |
| 21. Cincinnati |
| 22. Michigan State |
| 23. Wichita State |
| 24. UNLV |
| 25. New Mexico |
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NCAA Basketball Rankings 2012: Mid-Major Top 25 for Week 10
There were few surprises in mid-major basketball last week. Gonzaga, Creighton and Wichita State all survived tests on the road to keep the top-three spots, and the only big upset was South Dakota defeating South Dakota State in a Summit League rivalry.
Read on to see the complete mid-major Top 25.
(I consider a mid-major to be any team that does not compete in the ACC, Big Ten, Big 12, Big East, SEC, Pac-12, Atlantic 10, Conference USA or Mountain West.)
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5 NBA Stars Who Can’t Be Better Than 2012
One of the most commonly used words in the NBA is “upside.” It is the definition of how far a player can go with their mix of fundamental abilities and athletic gifts.
Every year, players reach their peak level and end their affiliation with said word. 2012 was no different, as five NBA stars reached their highest level of play
From the fan favorites to the production wizards, there are major names who have reached their ceiling. This is not to say that it is all downhill from here, but instead to acknowledge that they are at a level that they will sustain or not exceed.
By sustaining this production, they can still build an impressive resume. The question is, which players are at the peak of their prime?
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AP College Basketball Poll 2012: Complete Week 9 Standings Released
It turns out that 2013 will not be very different from 2012 in the world of college basketball. The Duke Blue Devils remain on top of the AP Top 25 Rankings, with the Michigan Wolverines right behind them.
Duke did hit a speed bump against Santa Clara last week before turning on the jets late in the second half to pull away and keep its perfect record intact.
Rounding out the Top Five is Arizona, Louisville and Indiana. Now is the time when we are going to start seeing more fluctuation with the rankings, because teams will begin conference play very soon.
So far, the season has had a few marquee games, but for the most part, teams have been handed cupcakes to properly prepare themselves for their conference schedule.
Really, there aren’t a lot of changes in this week’s ranking. The only significant movers are the Missouri Tigers and Cincinnati Bearcats.
Missouri played a disastrous game against UCLA, not showing any defensive effort and allowing UCLA to stick around in a game that the Tigers really should have pulled away from late before losing in overtime.
Cincinnati also fell from the ranks of the unbeaten with a 55-54 loss against New Mexico. The Bearcats offense was held in check that entire game, forcing their defense to step up. They were up to the task, but it wasn’t enough to get them a victory.
Changes are coming in college basketball very soon. Right now, the standings look like a little bit more of the same.
Here are the AP Top 25 Rankings for the week of Dec. 31-Jan. 6.
| AP TOP 25 RANKINGS |
|---|
| 1. Duke |
| 2. Michigan |
| 3. Arizona |
| 4. Louisville |
| 5. Indiana |
| 6. Kansas |
| 7. Syracuse |
| 8. Ohio State |
| 9. Minnesota |
| 10. Gonzaga |
| 11. Illinois |
| 12. Missouri |
| 13. Florida |
| 14. Cincinnati |
| 15. Georgetown |
| 16. Creighton |
| 17. Butler |
| 18. Michigan State |
| 19. San Diego State |
| 20. New Mexico |
| 21. Notre Dame |
| 22. Oklahoma State |
| 23. North Carolina State |
| 24. Pittsburgh |
| 25. Kansas State |
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