State of the Union: How Strong is Current Condition of College Basketball?

First, they came for my Big Gulp and I did nothing. When I take my last gulp and die, I want my pallbearers to be politicians, so the state-of-denial pols can let me down one last time. You're more likely to win Powerball than hear majority of politicians tell the unvarnished truth or exhibit priorities to where they're not more concerned about where transgenders relieve themselves. To "right"-thinking freedom lovers, their long national nightmare with tone-deaf Barry as hooper-in-chief is nearly over as the divisive Audacity of Hype conducted his final state-of-the-union spiel. There is only a year remaining before the self-reliant can stop flying their flags at half-staff while tolerating the West Wing's disconnection from reality.

Stop the world from turning at this time of year because we need to get off as the nanny state wants us to stay home when it actually snows in winter (a/k/a blizzard Jonas). Cold, hard reasons for the deterioration on and off the court also are debatable, but only a "fairness" fool sucking solely on the government boob believes the present state of college basketball is superior to previous generations when men were men before POTUS donned JV mom jeans and couldn't say Islamic terrorists. Let's consider for a second the remote possibility college hoops is at its zenith and our present political leaders are competent. Okay, we're finished! Seriously, how many contemporary college players eventually will be mentioned in the same breath with All-Americans from 25 years ago (Kenny Anderson, Jim Jackson, Larry Johnson, Shaquille O'Neal and Billy Owens in 1990-91), 30 years ago (Steve Alford, Len Bias, Brad Daugherty, Johnny Dawkins, Ron Harper, Danny Manning and David Robinson in 1985-86), 40 years ago (Adrian Dantley, Phil Ford, Bernard King, John Lucas Jr. and Scott May in 1975-76), 50 years ago (Dave Bing, Cazzie Russell and Jimmy Walker in 1965-66) or 60 years ago (Tom Heinsohn, K.C. Jones and Bill Russell in 1955-56)? Let me be clear: A hunched-over Big Russ aided by a walker would be superior to the majority of ordinary pivotmen these days. Contemporary centers are the equivalent of flies to this swatter who also was the leading scorer in 22 of 29 games for San Francisco's undefeated NCAA titlist in 1956.

College basketball needs a Reformation as much as Islam. How could things change in the near future as long as shooting hasn't permanently gone into the witness-protection program? What about spending more quality time focusing on your shooting technique (or classwork for that matter) than designing tattoos? In regard to American sniping denigrated by demented Howard Dean, many "varsity" games these days replete with underclassmen resemble marksmanship in freshmen or JV contests from years gone by. No wonder about half of the projected NBA first-round draft choices playing for U.S. colleges were barely averaging 12 points per game (including freshman flops Cheick Diallo of Kansas and Skal Labissiere of Kentucky). An equally unsightly blemish on the sport is Hall of Fame coaches such as Jim Boeheim, Larry Brown, Rick Pitino and Roy Williams immersed in NCAA scrutiny stemming primarily from scholastic shenanigans linked to a league (ACC) where the "A" certainly doesn't stand for Academics.

Far too many coaches, remaining at schools too long and compromising any link to principles, are unaccountable to anyone on campus, resulting in bringing in "exemption" recruits far below the academic acumen of the average student. Over-hyped coaches, players and teams by today's lame-stream media, not under-inflated game balls, are the principal culprits why this is nothing remotely close to the golden era of college basketball. Long-time coach Jeff Jones' following assessment not all that long ago matches Collegehoopedia.com's view regarding the state of the (college hoops) union: "You've got all these fake superstars. They're superstars because of perceptions, soundbites. They aren't (superstars) because they've won championships. They aren't (superstars) because of performance. Everything is spectacular because that's what shows up in the highlights. But they don't show the sloppy plays and standing around. That's why there aren't as many all-around good players, because people can attain star status without having earned it." Preach it, Brother Basketball Jones!