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

Stop the world from turning because I need to get off as the nanny state wants us to stay home when it actually snows in winter. Cold, hard reasons for the deterioration on and off the court also are debatable, but only a "fairness" fool believes the present state of college basketball is superior to previous generations when men were men. Let's consider for a second the remote possibility that college hoops is at its zenith. 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 (Derrick Coleman, Chris Jackson, Larry Johnson, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton and Dennis Scott in 1989-90), 30 years ago (Len Bias, Johnny Dawkins, Patrick Ewing, Xavier McDaniel, Chris Mullin, Mark Price and Wayman Tisdale in 1984-85), 40 years ago (Adrian Dantley, John Lucas Jr., Scott May and David Thompson in 1974-75), 50 years ago (Rick Barry, Bill Bradley, Gail Goodrich and Cazzie Russell in 1964-65) or 60 years ago (Tom Gola and Bill Russell in 1954-55)?

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 (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, in a recent CBS Sports poll, half of the top 32 pro prospects playing for U.S. colleges were averaging fewer than 12 points per game. That seems to make as much sense as UCLA manning-the-middle mumbler Bill Walton eventually speaking eloquently enough to become a prominent TV commentator, providing ample "Grand Canyon" evidence for evolution of some sort.

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 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."