Many coaches have said this new approach is a blessing for the college game, because it lets NCAA schools showcase their abilities for at least one season. But Knight, the winningest college coach of all time, said he dislikes it.
"Because now you can have a kid come to school for a year and play basketball and he doesn't even have to go to class," Knight said Monday. "He certainly doesn't have to go to class the second semester. I'm not exactly positive about the first semester. But he would not have to attend a single class the second semester to play through the whole second semester of basketball.
"That, I think, has a tremendous effect on the integrity of college sports."
Ding, Ding, Ding, we have a winner!
On the subject of officiating, Knight did not let a public reprimand by Big 12 commissioner Kevin Weiberg stop him from criticizing game officials who work five or six games a week.
"To have some guy 54 or 55 years old referee six times a week is a real disservice to the kids who are playing," said Knight, who was reprimanded last week for criticizing officiating in one of his games.
Hmmm... no wonder the officials are always out of position.
3 comments:
They were ripping Knight on 'Cold Pizza' the other day for this, suggesting the only reason he doesn't like the rule is so he can "mold" a player for four years. Perhaps they are ignorant of Coach Knight's oft-heralded graduation rates. It is that he wants his kids in school, not just so that they can be "molded" to play the way he wants. They defended themselves by the old "well not many of the scholarship players go to class anyway" line. Great defense, there. They even suggested that "pretty much everybody" likes the rule and mentions Oden and Durant as evidence that this is a good thing. Bollocks. Yeah, I'm sure Ohio State loves to have Oden this year, but it is almost a tease that he's only there this year. Next year they'll fall back to mediocrity unless they can find another 7 foot phenom to fill his shoes. To me it seems Knight doesn't want these kids in college sports because they aren't interested in the college they are playing for. That's all. Keep up the good work.
Interesting... I bet it was Woodie Page and Skip Bayless. Those 2 are just plain sad.
So let me get this straight... they are arguing that it is a good thing for College Athletics that kids come to College for 1 year, only have to go to class for 1 semester and that is a good thing?
And Knight is the one they are ripping... amazing!
Steve:
Thanks for the great information! Coach Knight is right on! He always was! I did not know about the officiating. Being a well fit senior citizen in the same age bracket as the officials mentioned, it IS a MAJOR DISSERVICE to the game. They can not keep up with the fast pace of today's basketball programs. Now I know why the officiating can not be top notch.
TS
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