Enjoy the run, before they run off

UConn and Michigan face off tonight for the NCAA D-1 Championship in men’s hoops. But in the NIL era, it’s really tough for alums to thump their chest if “their” team wins, because most of the players are just stopping by for “one shining moment” or two.

Michigan’s starting five features only one player who was with the program last year. In fact, Nimari Burnett has been with the program for a whopping 3 years… after playing a year each at Texas Tech and Alabama. The other starters did stints at Illinois, UCLA, UNC, UAB, and even Michigan’s dreaded archrival Ohio State. (Money talks a lot louder than some “O-H” chant, apparently.)

Starter Yaxel Lendeborg left UAB after last season, and it was less about Michigan’s “maize and blue” colors and more about good old gold.

(full article is here)

UConn’s starting squad fares a bit better in the loyalty department. Solo Ball is solo on schools – he’s been at UConn for 3 years. Braylon Mullins is a freshman, so he’s a “lifer” too – because he’ll likely depart for the NBA at the end of the season. Their starting center, Tarris Reed Jr., spent 2 years at Michigan before heading to greener pastures. (And I’m not talking about the dairy farm next to UConn’s campus.)

Alex Karaban is the outlier – he’s been with the Huskies his entire four-year career.

He’s not just an outlier on his school’s roster, he’s an outlier on ANY major college basketball roster:

Players are getting paid. Good for them. At least in the short run. But what happens when they run out of eligibility and the money train doesn’t stop at their house anymore?

The entire current system is horrible for “college” basketball. (I have to put “college” in quotation marks because how much time are these kids spending in the classroom? And how hard is it to get a degree when you change schools every year?) As a fan, you can’t get too attached to particular players, because every single one of them is a free agent, available to the highest bidder.

Michigan’s investment in their players has paid off. The Wolverines are favored to bring home the hardware this evening. But as soon as the confetti hits the hardwood, other schools will be trying to lure their best players away, with the siren song of cold, hard cash.

Enjoy the run. Before they run off.