Why do you think it's hurting the NCAA? Just curious.
Not sure if I'll make any sense at this hour. Most of the stuff I post at this time of night, I wind up regretting writing, but there are so many ways that the rule hurts the NCAA that I can probably drunkenly think of a few off the top of my head.
For example, the way that the ruling basically delegated the NCAA as a farm league has created a culture of "1-and-dones," hurts the overall recruiting process, and has resulted in hidden agendas, increased transfers, inflated egos, and a sloppier game in general.
Teams like Kentucky, who encourage the "1-and-dones," not only hurt the game with what they're doing to the recruiting landscape, but they also hurt the collegiate game by encouraging teams to play a more individualized style of offense, just to bring in the big recruits. Nowadays, no big time recruit wants to play in Bo Ryan's swing offense, or compete in Tom Izzo's war drills. They'd rather go to the team that treats them as a celebrity and runs an offense that's ISO-heavy, likes to break and play fast, and doesn't place an emphasis on the defensive end of the floor.
I also think a lot more of high school recruits are being hurt by this process than people realize. Even in 2001, it was usually only the "best of the best" recruits trying their hand by leaving early. There were a lot of guys who weren't ready and wound up being "busts," but those guys were the "elite" recruits of the time. Now that there's a "1-and-done" rule, it draws an unreasonable attention to the high school prospects, and that has not only a significant ripple effect on the collegiate game but it also affects the way that the prospects conduct their own recruitment. Now guys in the #15-25 recruit range are looking for schools that can make the "1-and-done," instead of looking for the right fit for them. As a result, you have a lot more inflated egos, a lot more transfers, and an overall headache for any coach that wants to recruit a top 25 recruit.
In a nutshell, it used to be that the recruit was grateful to be apart of a premier program, but now the mindset is that the premier program should be grateful for the recruit, and that can only hurt the collegiate game.
Probably Olynyk, first, though, if they were both on the board.
