Delany's 'reforms' have too much of a retro look

If Jim Delany's plan for "reforming" college basketball had been in place since the start of this decade, we would not have seen Ron Mercer become the hero of the 1996 NCAA Tournament or Mike Bibby become his successor in '97.

We would not have been witness to the Fab Five's audacity, Grant Hill's reach-to-the-sky catch and slain of Bobby Hurley's lob pass in the 1991 NCAA title game.

Delany, commissioner of the Big Fen and a former chairman of the tournament selection committee, is trying to build support for an extensive package of changes. He believes the sport is being corrupted by the summer recruiting scene, the "shoe company wars and the desire of players to pursue NBA careers. He claims these problems lead to low graduation rate, and high rates and also may have something to do recent point-shaving scandals.

He is calling for all freshmen to be ineligible, scholarship Emits to be raised to 15 per school so junior varsity competition could be conducted, for a limit on the awarding of scholarships to four per year and for junior college transfers to sit out a year after arriving at a Division I school.

What is most interesting--and perhaps most dangerous--is Delany's proposal is targeted only at NCAA basketball.

"If we dont attempt to make some changes, we're going to continue to see air, erosion of support for the sport," Delany says. "The NCAA Tournament's success obscures some of the problems we have."

Delany a it would be extremely expensive to implement his plan, saying "I'm not naive that it will be anything other than uphill." That may be the best feature of this proposal.

"The NBA career 'dream' is alive and well among a majority of elite junior players," Delany writes in his plan. This is listed under the heading. Problems.

That kind of nonsense ought to stop anyone from reading further. Are the odds long against become a pro basketball player? Yes, just as they are against reaching many coveted jobs, including Big Ten commissioner. But those with talent should not be discourage from the pursuit.

Delany views attrition as a concern, and in many cases, it is. Too many coaches in the past couple of years, especially new coaches, are running off players so their scholarships can be used to rebuild more quickly.

But the reason for transfers is not always so heinous. Many players sign at high-major schools hoping they have enough ability to make it. When they team they do not they often find new homes at mid- or low-major schools.

Although he knows graduation rates for basketball players are improving, Delany is bothered that they are lower than for football or women's basketball. Asked if there could be an outside reason for this disparity--the likelihood that more men's basketball players come from poorer socioeconomic backgrounds--Delany says, "I don't know."

His proposal concentrates on how the club basketball culture has altered the perspectives of many elite prospects. The stones that emerged from the summer of 1997 about how players were being deluged with company-supplied apparel to persuade them to join amateur teams alarmed many in college sports

The National Association of Basketball Coaches has had a proposal in front of the NCAA for several months to alter the recruiting calendar and de-emphasize summer recruiting. The NABC would limit the July period to two weeks.

Delany's plan would eliminate summer recruiting. This is typical of his proposal, which wields a hatchet where a scalpel would suffice.

Delany's proposal would multiply the hypocrisy afflicting the sport NCAA members always have contended football and basketball playas who generate revenues for their athletic departments cannot be compensated because they cannot be heated differently than other athletes. But Delany's proposal would beat basketball players differently.

The plan does not look forward, instead seeking a return to the way things once were. Yes, there was a time when freshmen were ineligible, but there also was a tone when players couldn't dunk in games and blacks weren't welcome in the Southeastern Conference.

Mike DeCourcy covers college basketball for the Cincinnati Enquirer: E-mail him at decourcy@sportingnews.com

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