Legendary coach Jay Wright, who had secured two titles during his time at the school, does understand which specific approaches to college basketball are outdated.
"The era of taking these young freshmen and trying to play against older players is over." 🏀#MarchMadnesshttps://t.co/RMagvmX1oo
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 23, 2024
Retired coach and now college basketball analyst, Wright pointed out that building a team solely on young talent, even with future pro potential, may not be enough anymore. Experience plays a significant role in today’s game.
Kentucky’s recent loss to a lower-seeded team seems to be the variable and a sharp reminder of the changing dynamics of college basketball.
On Thursday night, No. 3 seed Kentucky suffered an 80-76 loss to No. 14 seed Oakland in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Pittsburgh.
Coach Wright stated it’s the end of an era for the Wildcats, while it was successful in the past, the one-and-done era might be fading with the rise of NIL.
He mentioned Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who, after ushering in the one-and-done era of college basketball, may have just ushered it out with his second loss to a double-digit seed in the past three seasons.
"The era of taking these young freshmen and trying to play against older players is over," – Jay Wright. pic.twitter.com/xvrR2toEZx
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) March 22, 2024
The University of Kentucky’s strategy of building with young talent has been John Calipari’s signature for years. Legendary coach said,
“The era of taking these young freshmen and trying to play against older players is over.”
He also added,
“I think he did a phenomenal job with these guys all year getting them to be as successful as they were. You can see they’re playing against grown men. The guys in Kentucky will be far better pros than any of these guys in Oakland or any of these guys in the tournament. But they’re not as good college basketball players. At this point in their career, they’re not as disciplined yet as the guys from Oakland, “It’s not Cal’s fault. It’s they’re 18 years old, and they’re in this era where everyone’s telling them how great they are. Just show up in college and you’re gonna win. It doesn’t happen that way. And the more the guys stay in college because of NIL, it’s gonna be tougher for young teams like this to be successful.”
To note, NIL which allows college athletes to earn money from their “Name, Image, and Likeness”, has therefore allowed them to stay in school longer as opposed to rushing to the NBA.
