March Madness finally came to a close on Monday with the Villanova Wildcats clawing their way to their second National Championship victory in three years. The Wildcats are proof of a changing landscape of college basketball.
Chris Deremer
When the NBA decided to change the rules so only players 19 or older are eligible for the draft, fans found themselves in a different landscape for both professional and collegiate basketball. Instead of kids graduating from high school and declaring for the NBA draft, most players now have to attend college for at least one year in order eligible for the draft.
That is where the one and done culture began.
Many teams have thrived from the shift — the University of Kentucky a staple program of producing top NBA prospects year after year. In 2012, Kentucky won the National Championship with four starting freshmen.
Three years later, Duke did the same thing. It almost seemed as if this was the new way to bring in championships. You recruit in the best upcoming freshmen, they leave and then you rinse and repeat the process all over again the next season.
Then in 2016, Villanova won its first National Championship since 1985. Villanova was a veteran squad mixed with many seniors and juniors who ultimately fought for the title of NCAA Men’s Basketball Champions. The following year North Carolina did the same thing, winning through the leadership of their juniors and seniors and now, once again, Villanova is the champion.
There is a new pattern and formula taking place in college basketball and it’s how the game should be.
Winning championships through teamwork and veteran leadership shouldn’t be that bizarre, that is how college basketball used to be. The one and done rule has been in effect for so long now that fans forget the days of dominant programs being lead by the same group of guys for four years.
Like the Warriors in the NBA, Villanova is the team that teams should be copying a winning formula if they want to win championships. Veteran leadership and recruiting players to buy into the culture for four years allows far more success than the one and done philosophy ever will.
Fans don’t have to look beyond Idaho to see this successful method in action. The Vandals men’s basketball team had six seniors this past season and finished with the best record that Vandal fans have seen in years. Idaho didn’t win with a freshman lead squad, but instead made a statement with a senior led squad to show that the Vandal program is only getting better.
Villanova Wildcat Donte Divincenzo came away with the Most Outstanding Player award in the National Championship game. Divincenzo, a sophomore on the team, looks to repeat success next season in his junior season. Villanova’s championship team looks to return most of its players, instead of everyone declaring for the draft.
It’s crazy to think that all that talent wants to return next season and not want to declare for the draft, but times are certainly changing in college basketball.
The one and done culture of college basketball is surely going to vanish in due time and veteran squads are going to be the stapled college programs once again.
Chris Deremer can be reached at [email protected] or on twitter @Cderemer_VN