While President Donald Trump had a conference call with several owners of professional sports teams on Wednesday, his Vice President, Mike Pence, was meeting with commissioners from the Power Five, Group of Five, and Notre Dame’s AD to discuss what is next for the college sports world.
According to CBS Sports, the commissioners stood together with a strong message which was reiterated by Big 12 commissioner Bob Bowlsby: “Our players are students. If we’re not in college, we’re not having contests... We need to get universities and colleges back open, that we were education-based programs, and we weren’t going to have sports until we had something closer to normal college going on.”
Pence reportedly commended the commissioners in their swift action in canceling their respective tournaments and agreeing to cancel the NCAA Tournament as he made note of how “difficult and expensive” it was to not play.
The commissioners reportedly came out of the meeting feeling good about the discussion and appreciated Pence’s time to talk things out. But the message remains the same: as long as campuses are closed, schools will not have athletes performing on their behalf.
This coincides with the notion that Chris Fowler made on Instagram on Monday saying:
“There is a scenario that’s gaining momentum, which may sound preposterous on the surface but I think a lot of reasonable people feel like it might be the most prudent course of action, and that is football in the spring. Beginning some point in February, getting into March, April, May, maybe have the postseason in June. That would have to be reshuffled a bit, it would be bizarre, it would wreak havoc on some other sports in that time of year, but to avoid the financial disaster of having no football in the academic year, I think it might be a fallback position.”
It appears that this plot may be the most realistic at this point if school are this concerned about opening their doors again. Several have speculated that the NCAA needs to know details by the end of May in order to get sports running again in the fall. Only time will tell if there is an actual plausibility of football in August/September.
David DeJulius not returning to Michigan despite rumors
After Josh Christopher chose the Arizona State Sun Devils over the Michigan Wolverines on Monday, there were rumors spreading that sophomore point guard David DeJulius could have his eye on returning to Ann Arbor.
The hope of that was quickly squandered by Jon Rothstein of CBS Sports:
David DeJulius tells me that returning to Michigan is not among his final choices for Thursday's announcement. https://t.co/ePZP4QmQTX
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 15, 2020
DeJulius will commit at noon today to one of these four school. However, Marquette is likely out of the running after earning the commitment of former Ohio State point guard D.J. Carton.
Isaiah Todd could head straight to the G-League
A report came out on Wednesday that recently that forward Isaiah Todd, who recently decommitted from the Michigan Wolverines, could be headed to the NBA’s G-League:
Sounds like the G League is a serious option for Isaiah Todd. The league is ramping up the money behind G League offers for HS prospects. https://t.co/TzYSeM6FrH
— Dylan Burkhardt (@umhoops) April 15, 2020
The G-League is the developmental league for the NBA and now appears to be luring high school athletes to join their ranks. Todd could be the first of a new wave of elite high school athletes to commit to playing professional basketball in the minor league system of the NBA.
The reason why it is such an attractive offer is because athletes like Todd would no longer have to leave the country to play pro ball and could earn up to $125,000 for a season in the G-League according to 247sports.
The No. 3 prospect in the land, Jalen Green is also reportedly considering a season in the G-League. If either (or both) of them end up taking this path, it could cause a rippling effect across the country. Elite recruits will no longer have to go to college or travel thousands of miles in their year of waiting to get to the NBA. These two could be the first of many more to follow suit and head to the G-League if everything goes to plan. It could pose a serious threat to college basketball if the NBA can convince these high schoolers to take the professional route over not getting paid in college.
Former Michigan LB Devin Gil is headed to USF
After discussing this major decision with my family I have decided to complete my 5th year at the University of South Florida. #GoBulls pic.twitter.com/0GUsi9HB0t
— Devin Gil (@devin_gil) April 14, 2020
National Brews:
- Illinois point guard Ayo Dosunmu has declared for the NBA Draft.
- The Eagles are reportedly aggressively trying to trade up to draft wide receiver CeeDee Lamb out of Oklahoma.
- Jon Rothstein is reporting that several mid-major basketball programs have been told to add additional conference games to their schedule.