"He now feels that the vast sums of money involved in NCAA basketball--TV money, sponsorship money, alumni money---have turned college basketball into a division of the NBA, rather than the beloved amateur sport it was in the past."
The Last Amateurs--John Feinstein
That statement was written seventeen years ago by sports writer John Feinsten. Feinstein is one sports writer that I have journalism respect for having had personal contact with him over the years during my time at the USGA. Sadly cannot say that for all writers or media people.
A book dealing with college basketball that I would highly recommend for anyone who likes college basketball is the book The Last Amateurs. In 2000 Feinsten went looking for a college basketball program that still honored the passion and the integrity of the game and found it in a place called the Patriot Leagues. It was and still is one of the smallest Division I conferences, schools that included Colgate, Holy Cross, Lafayette, Lehigh, Bucknell, Army and Navy. No blue chippers, no McDonald's All Americans, no Dickie Vitalie's Dapper Dandies in attendance at these school. No escort services will be provided such as we read at the home of the Louisville Cardinals last year. Or in more recent times money kick-back matters. But remember no one in authority, "I did not know nothing about this."
Seventeen years after the release of this book we can see only the further demise of the college game as to integrity.
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October 28, 2017
Keep on,
Larry Adamson