Jersey Boy: HoopsHD interviews former NJIT coach Jim Catalano

Posted on July 28, 2018 by Jon Teitel

NJIT might not be on your NCAA tourney radar but the school has had a fascinating history. Founded in 1881 as the Newark Technical School, it became the Newark College of Engineering in 1930 before ending up as the New Jersey Institute of Technology in 1975. Their basketball team has won approximately 950 games in its near-century of existence, with almost half of those coming courtesy of former head coach Jim Catalano. 1 of the most educated coaches you will ever meet (he has a Masters’ degree AND a PhD!), he became the winningest coach in NJIT history and followed that up by becoming head coach at his former high school. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Jim about winning 22 games in a row and having only 1 losing season in 22 years.

(photo courtesy of northjersey.com)

You played baseball and basketball at Jersey City State: which sport were you best at, and which 1 did you enjoy the most? I played in a metropolitan baseball all-star game as a sophomore and the NCAA later declared me ineligible, which I still regret to this day. I was a Parade All-American baseball player in high school but loved basketball: it was my passion.

After graduating from you got a Masters’ degree at William Patterson and a PhD at La Salle: how much importance do you place on academics? Very much.

How did you 1st get into coaching? After graduating college I still wanted to stay involved and my dad knew someone at the Newark Board of Education. I talked to the guy to see if there was a coaching job available within the Newark public school system and ended up becoming a JV coach.

You were head coach at New Jersey Tech and spent the last decade of your tenure doing double-duty as athletic director: which gig did you like more, and how did you balance the 2 at the same time? I definitely enjoyed coaching basketball more. The school did a study to see what they should do with the basketball program because it had never been a winner: after I got there we became very successful and ended up as the tail that wagged the dog. I was a high school principal at the time after getting the job very young. I took the job and eventually pushed us to move up from D-3 to D-2. After the former athletic director left I decided to take over but my passion was always in basketball.

Your star player was Clarence Pierce, who had a very rough upbringing in Paterson: what made him such a great scorer? He still is kind of like a son to me. My assistants brought in several kids from Paterson who had a tough childhood. Clarence was able to “move through the raindrops” because the people who had went down the wrong road protected him from following in their footsteps. As a scorer he was simply untapped: he was a D-1 player who just fell through the cracks. I remember 1 newspaper calling us the best team in the state of New Jersey! He was a charming kid and a phenomenal athlete who was 1 vote away from being named POY.

In the 1994-95 season you won 22 straight games: did it just reach a point where everyone expected your team to win every time they stepped onto the court? We had a 5-year stretch where we were 1 of a handful of teams who swapped the #1 ranking in the country. The 1 game we lost to Staten Island by 1 PT was after Clarence hit a 3 at the buzzer that the refs said came too late. We felt that we were the best team in the country but our kids never took anything for granted so we were very workmanlike. I firmly believe that fundamentals are better when you have talent but talented kids today are not always fundamentally strong.

You remain the winningest coach in school history and only had 1 losing season in 22 years: how were you able to remain so successful over such a long period of time, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I do not know but someone would have to be there a long time to break my record. The system we ran worked because we were as dedicated to our expectations as we could be. You have to work on the little things that everyone can do: only make passes you can complete on offense, confuse people by constantly changing things up on defense, etc. We worked hard but played within the confines of the athletes we had. Everything we do is based on fundamentals: if you cannot take a charge then you cannot play for me.

In 2017 you were named coach at your alma mater of Belleville High School: why did you take the job, and what is the biggest difference between coaching in college vs. coaching in high school? I took the job last year after taking 1 year off from coaching for the 1st time in a long time…and I was miserable! I got a call from some people asking if I was interested in coaching in the town where I grew up and I decided that I wanted to bring the school back to respectability. My hometown gave me so much and helped me become the person I am today.

How long do you want to keep coaching, and what do you want to do after retiring? As long as I feel good and am energetic and doing something helpful and still feel passionate, I will not think about retiring because I already went through that once.

When people look back on your career, how do you want to be remembered the most? That I taught my players to be good people, successful, team-oriented, etc. You should be the best you can be for your family. I hope they say that nobody was better than when they played for me.

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Welcome to the Palestra: HoopsHD interviews incoming Penn freshman Bryce Washington

Posted on July 27, 2018 by Jon Teitel

What a difference a year makes: the Quakers had 5 straight losing seasons from 2013-2017, then flipped the switch last season by winning 24 games (their most since 2002), including a 3-PT win over Harvard to clinch their 1st-ever Ivy tourney title, and even had a double-digit lead over Kansas in the NCAA tourney before eventually falling to the Jayhawks. Coach Steve Donahue lost 2 key seniors from last year (Caleb Wood/Darnell Foreman) but has a strong group of veterans who are preparing to defend their crown.  As for the freshmen-to-be, only time will tell but on paper they look even stronger than last year’s class. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel recently got to chat with incoming Penn freshman Bryce Washington about why he chose the Quakers and his very athletic family.

At Southfield Christian you won 4 conference titles and had 12 PTS/9 REB to help clinch the 2018 MHSAA Class D state championship over Buckley last March: what did it mean to you to win all of those titles? It was the best feeling in the world: after all the work that our team had put in I felt that we deserved it.

You won a state title in the high jump in 2016: how much of an advantage is your athleticism on the court? It is a huge advantage on the court. I can defend pretty much any position and I am also very fast.

You graduated as the leading scorer in school history with 1685 career PTS: what is the secret to being a great scorer? Just reading your defender, being able to get ahead of him by running the floor, and figuring out how you can take advantage of his weaknesses.

You averaged almost a 4.0 GPA in high school and graduated summa cum laude: how do you balance your work on the court with your work in the classroom? I try to get in the gym as early as possible so I can make it to class on time, then get back in the gym right after class so I will have time to do my homework afterward. Whenever I want to go out and have fun I just make sure that my classwork is already taken care of.

You grew up in Michigan and received plenty of scholarship offers: what made you choose Penn? I really believe in their system: they are a very good team coming off of an Ivy title and Penn is 1 of the best academic schools in the country. I also feel that I can make an immediate contribution to the team.

What do you know about Coach Steve Donahue, and have you talked to any members of the defending Ivy champs? Coach Donahue is out recruiting right now but I have communicated with the guys on the team a lot. I am actually on campus and have been able to meet a lot of my new teammates.

Have you had a chance to meet any of your fellow incoming freshmen (Alex Imegwu/Griffin Ryan/Michael Wang) and which of them has impressed you the most? I have not had the chance to meet any of them yet but I can tell that we have a really strong class coming in. Michael is a 6’10” center coming from a really good school out in California, Alex is from New Jersey and can jump high/shoot well, and Griffin seems like a pretty good player too out of Chicago.

You are 6’4”: what position did you play in high school, and what position are you most comfortable at on the court? I was 1 of the tallest players on my team so I played every single position at some point during my high school career. I will be comfortable wherever Coach Donahue wants to play me: I can handle the ball as a PG or guard the opposing SF.

Your brother Blake won 2 state basketball titles and was on the track team at Michigan, and your brother Brock won the 2014 state basketball title and now plays for Coach Tom Izzo at Michigan State: who is the best athlete in the family? I am sure they would say otherwise but I would say that I am!

Your favorite player is LeBron James: were you surprised that he left Cleveland this summer, and how do you think he is going to do in Los Angeles? I was a big Cleveland fan but I feel that he had to get out of there because it was not working. I think that he will be able to build his brand in LA so I cannot be mad at that decision.

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BIG = Bonzi Is Great: HoopsHD interviews BIG3 player Bonzi Wells

Posted on July 20, 2018 by Jon Teitel

Old players do not fade away after retiring: they prove that they still got skills by joining the BIG3 (a 3-on-3 basketball league featuring mostly retired NBA players created by Ice Cube). There are superstars everywhere you look from the players (2017 MVP Rashard Lewis) to the coaches (Julius Erving) and even the commissioner (Clyde Drexler). 1 of the many players who you have probably heard of is Bonzi Wells: after graduating from Ball State as the Mid-American Conference all-time career leader with 2485 PTS/347 STL, he was a lottery pick in the 1998 NBA draft and spent the next decade averaging 12.1 PPG. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Bonzi about his nickname, scoring 45 PTS in a playoff game, and the new league where he is now playing.

Your nickname is “Bonzi”: who gave it to you and how do you like it? My mother gave me the nickname. It was a family nickname: my mom craved bonbons when she was pregnant. After I was born I was called “Bonbon”, which later was shortened to “Bonzi”, and my family has called me that ever since. My real name is hard to pronounce but “Bonzi” is pretty smooth!

In 1995 you were named MAC ROY at Ball State: how were you able to come in and contribute right from the start? I was blessed to go to Ball State in the city where I was born/raised (Muncie, IN). I had the chance to play with the guys on the Cardinal team each summer from the time I was a sophomore in high school. The coach believed in me and the school gave me a scholarship.

In the 1998 MAC tourney semifinals you scored 24 PTS but Earl Boykins scored 35 PTS in a 1-PT OT win by Eastern Michigan: how close did you come to pulling out the win? Earl was a tough player even at 5’5”. He was a great leader/scorer/playmaker and an underrated defender. He just made more plays down the stretch than me so hats off to Eastern Michigan for winning the game.

You were a 2-time conference POY/1998 All-American: what did it mean to you to win such outstanding honors? It meant everything to me. I was an inner-city guy so I was not sure how my game would compare to that of guys from other places but it felt good to see that I could compete with everyone. I just concentrated on my craft.

You remain the all-time leading scorer in both school/conference history: did you realize at the time how prolific a player you were, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? I knew that I could play: Indiana is a basketball state and I was ranked pretty high among the in-state players every year. I was not sure if I could make it to the NBA as a mid-major guy but after starting the process I just kept putting up good numbers. It was a joke during my freshman year because my coach (Ray McCallum) held the conference scoring record…but by my junior year it had become my low-key obsession to break his record. If a guy these days averages 20 PPG as a freshman then he will probably leave after 1 year so I think that my record might stand for a while.

You led the conference in STL during each of your 4 years, you led the nation with 3.55 SPG as a senior, and your 347 career STL remains in the top-10 in NCAA history: what is your secret for being a great defender? Coach taught me the art of watching video: what plays your opponent is running, what their tendencies are, etc. I always had quick hands but I tried to push every 1 of my opponents to their weaker hand to see if they would make a mistake. Coach was big on deflections and I wanted the team defensive award at the end of the year.

In Game 7 of the 2000 Western Conference Finals with Portland you scored 7 PTS in a 5-PT loss to the Lakers, who overcame a 15-PT deficit in the 4th quarter: where does that rank among the most devastating losses of your career? For my NBA career that is probably #1, but I was so young that I did not think about it like that at the time: I thought that we would make it back to the Conference Finals the very next year. I was just mad that we did not finish the job.

In Game 2 of the 2003 Western Conference 1st round you scored a franchise-record 45 PTS (16-24 FG) in 43 minutes during a 4-PT road loss to Dallas: was it just 1 of those situations where every shot you put up seemed to go in because you were “in the zone”? That is definitely your mindset when you are playing well. I liked my matchup that night and it was the 1st year that the NBA allowed teams to play a 2-3 zone defense. I was just finishing at the rim a lot and also made several threes (5-6 3PM) even though I was not known for doing that. However, I probably needed 50 PTS for us to win that night.

After you became a free agent in the summer of 2006 your teammate Ron Artest allegedly offered to forgo his entire salary in order to keep you on the team: what was your reaction when you heard about this amazing act of generosity? If you know Ron then you know he always said things like that because everything he says comes from a loving place. He is a brother of mine and I think that he meant it: even if he would not actually do it I still appreciate the thought.

You are spending this summer playing in the BIG3 Basketball League: how competitive is it, and who is the best NBA veteran that you have seen on the court? The BIG3 is great and a very competitive league. We have a lot of great guys so I cannot pick just 1 who stands out as the best. We are in Miami this week and are going to be playing live on national TV. Everything is crisper and more physical this season so I hope that people continue to watch us play.

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The Bilastrator: HoopsHD interview Knight Commission panelist Jay Bilas

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Jon Teitel

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics is an independent organization that promotes reforms to support/strengthen the educational mission of college sports. Formed in 1989, the Commission has a diverse composition that includes university presidents, former college athletes, and leaders in the field of higher education. At its meeting last May in Washington, DC, which HoopsHD was invited to attend, the Commission discussed recommendations made by the Commission on College Basketball that is chaired by Condoleezza Rice. 1 of the many panelists that day was Jay Bilas, an ESPN college basketball analyst who is also an attorney. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Mr. Bilas about a wide array of topics including paying players, recruiting, and transfers.

Coach Mike Krzyzewski’s 1982 Duke recruiting class of you/Johnny Dawkins/Mark Alarie/David Henderson still ranks as the highest scoring single class in college basketball history: did you realize at the time how prolific your class was, and do you think that anyone will ever break your record? We did not even think about it at the time: we just went out there and played. I doubt the record will be broken because the best players today do not end up staying in college for 4 years. The other 3 guys in my class were good enough to go pro early if they had wanted to.

You won the 1991/1992 NCAA titles as an assistant to Coach K: what did it mean to you to win a pair of titles? It was a great experience and those teams were extraordinary: it was a fantastic learning experience for me.

I wanted to follow up on several things you have stated in interviews earlier this year:

“The problem is not the players and the problem is not the money: the problem is the NCAA’s rules”: if the NCAA changes its rules, will all the money in college athletics still have an impact? If they change the rules then the scandals will go away. Think about it: if you gave a player $5000 in cash just 3 years ago then it would have been scandal but now it happens everywhere. These are made-up rules and everyone is in the free market except for the players: this is not okay. The NCAA is living in a fantasy world where they generate billions of dollars and still call it amateur athletics.

“There is no way that any school can be vigilant enough to vouch for the eligibility of every single player”: why not, and if a player breaks a rule on his own then could we just discipline him and leave his school alone? We can do all kinds of things but I would argue that we should change the rules to be reasonable. A school would have to hire an investigator to follow a player around all the time, which is impossible. There were very few players in my era who were strictly eligible. I do not think there is even a reasonable debate about that. No other student is told what they can earn/accept while at school: that is a huge disconnect.

“[Condoleezza Rice’s Commission on College Basketball] is not looking at name and likeness rights for the players from what I am told…I know they are not looking at pay for play”: do you think it is good/bad for the Commission to not have looked at these issues? It is just incomplete: you cannot make recommendations about college sports without examining the money and its impact on the entire enterprise. I think it rang quite hollow that they could not go into name/likeness rights due to pending litigation, yet Rice and Commission member David Robinson subsequently made public statements about the issue so it is clear that they have judgments. I differed with their finding that a framework had to first be established by the court: I think it has to be established by the NCAA, which would render the current litigation moot. The Commission could have done whatever they wanted.

“The shoe companies are not out to break NCAA rules”: are they just out to make money, and do you think they care whether they break any rules while trying to increase their profits? Of course they are out to make a profit and gain a greater share of the market in a variety of areas, but no company I know of is trying to break NCAA rules. There might be individuals who do things they should not be doing but breaking rules is not a corporate strategy of any publicly-traded company that I know.

“I think what they are going to do is change the recruiting model…I have heard a lot about going back to scholastic recruiting, which means recruiting out of the high school”: what impact do you think this would have on the sport? It will make no difference at all: it will be exactly the same. There might be a different power dynamic but it will not change the behavior of anyone. The money will just flow in a different direction as water does if you put in a dam: you cannot stop it from flowing. Nike just signed a deal to sponsor every single high school in Oregon. People forget that we had scholastic recruiting years ago and there were scandals back then as well: the only difference now is that the FBI and the US Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York are involved. Not 1 game has been canceled and not 1 check has failed to be cashed.

In 2015 you gave a hypothetical example of how a school could pay a player: “We will offer you a 3-year contract for $100,000/year plus room/board/books. A condition of the contract is you will have to remain in good academic standing at all times. If you fall out of academic standing, we have a right to terminate the contract. If you get arrested or charged with a crime/misdemeanor we can terminate the contract. If you decide to leave, you cannot play anywhere else for a year: cannot play in the pros or in college. You cannot go compete against us because we have made an investment in you. We cannot force you to play here but we can keep you from playing somewhere else”:

How did you come up with the idea? If universities hand money to anyone they will insist upon a contract. A school could offer a 3-year contract with provisions/conditions that would be negotiated at arms’ length between the school and the player. I went to Duke, which has approximately 30,000 employees, so they know exactly what everyone is worth. They know who to recruit and who to put onto the court to try to win games. Everyone else operates in a free-market environment and players should too.

What is “good academic standing”, and does that incentivize a player to take easy classes so that he does not risk having his contract terminated? You just made the case for why there should not be academic standards: instead of a disincentive for flunking out it would encourage players to take an easier path rather than challenging themselves. If you want a contract to define “good academic standing” then you can: it is up to each school to determine what majors are acceptable, whether the GPA needs to only involve core courses, etc. NCAA President Mark Emmert used an example of not telling a dancer that they have to go to Tulane if they want to become a professional dancer…but a kid can go to Tulane on a scholarship and actually major in dance! If a basketball player decided to major in dance then people would be up in arms so we should just let each school/student make their own decision.

If a player has a breakout year as sophomore but his coach decides to leave, would he just be stuck at his school for 1 more year if he wanted to play basketball? The natural consequence is that players could sign contracts with universities. Sitting out for a year after transferring is the equivalent of a non-compete provision in a contract. If you quit your job under a contract then you are violating the terms and your employer does not have to pay you, but in certain circumstances you also cannot go elsewhere to work. It is up to the parties: some states allow non-compete provisions and some do not, but if both the school and the player agree to it then it is not my concern.

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Summer Reading List: HoopsHD interviews author Alan Eisenstock about “Hang Time”

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Jon Teitel

Summer is upon us and there are no college basketball games to watch for a few more months, which means you can sit at home and read a book or go to the beach…and read a book. “Hang Time: My Life in Basketball” is a new memoir by Hall of Famer Elgin Baylor, covering his time from Lakers’ All-Star to Clippers’ general manager. Baylor did it all during his career: 1959 Rookie of the Year, 1977 Hall of Fame inductee, and 2006 NBA Executive of the Year.  HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Elgin’s co-author Alan Eisenstock about Elgin’s tourney MOP performance in a losing effort, his 71-PT game with the Lakers, and his legacy.

Elgin averaged 31.3 PPG at Seattle, was a 2-time All-American, and in 1957 he led the NCAA with 20.3 RPG: how was he able to balance his scoring with his rebounding, and how was he able to dominate on the boards despite standing only 6’5”? Of all the things he did as a basketball player, he is proudest of his rebounding because he was undersized. His high school coaches taught him that the team that wins the battle of the rebounds usually wins the game. He was very athletic and had very strong hands and could get himself in good rebounding position. He had a knack of knowing where the ball would go off the rim so he was really good at offensive rebounding. He did so many things that people have never seen before so the other players often stood around and simply watched.

Take me through the 1958 NCAA tourney:
He scored 35 PTS including a 40-footer with 2 seconds left in a 2-PT win over San Francisco: how did it feel to have the fans storm the court and parade him around the Cow Palace for 10 minutes? It was a magical tourney and was just 1 of those shots! I saw Steph Curry hit a similar half-court shot during the 2018 playoffs. He thought that his team was good enough to win it all both years so I think that he was disappointed to not make the NCAA tourney in 1957 during his 1st year at Seattle. The powers that be at Seattle thought the team could win the NIT that year so that is why they may have pushed to go to that tournament instead.  He was a really competitive guy even if he did not appear that way to others.

He had 25 PTS/19 REB and was named tourney MOP despite losing the title game to Kentucky: how much of a home-court advantage did the Wildcats have while playing in Louisville, and do you think that Seattle would have won if he had not gotten into foul trouble in the 1st half? I absolutely believe that they would have won: his foul trouble caused the coach to switch to a zone defense that they had never played before and were not familiar with. He was worried about fouling out so he was very careful on the defensive end. They had a substantial lead before he got in early foul trouble and he called it “home cooking” by the refs: if it was on a neutral court then I think Seattle would have won because they had a better team than Kentucky.

Minneapolis Lakers owner Bob Short said that if Elgin had turned him down, then he would have been out of business because the club would have gone bankrupt: how much pressure was there on him to save the franchise after signing with the Lakers, and how was he able to deal with that by being named ROY and leading the team from last place the year before to the NBA Finals the year that he arrived? He is very modest so I do not think that he felt any pressure at all. After a few games in the NBA he figured things out and was more concerned with fitting in with the grown men on his team. He had low expectations in a way but he soon realized that he was 1 of the best players in the league along with Bill Russell. He actually saved the franchise.

He was known for his running bank shot: how did he come up with it, and what made it so effective? He never thought about any specific shot: it was just something that he probably developed early on. When he 1st started playing basketball most people took 2-handed set shots: when you look back on that footage now it was rather ineffective. He improved the jump shot because he was always trying to find an advantage. He hated practice and just wanted to play games. He did not go out and take 1000 jump shots: he was always looking for a game.

On November 15, 1960 he scored a then-NBA-record 71 PTS (28-48 FG/15-18 FT) in a win over the Knicks, which remains 1 of the top-10 scoring performances in NBA history: was it just 1 of those scenarios where every shot he put up seemed to go in because he was “in the zone”? I think it was that but he never kept track of how many points he was scoring. His teammates knew that he was onto something so I think Coach Fred Schaus directed everyone else to get the ball to him. You also have to remember that Wilt Chamberlain scored 100 PTS against the Knicks in 1962 so I think they were pretty terrible on defense! 1 of the things I learned during my research was about Wilt.  I had no idea that he was a “Darth Vader” character but he clearly wanted to outscore Elgin and get the record for himself.

In the 1961-62 season he only played 48 games while on weekend passes after being called to active duty as a US Army Reservist: how big a deal was it at the time, and which gig gave him a better workout? It was crazy: I am still scratching my head as to how remarkable it was to schlep from Washington state to wherever the Lakers were playing that weekend. His stats that season were through the roof (38.3 PPG/18.6 RPG/4.6 APG) but he said he did not really play that much on the Army base. I am astonished that he was able to keep his level of play that high.

The Lakers lost to the Celtics in the NBA Finals all 5 times that they met from 1963-1969: how intense was the rivalry, and was it just a case of bad timing that he happened to keep running into 1 of the greatest dynasties in sports history? Unlike Jerry West who is bitter to this day, I think Elgin played it down a bit. It was incredibly intense but the Lakers’ centers simply could not stop Bill Russell. If you look at footage of Russell he was 1 of the most athletic players you ever saw: he would sprint up and down the court and come out of nowhere to block shots. He had these ridiculous games where he would block 20 shots and tap them out to his teammates while also getting 30 REB. Even when Elgin was at the height of his powers the Lakers came close a couple of times but just did not have enough to push it over the top.

After he retired 9 games into the 1971–72 season due to knee problems, the Lakers went on to win an NBA-record 33 straight games and the 1972 NBA title: how long do you think that he could have kept playing if he was healthy, and does he have any regrets about not winning a title? He was probably 37 years old at that point: Coach Bill Sharman had made the decision to not start Elgin and he could not see himself coming off the bench. I think that he played as long as he possibly could. He was really great after the knee injury but before the injury he was Michael Jordan. He always wanted to win a title but feels adamant that winning titles is not the mark of greatness. He is so modest about it but I am sure that he really wanted to win a title: he never really won a title at any level. He was able to accept the fact because it is a team sport and his teams simply did not match up with the Celtics.

In 1977 he was inducted into the Hall of Fame: where does that rank among the highlights of his career? Really high. When he signs copies of his book he always writes that he is in the Hall of Fame. It was a great honor for him and he was very humbled by it.

When people look back on his career, how do you think that he should be remembered the most? I have a bias but I believe that without Elgin we would not have the Lakers. He finally got a statue this year but I think that he should have got the very 1st statue. There are no lakes in LA so the name does not even make sense! He was 1 of the greatest players of all time and was the force that caused the team to move from Minneapolis. He changed the game from a horizontal game to a vertical game so in a sense he is responsible for the pace of today’s game. Someone asked me who else changed the functionality of the game and the only person I could think of is Steph Curry because now everyone shoots threes from way behind the line. He brought the game to a literally high level and was the 1st guy to play consistently above the rim. I was really gratified to write the book with him because once he became known as the GM of the Clippers his value as a player was completely obliterated.

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The Agent Perspective: HoopsHD interviews Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics panelist Jon Fetterolf

Posted on June 26, 2018 by Jon Teitel

The Knight Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics is an independent organization that promotes reforms to support/strengthen the educational mission of college sports. Formed in 1989, the Commission has a diverse composition that includes university presidents, former college athletes, and leaders in the field of higher education. At its meeting last month in Washington, DC, which HoopsHD was invited to attend, the Commission discussed recommendations made by the Commission on College Basketball that is chaired by Condoleezza Rice. 1 of the many panelists that day was Jon Fetterolf, a partner, at the law firm of Zuckerman Spaeder who is also an MLB-certified agent. HoopsHD’s Jon Teitel got to chat with Mr. Fetterolf about a wide array of topics including transfers, contact with agents, and the 1-and-done rule.

Even though your professional background is in baseball, what is the biggest change you would suggest that the NCAA make in regard to its basketball rules? The 1 area I was asked to talk about at the Knight Commission meeting was about advising players whether to go pro/sign a contract. I think it is crazy to take away the chance for college kids to talk to professional agents/legal advisors. Baseball players can turn pro after high school and I think that basketball players should be treated the same way. Who are we to keep kids from pursuing their careers, and if they are ill-equipped to negotiate a contract on their own then they should have someone who can help them to get ready for such a situation. They should not get paid any money while they are still an amateur, but I think that they should be allowed to receive free advice.

If 40% of incoming D-1 freshmen end up transferring by the end of their sophomore season and 60% of players who transfer do not go to another D-1 school, then what can we do to address this epidemic? As a fan I am aware of it but I have not studied the issue in depth at my job. 1 of the more famous examples was Alex Fernandez: he started at Miami and was an All-American pitcher but later transferred to Miami-Dade Community College to be eligible to enter the MLB Draft: that is crazy that he needed to do this. You read articles about how certain coaches do not allow/approve of transfers, but maybe we should give people the avenue to become a pro athlete without having to go to college 1st. I assume that a lot of basketball players who decided transfer often just want to get some more playing time.

The NCAA Committee on Academics has recommended an academic benchmark (minimum 3.0 GPA) for athletes to be able to transfer without any restrictions: do you agree or disagree with this proposal? If you ultimately take the view of giving people the option to turn pro without any restrictions, then I think a minimum GPA is relevant/important because we want the players who stay in school to get the benefit of a college education. On its face it seems okay, but if it is unfairly applied to different segments of society then it would require some more analysis.

The graduation rates of African-American athletes in the Power 5 conferences still trail those of the general student population: any thoughts on how to fix this situation? If you are going to offer a scholarship to an athlete, you have to understand the commitment involved with being a college athlete. I played D-3 basketball with a bunch of guys who were not going to play pro basketball, yet we spent a lot of hours working on our skills, which took time away from our studies. There are certain segments of the population who are admitted to the school because they bring certain things to the table: if they are not as academically-inclined as other students, then they might require more assistance. We have to make sure the kids get the “benefit of the bargain” because many 18-22 year olds need help with managing their time. I think it is abhorrent when you hear about schools passing kids so that they can remain eligible because it ultimately harms the kid. Dexter Manley went to college for 3 years and could not read: where were the adults in the room?!

In the wake of the FBI scandal, do you think that student-athletes should have more or less contact with agents, and why? As someone who is also a white-collar criminal defense lawyer, I think there were regulatory violations but I have real issues with whether anything involved a violation of criminal law. From the agents’ standpoint, when you make things transparent then it becomes less likely that the people who operate on the edges will be involved, and then we might have less issues going forward. I do not know the particular agents who were involved in the FBI scandal, but when there is a lot of money at stake it becomes rife with corruption. You should get rid of the agents who people have a problem with and focus more on the process of getting certified/meeting strict criteria.

What do you think about the idea of setting strict standards for certifying agents who can engage with high school players, and would it require a joint approval by both the NCAA/National Basketball Players Association? I believe the NBA has a certification process to become an agent and I know that MLB does. You can represent a player in the MLB draft without being an agent because the eligible players are not yet part of the union. I think stricter standards would be better. I am biased but we need the people who do this for a living to be good at their jobs and have some sort of ethical standards so that they do not end up harming the players. You hear story after story about players who go broke because their agent/financial advisor took advantage of them: I do not want that to happen to any player whether or not they are my client.

What do you think of the 1-and-done rule, and if the NBA does not get rid of it can you imagine going back to a world of freshman ineligibility? That just feels like we are going backwards. I can guess what the thought process was back in the day but just look at today’s college freshmen: they do not look like the freshmen of 30 years ago. I do not really understand the 1-and-done rule because it does not make any sense. If someone can go out and get money for their services, then they should have a right to do that. It might be the wrong decision and they might get bad advice…but we all have a right to make bad decisions.

If a player declares for the NBA Draft but does not get drafted, do you think that he should be allowed to remain eligible until signing a pro contract? I do not think that signing with an agent should affect your eligibility, but taking money should. Take Villanova as an example: Coach Jay Wright recruits guys who will probably stick around for 3-4 years (although he had a lot of players turn pro this spring!), which is a big reason for their success. When you have a program like Kentucky you need to keep figuring out who to recruit based on who is turning pro every single year. In baseball there are guys who are eligible for the draft who just end up returning to school if they go undrafted.

What are your thoughts on paying players? I am for it but did not used to be. I sat on an airplane once with a former Penn State football player who explained to me that when he was in college he did not even have money to take a girl out for a slice of pizza or to go to a movie. I do not know how to measure stipends at different schools or within different sports, but they should get enough money to enjoy the regular fruits of being a college student.

If a school is found guilty of major rules violations, would you support a 5-year NCAA tourney ban, a loss of revenue, or some other serious type of sanctions? From watching the manner in which the NCAA has dealt with some of these issues, I have no faith in them as the arbiter of punishment, but there certainly should be ramifications for schools that break the rules. The punishment should be consistent (if you break rule X, then you get punishment Y) but I do not know all the ins and outs of the violations.

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