There has been a lot discussed this week when it comes to the future of college athletics, and it is mostly because of the Protect College Sports Act that passed in the Senate, and will now make its way to the House. Aside from head coaches speaking out regarding the act, there was another conversation that was had that quite honestly hurts my brain a bit.
Villanova head coach Kevin Willard made comments regarding how he is approaching building his team for the 2027-28 season.
For anybody unable to play the video, the short and sweet summary is that Willard does not plan to recruit any high school kids for next season because he has six players on his team that are eligible for a fifth year. It may be the first time that I’ve personally heard a college coach say that they are just going to skip recruiting high schoolers, and it really speaks to the weird path we are going down in college basketball.
This, of course, is in stark contrast to what UNC head coach Michael Malone is doing. He has spent a lot of time over the last few months recruiting the best high school players in the country, and he is in really good position to land at least a couple of them. It’s interesting to see two dramatic recruiting styles play out, but the question is: which style do fans prefer?
On one hand, five-year players are veterans in college basketball are low-risk guys due to the fact that you know what you’re getting. Perhaps they won’t fit neatly into a particular system, but by and large five-year players are who they are by that point of their careers. On another hand, the transfer portal as it stands now is a huge problem, and Villanova may find themselves in quite the predicament if four of these future five-year guys decide to move on within or outside the college ranks.
When it comes to high school players, there’s obviously a higher risk because they are adjusting to college basketball, but depending on who you’re recruiting you may be able to earn a commitment from a guy that could be a star (see Caleb Wilson). The financial situation with freshmen varies — Malone is probably dealing with some scary price tags right now since he’s mostly trying to recruit top 15 players, but other schools may not have to cough up quite as much dough. There’s probably no wrong way to build a roster, but for me personally, I am a fan of bringing in high school kids and doing everything you can to keep them around as long as you can. Sure, the portal and the NBA are both obstacles, but let’s also be honest: five-year guys are just players that weren’t good enough to be in the NBA already. Sometimes that is good for a college team, but sometimes it is an uninspired venture.
So, my question of the day is: should Michael Malone continue his pursuit of elite high school players, or should he focus on bringing in five-year players? Let us know what you think in the comments below.
