Former NBA veteran and current ESPN analyst Jalen Rose is encouraging college basketball players to sit out the upcoming NCAA Tournament as the question of over if players should be paid for their play continues to linger.
In recent months, the dispute has only grown louder as an alleged pay-for-play scheme involving an assortment of college coaches and agents has taken center stage in the midst of an FBI investigation that has led to several people being criminally charged.
Rose, who also starred as a member of Michigan’s famed ‘Fab Five,’ with Chris Webber, Juwan Howard, Jimmy King and Ray Jackson, before embarking on a successful NBA career thinks he may have just the answer for all the drama.
“ Don’t play in the NCAA Tournament,” ESPN’s Adam Reisinger tweeted Rose told him would be his advice to players. “Send a message young fellas… go for the money.”
Meanwhile, the FBI recently released preliminary findings from a multi-year investigation that Sports Illustrated has reported purports to show a list of current NCAA players who may have received illegal benefits at one time or another. Topping the list are such star players as Miles Bridges (Michigan State), Wendell Carter (Duke), Collin Sexton (Alabama), Bennie Boatwright (USC), Eric Davis (Texas), Deandre Ayton (Arizona) and Brian Bowen (Louisville).
As of yet, none of the players has been officially punished by the NCAA and Rose doesn’t seem to think they should be given all the revenue each of them has helped generate for their respective institutions.
At the same time, condemnation has come quickly for Arizona coach Sean Miller, reportedly caught on wire during the undercover phase of the FBI’s investigation discussing a $100,000 payment to Ayton.
Miller was effectively benched for the team’s PAC-12 showdown against Oregon and some are speculating he may have coached his last game for the Wildcats.
The 2018 NCAA Tournament is scheduled to kick off March 13 in Dayton. The Final Four is scheduled for March 31 in San Antonio at the Alamodome, with the national championship game set for Monday night, April 2.
