By the end of this week, it will be March. Which means it’s certainly not too early to play out an NCAA Tournament hypothetical. That’s where this week’s mailbag starts …
(Note: Submitted questions have been edited for clarity and length.)
Your team is trailing by 1 with five seconds left in an Elite Eight game. You can give the ball to any player in college basketball for the final shot. Who gets it? — Jeremy K.
Give me Keaton Wagler from Illinois. I realize he’s a freshman, but the kid has a knack (and the handles) for getting to the bucket, and at 6-foot-6, he has the size to attack or pull up in the lane against rim protectors. Plus, he shoots 42 percent from 3-point range and 81 percent from the stripe. — Justin Williams
I’ll take Texas Tech’s Christian Anderson. Like Wagler, he’s terrific at shooting off the bounce; per Synergy, he ranks in the 93rd percentile in frequency of dribble jumpers and the 95th percentile in efficiency. His range extends well beyond the 3-point line, having hit 37.4 percent of his “long” 3s, per CBB Analytics. He is less effective getting to the rim, but against a second defense with five seconds left, I’m anticipating needing a jump shot. Few are better shooters than Anderson. — Jim Root
The players we usually think of in these scenarios are guards, but I’m going with Duke’s Cameron Boozer. Most bigs aren’t used to guarding someone on a last-second shot because the ball usually does go to a guard, so Boozer has a built-in advantage there. At CBB Analytics, they have clutch-time stats, tracking possessions in the final five minutes or overtime in a two-possession game. Boozer has 38 points in 45 minutes of “clutch time” this year, and he also has seven assists. So if you run a double team at him, he’s probably going to find the open man and get someone else a great last-second shot. Runner-up: Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz. — CJ Moore
CJ picked one of the two guys I was considering — Duke’s Cameron Boozer — so I’ll go with Arizona guard Jaden Bradley. The 6-foot-3 senior has already proven capable of late-game heroics against Florida, UCLA and UConn, and the advanced stats support why he’s been so clutch. Per Synergy, Bradley is shooting 46 percent from 3 as a pick-and-roll handler, not to mention shooting 42.9 percent from the mid-range — 6.4 percent better than the national average. Bradley also draws 4.8 fouls per 40 minutes, according to KenPom, and shoots almost 80 percent from the charity stripe. He can beat you multiple ways. — Brendan Marks
Many coaches and staff are dressing more casually these days. Guys who used to wear suits (Bill Self, Tom Izzo) never do, opting for a quarter zip with the school logo. At UCLA, Mick Cronin and his whole staff still get suited and booted. But why does UNLV coach Josh Pastner wear a suit while his crew all dresses casually? — Chris C.
It’s usually just a reflection of the head coach’s personality. When Pastner was at Georgia Tech, he talked about wanting to look presentable for a new athletic director (and his wife), and having so many nice suits stashed in the closet. But he doesn’t seem to mind if his assistants dress (or spend) the same way. Cronin and Colorado coach Tad Boyle have both talked about how strange it felt during the pandemic season, and wanting to wear suits as a return to normalcy on the sideline. Cronin often alludes to respecting the tradition of UCLA and John Wooden as well. That doesn’t mean other coaches don’t respect the tradition of their schools; it’s just how Cronin chooses to express his.
Sometimes it’s an homage or pedigree. Pastner played and coached under Lute Olson and coached under John Calipari — fortunately, Pastner’s jackets aren’t nearly as loud as Cal’s. Missouri’s Dennis Gates dresses like the coaches he said he admired coming up, like John Thompson Jr. at Georgetown and Leonard Hamilton, his old boss at Florida State.
Sometimes it’s generational: Rick Pitino still wears a suit, but his son, Richard, does not. Sometimes it’s not: Houston’s Kelvin Sampson, 70, usually wears Jordan sneakers and a polo tucked into sweatpants, unless he gets so mad he untucks the polo in frustration. A fashion icon in my humble, sweatpants-wearing opinion. — Williams
What are the rules on NIL and revenue sharing as it relates to international college athletes, including a team like Illinois that has many foreign players on the roster? — Terry G.
This was a hot topic when name, image and likeness (NIL) compensation was first introduced a few years ago. Most international athletes were required to find unique workarounds to earn NIL money, including fulfilling NIL contracts while overseas, whether at home during the offseason or Kentucky men’s basketball player Oscar Tshiebwe completing his deliverables during a preseason trip to the Bahamas in 2022.
The revenue sharing is a little different, though still somewhat cloudy. Most student visas offer limited labor and employment authorization on U.S. soil, but some legal experts argue that international athletes are eligible to receive revenue-sharing funds as royalties or passive income, which are allowable under a traditional F-1 student visa, as opposed to labor. (Important disclaimer: I am not a legal expert.)
Last summer, NCAA president Charlie Baker said he believed international college athletes could receive revenue sharing from schools, but that the NCAA “still has some work to do” and was seeking legal counsel. At the time, sources familiar with College Sports Commission oversight also told The Athletic that schools were eligible to distribute revenue sharing to international athletes as they see fit, but it was a school’s responsibility to evaluate how that could impact an athlete’s visa status.
All of which is to say that schools can usually find a way to make it happen, but they might have to get creative. Like a lot of things in college sports these days. — Williams
Peter Suder and Miami (Ohio) improved to 28-0 on Tuesday. (Albert Cesare / The Enquirer / USA Today Network via Imagn Images)
Does Miami (Ohio) go out in the first round? The team is currently slated as an 11-seed playing a 6-seed. That would easily be the toughest opponent the RedHawks will have played this season. — Jay S.
There’s a good chance, assuming Miami goes dancing, that it will go against the best team it has faced all season. Even if that’s at the First Four in nearby Dayton. That’s why the strength of schedule (350 out of 365, zero Quad 1 games) is the biggest knock against its resume. But what Miami can do, and what tends to translate against any opponent, is shoot the rock. It’s the Cinderella recipe. The RedHawks rank first in Division I in field goal percentage and effective field goal percentage, third in 3-point percentage and second in points per game. Their top nine players in terms of minutes shoot at least 36 percent from deep.
It’s entirely possible, maybe even likely, that an opponent like St. John’s would simply overwhelm Miami with a degree of size, length and athleticism the RedHawks have not faced all season. But if they get hot, look out. — Williams
Recently, I saw an anti-tanking article regarding the NBA Draft with an option being abolish the draft — which I think is never going to happen but did get me thinking again about something the NBA could do that would get positive PR and also help them get more developed players (even more so in the NIL era). If the NBA let all four-year players on course to graduate elect to enter the NBA as free agents, and players who stayed in college for three years were allowed to go straight into unrestricted free agency at the end of their rookie contract — how do you think that would affect the college game? — John H.
We’re already seeing the impact of NIL on college basketball and the draft. The pay for the 30th pick in his first year is $2,286,500. A player who is good enough to go in the 20-30 range can potentially make that much in college right now with the hope of moving up in the draft. Let’s use Yaxel Lendeborg as an example. Lendeborg likely would have been either a late-first- or early-second-round pick in last year’s draft. The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie had Lendeborg eighth on his latest big board. That’s a first-year salary of $5,741,000. Lendeborg likely bumped his first-year salary by about $2 million.
Players in the 20-60 range are more tempted to return to college than ever because of their worth in college basketball. That’s an all-league, potentially All-America level player. Your idea would certainly give them even more enticement to stay, but I think we’re already seeing more players not be in a rush to leave. Take Charles Bediako. He left Alabama after his sophomore year because he wanted to be a pro, and one of his arguments for returning to college was that he never would have left if he had known he could get paid what a player of his caliber demands now. Fringe prospects should run out their eligibility because if they cannot earn a multiyear NBA contract, they’ll likely make more in college. College basketball teams at the high-major level pay more on average than any basketball league in the world outside of the NBA.
You’re right that your hypothetical is likely never going to happen, but in this make-believe world, here’s an idea: You only get that immediate free-agency status if you stayed at one school throughout your college years. The talent in college basketball is better right now because of NIL; college basketball just has to figure out a way to slow down player movement. — Moore
Which mid-majors would you choose as at-large tourney entries? Why? — Hchoops
I’m a big believer in Wins Above Bubble (WAB), a metric that was added to the NCAA Tournament selection committee’s team sheets for the 2024-25 season. It measures how many wins above or below the expectation for a typical bubble-caliber team that each squad got against its own schedule. This helps normalize against scheduling imbalances in the sport. At the NCAA’s mock selection committee last week, the NCAA’s Dan Gavitt emphasized the importance of WAB for selection.
“Wins above bubble is important, especially when it comes to selecting teams [in the field].”
Dan Gavitt was asked about which metrics are important, and while he did mention several different components, WAB was the one metric he went out of his way to emphasize.
— Evan Miyakawa (@EvanMiya) February 19, 2026
Using that metric, Utah State (26th in WAB), Saint Mary’s (29th) and Saint Louis (30th) are easy inclusions. Even with a possible loss, Miami (Ohio) (35th) has done enough to remain in the at-large pool.
The next batch is where it gets tricky. Santa Clara (41st) has a terrible Quad 4 loss on its resume, and its best wins are Saint Mary’s (home), Minnesota (neutral) and Xavier (road). That is only one win against the NCAA Tournament field. I’d probably ship the Broncos to the First Four in Dayton and let them play their way into the full draw.
The other candidates are New Mexico (47th), VCU (48th), Belmont (52nd) and San Diego State (53rd). Of that group, only the two Mountain West teams really have a chance to improve their standing before Selection Sunday. My best guess is that one of UNM or SDSU makes the field (likely in Dayton), while the other three must win their conference tournaments. — Root
I’ve seen a few rumblings on Twitter/X that the Chicago Bulls are interested in hiring Jon Scheyer to be their coach, and Duke just practiced at the Bulls facility on their way to play Notre Dame. Have you heard anything about this and how seriously do you think Scheyer would consider taking the job? — Todd D.
First, practicing at the Bulls facility means nothing. Duke, like many college basketball teams, regularly practices at NBA facilities for road or neutral-site games when it’s most convenient.
As for the Bulls being interested in Scheyer, it takes two to tango. And at least for the time being, I would be shocked if Scheyer entertained those NBA overtures. Yes, Scheyer has plenty of NBA coaching friends — he’s especially close with the Utah Jazz’s Will Hardy, and hired one of his current assistant coaches (Evan Bradds) off Hardy’s staff last summer — and I’m not surprised that pro teams would be interested in one of college’s rising stars, who is still only 38. But Scheyer is maybe the most competitive person I’ve been around, and there’s no way he’s leaving Duke before winning at least one national championship as head coach. Also, as a former Duke player who Mike Krzyzewski entrusted as his successor, Scheyer isn’t going to leave the program high and dry or in a disadvantageous spot. And lastly, after his most recent contract extension — through the 2030-31 season — Scheyer is one of the highest-paid coaches in the sport at a top-five program.
It wouldn’t surprise me if Scheyer eventually flirts with the NBA, just like Krzyzewski did after winning multiple titles, but that hypothetical is a long time away. If it happens at all. — Marks
If you gave a knowledgeable college basketball fan with no real coaching experience a $100 million budget to assemble a team, could they make the Sweet 16? — Nick D.
I assume they’ll have assistant coaches and can use some of that money to build a good staff, so yeah. I think so. I’ll make myself that knowledgeable fan.
Here’s my plan: I want optimal positional size. So I’m starting two big point guards — Stirtz and Wagler — to give me two players who can initiate offense and be floor spacers off the ball. Yaxel Lendeborg is my small forward, Cameron Boozer is my power forward and Motiejus Krivas is my center. We’re switchable, have elite rim protection and that lineup is going to figure out how to score.
Off the bench, I’ve got Christian Anderson, the best pick-and-roll guard in the country, Milan Momcilovic, the best shooter, and Thomas Haugh to give me a versatile big. I like an eight-man rotation, so we’re filling out the roster with a few specialists who will accept a role where they’re only seeing the floor in case of emergency. Sam Hoiberg was once a walk-on, is super mature and a coach’s kid, so he gets one spot. If we need a stop, he’s going in. Tennessee’s JP Estrella is one of the best bench bigs and stuck it out at Tennessee when he didn’t play a lot as a freshman. Put him on my bench. Then I’m going to get a good player on a losing team who will be happy to play for a winner. Give me Utah’s Keanu Dawes. There’s enough shooting, scoring, defense and basketball IQ on that roster that it’d be pretty tough to mess up. — Moore