Jonathan Carone wrote:23 year old man > 18 year old kid
Usually true, if you are talking about the same player, but what if the 18 year old is a potentially program-changing recruit and the 23 year old is a SR who was redshirted as a FR and never developed into a star Now you need a scholarship for the new blood
This is the reality of college basketball today You have a player on scholarship and decide not to play him for a year so he can get better You devote countless hours of coaching and years of tuition, room board and FCOA $$$ to developing him, and then he gets his degree and can pretty much go wherever he wants without even sitting a year This is why a LOT if high major coaches no longer redshirt players unless they are injured I think it is especially poor management of resources to stretch out a players career when the program is actively working to upgrade the caliber of recruits they are bringing in I think we have an example on our roster right now
Football, especially at certain positions, is different, but IMHO, barring injury and with few exceptions, 4 years is plenty for a college basketball career