Thanks to my colleague Master Tesfatsion for collecting quotes for me from today's player/ coach access while I traveled to Madison...
Every season, new theories about how to improve collegiate sports crop up and make the rounds. Some -- like last season's call for more perks for players -- gain traction and start change. Others fade into the background.
Time will tell what we happen with the Big Ten's most recent idea (reported by ESPN) to make freshmen ineligible in football and basketball, but Minnesota coach Richard Pitino, for one, isn't a fan.
"Maybe there are going to be some guys that aren't ready," he said. "But I don't see it. I don't understand it."
Big Ten, which has sought feedback from its members on the idea but hasn't made an official proposal, came up with the idea in order for first year players to have a year to integrate to college life, studies and the new level of play before taking the court.
Teams, of course, have the option of redshirting any player they feel needs that time. The Big Ten's concept would effectively redshirt all freshman.
Pitino said the idea seems unrealistic, especially considering the bevy of freshmen stars in college basketball and the league right now. Some of the Big Ten's best players -- Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell, Indiana's James Blackmon Jr. and Maryland's Melo Trimble -- are freshmen.
The NBA no longer can draft high school players -- one year of college basketball is necessary. An automatic redshirt could complicate the ascension of the very elite.
