Could the NCAA be looking at eliminating the one and done rule for college basketball?

Mark Emmert had a sort of “state of the NCAA” press conference the other day and he had a lot of interesting comments about the future of the NCAA. Perhaps sensing the very real threat of the power conferences seceding as John Calipari has been proposing, the NCAA is going to give the Big five conferences some autonomy in making decisions regarding the welfare of student athletes.

Emmert also had some very interesting comments about the one and done rule and it seems like he would be open to eliminating the rule all together if it were up to just him. Also, a big hat tip to Ben Roberts. The comments are at the very end of this article and there is no way I can read a whole NCAA article without falling asleep. Anyway, here is what Emmert had to say.

"•On one-and-dones in college basketball: “I think we need a bigger, broader conversation about what should the relationship between college sport and professional sport be. Some people, me included, said I don’t have any (problem) with people going to professional athletics and not coming to college. It’s sort of illogical to force someone to go to college when they want to go do something else. To make someone touch base in college because they have to. They have no interest in being a student. They don’t want to be there. They want to get out of there as fast as they can. They really want to be in the NBA, let’s say. Let them go. If somebody wants to be a writer, we don’t say you’ve got to go to college. If you want to be a guitarist, we don’t make you go to college. Ballet dancer, we don’t make you go to college. We don’t make you go to college for anything, but somewhat ironically we make you go to college to play professional ball. I’m not sure I understand that.”"

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

Did you wonder what was on Julius Randle’s mind after the loss to Baylor? Or what he thinks about facing North Carolina? Wonder no more because in addition to racking up double-doubles, Julius is blogging for Coach Cal.

"Back to Baylor, losing made the trip home feel a lot longer. At least I had my mom there, but it was tough to know that we lost a game that clearly we had no business losing. The good thing is we knew what the problem was. We know we didn’t play hard enough. We know we didn’t defend well enough. We didn’t run the offense how we were supposed to. We didn’t run the floor and get easy baskets. We know that they, at the end of the day, just played harder than us and that’s just totally unacceptable. We were just ready to attack practice the next day and get better from that. If we didn’t know why we lost, then it would have sat on me a lot more. But we had the answers to why we lost right after and went back to work. If we would have had a week after we lost, that would have sucked because I’m ready to play constantly, constantly, constantly. Having that Boise game pretty much right after and then Coach challenging me to play harder definitely was a big help. It was good being back in Lexington because there’s no better place than playing in Rupp, but I also love going on the road and having that feeling of everybody against you. Playing North Carolina this weekend especially, we’re the two of winningest programs in the country. The greatest player of all time played there. Hall of Fame coach in Roy Williams, who constantly gets great players. They’re a great team and ultimately as a competitor you just look forward to that challenge. I can’t wait to actually get there, get ready to play. I love big games like this and I think big games like this bring the best out of me."

Mandatory Credit: Mark Zerof-USA TODAY Sports

For years, Kentucky fans have been able to look at schools like Florida and scoff that they “only sell out for Kentucky”. Well, looks like Kentucky only sells out for the big games now too. John Clay looks at the attendance numbers and wonders if Rupp Arena needs a culture change.

"Through seven home games, this is the fourth consecutive year attendance for Kentucky men’s basketball games at Rupp Arena has dropped. That’s right, dropped. Average attendance has gone from 23,868 through the first seven home games of 2009, John Calipari’s first season as the UK coach, to 23,116 in 2010, to 23,039 in 2011, to 22,071 in 2012 to 21,799 this season. ********** Simply put: These days, there are too many good reasons to just watch the game from home, even if it is a Kentucky basketball game. To get recruits, Calipari likes to say he runs a “Players-first program.” To put people back in the seats, maybe UK should put more emphasis on a “Fans-first program.”"