Men's College Basketball

ESPN has reportedly ended contract discussions with the Big Ten after rejecting the conference's latest proposal, which was for a seven-year, $380 million extension.

John Ourand of the Sports Business Journal reported the update Tuesday, one day after Andrew Marchand of the New York Post noted the Big Ten was closing in on agreements with CBS, Fox and NBC worth over $1 billion in total.

ESPN's current deal with the Big Ten checked in at $190 million, and the extension talks didn't include guarantees for the conference's top games, per Stewart Mandel of The Athletic.

If talks aren't reopened, it'll mark the first time in 40 years that ESPN won't carry coverage of Big Ten football or basketball, per Marchand.

It'll also raise questions about the future of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge, an annual men's basketball series showcased on the network during the nonconference schedule.

In the bigger picture, it's the latest adjustment in the rapidly changing landscape of college sports.

The first domino to fall came in July 2021, when Oklahoma and Texas announced they'd accepted an offer to move from the Big 12 to the SEC no later than June 2025.

That jump-started a whirlwind series of moves as conferences jockeyed to ensure they wouldn't be left out in the cold when the new alignments went into place, and it's continued in recent months with UCLA and USC confirming a move to the Big Ten in 2024.

Having those two high-profile West Coast programs joining a traditionally Midwest conference showed realignment has become less about regional rivalries and more about putting together as many notable schools as possible.

As a result, the Big Ten was able to carry more leverage into contract talks for its television rights and appears likely to secure three exclusive windows for football (all times ET): Fox at noon, CBS at 3:30 and NBC in prime time, per Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic.

Big Ten play kicks off August 27 with Northwestern vs. Nebraska in Dublin, Ireland, and Illinois' home game against the Mountain West's Wyoming Cowboys.

Consider John Calipari a Damian Lillard fan.

The Kentucky men's basketball coach praised the message the Portland Trail Blazers superstar passed along during his Formula Zero basketball camp this past week.

Lillard's message was that he wants to help young players develop mental toughness and work ethic, especially in an age where they are praised their entire lives, recruited as top and gifted prospects and have large social media followings but may not be ready for the potential adversity that awaits them at the college or professional level.

"It puts them in a position to where those things, it lets them down when they get to a professional environment and their talent can't get them though," he said at the camp. "You got to be stable and strong mentally. You got to be sturdy. You got to have something that you can stand on because it gets tough. ... I want to help these kids, they got all these followers on Instagram, but I wanna help them have the stuff that is not just a talent."

At the NBA level, every player has massive talent. Other factors often differentiate the best players from their peers, which is the message Lillard is trying to send to young players and one that Calipari endorses.

Pac-12 athletes will have a new revenue stream in 2022-23, with the conference allowing players to monetize their name, image and likeness through game highlights.

According to Paolo Uggetti of ESPN, the Pac-12 announced an initiative with technology startup Tempus Ex Machina that will create customized highlights for football, men's basketball and women's basketball players after games. The student-athletes can tweet out their highlights, with Twitter's Amplify selling advertising.

The athletes will then be paid based on the advertising money, which could be determined by the amount of views and retweets.

Pac-12 Commissioner George Kliavkoff discussed the new initiative in a statement:

The Pac-12 is committed to providing our student-athletes with best-in-class technology, tools and promotional platforms that support their individual brands. Our partnership with Tempus Ex is focused on enhancing our student-athlete and fan experiences, and today's announcement is another important step in positioning the Pac-12 as a leader when it comes to student-athlete promotion and brand building.

These efforts could further help Pac-12 programs in recruiting after the league has fallen short in recent years.

No Pac-12 team finished in the top 10 in the 2022 football recruiting rankings, per 247Sports, while only USC landed in the top 10 in men's basketball recruiting rankings.

There are several elite Pac-12 players who should be able to capitalize on their highlights.

Utah quarterback Cameron Rising could be a first-round draft pick in 2023, while USC's Caleb Williams is considered a Heisman Trophy contender after transferring from Oklahoma. Williams also has over 59,000 followers on Twitter.

In men's basketball, the conference returns some proven players like UCLA's Jaime Jaquez Jr., Arizona's Azuolas Tubelis and Oregon's Will Richardson while adding high-upside freshmen in UCLA's Amari Bailey, Oregon's Kel'el Ware and USC's Vince Iwuchukwu.

Stanford's Haley Jones returns as one of the top players in women's basketball next season.

It could lead to big returns for the elite talent in the conference.

The Big Ten was reportedly "evaluating the worthiness" of adding a quartet of Pac-12 teams (Oregon, Cal, Stanford and Washington) into the conference, but Dennis Dodd of CBS Sports reported that interest has since cooled down:

"After the anxiety caused last week regarding further Big Ten expansion, industry sources have indicated the Big Ten is no longer as interested in adding California, Oregon, Stanford and Washington. Rightsholders were balking at paying the same amount for those schools as the 16 Big Ten schools going forward ($80 million-$100 million).

"While those four programs may eventually have options, the Big Ten is concentrating on its new deal in 2023 while trying to lure Notre Dame, which has an open invitation. More and more stakeholders now believe the Fighting Irish will ultimately stay independent."

The Big Ten currently has 14 institutions, but the conference is adding USC and UCLA into the fold in 2024.

The Big Ten finds itself in a position of great power by adding two powerhouse college sports programs in California, expanding the conference's footprint to the West Coast. The league doesn't necessarily have to expand any further after picking up USC and UCLA, although the Notre Dame rumors still persist.

The Big Ten and SEC, which will also have 16 teams after Oklahoma and Texas join the mix in 2025, ultimately will stand as a pair of superconferences in a few years time.

The biggest question is what will become of the Pac 12 without two of its most recognizable programs. The conference has already revealed that it's looking into expansion, although that news comes as other conference schools are connected to other leagues.

Dodd notably reported that Oregon alum and Nike founder Phil Knight was calling other leagues on his alma mater's behalf.

There was talk of the Big 12 and Pac 12 joining forces, but the former reportedly walked away from the table on that front, per ESPN's Pete Thamel.

As it stands now, the Pac 12 will have 10 teams in a couple years' time unless the conference realignment carousel continues to move. The Big 12 already successfully added four schools (Houston, UCF, Cincinnati and BYU), and it remains to be seen if the Pac 12 can engineer a similar expansion as well.

Two of the top programs in men's college basketball will face off in a home-and-home series across the upcoming two seasons.

The Kentucky Wildcats will travel to the Gonzaga Bulldogs for a Nov. 20 showdown, and the Bulldogs will complete the return trip to face the Wildcats on the road in 2023, as Kyle Tucker and Dana O'Neil of The Athletic relayed Tuesday.

Tucker and O'Neil noted Gonzaga head coach Mark Few called in to a telethon that Wildcats head coach John Calipari was participating in to raise money for those impacted by flooding in Kentucky and revealed the news.

While Kentucky and Gonzaga have played just once—a Wildcats win in 2002—the two coaches are friends and faced each other four times when Calipari was with Memphis.

"For us, Drew [Timme], Julian [Strawther], Rasir [Bolton], they all made the decision to come back," Few said. "These are the kinds of games they want to play in, so why not? It's fun for them. It's great for the sport. There are a thousand positives, and no negatives."

Marquee nonconference games are nothing new for Gonzaga, which attempts to build a strong resume before its slate is watered down by West Coast Conference play.

The Bulldogs next season will also play Michigan State, Texas, Baylor and Alabama and will participate in the PK85 tournament in a bracket that features Duke, Florida, Purdue and West Virginia, per Tucker and O'Neil.

The Wildcats will face Michigan State, Michigan, UCLA, Louisville and Kansas too.

The November showdown figures to be one of the best in college basketball during the upcoming season.

After all, Gonzaga checked in at No. 2 and Kentucky No. 4 in ESPN's Jeff Borzello's Top 25 rankings July 26. There will be no shortage of star power with Timme, Strawther and Bolton on the Bulldogs side and Oscar Tshiebwe leading the way for the Wildcats.

Kentucky will be looking to bounce back from its shocking first-round NCAA tournament loss to Saint Peter's, and a Top Five win early in the season would be a great way to do just that.

Gonzaga also lost earlier than expected in the tournament. The No. 1 overall seed reached the Sweet 16 but fell to Arkansas.

One of the top talents in 2023 is off the board after Kwame Evans Jr. committed to Oregon.

"I feel like it fits me the best and gives me the best chance to go to the NBA," he told ESPN's Paul Biancardi.

Arizona, Auburn and Kentucky were among the other finalists.

The 6'9" power forward is the No. 7 overall player and the second-best at his position in 247Sports' composite rankings.

A native of Maryland, Evans transferred to Montverde Academy in Florida ahead of the 2021-22 school year. His father, Kwame Sr., expressed a desire for him to continue his development after the COVID-19 pandemic forced Baltimore public schools to cancel the 2020-21 winter sports season, per the Baltimore Sun's Glenn Graham:

"We got to do want we can do and, unfortunately, we had to leave just because his development is most important for him right because he's so young and we just don't know where we're going next year with the pandemic. We know they're playing down there, so we had to get out of town. He'll get a lot of exposure, be in the national spotlight down there, so we're just looking forward to new beginnings and trying to get better."

Independent of the uncertain circumstances in Baltimore, heading south to Montverde made obvious sense because the prep school has become a proving ground for elite talent. Cade Cunningham, Scottie Barnes, RJ Barrett and Ben Simmons are some of the recent alumni now in the NBA.

The transfer allowed Evans to test himself against the best, whether it was against Montervde's competition or his own teammates to earn regular playing time.

In October, 247Sports' Eric Bossi described Evans as "a skilled combo forward who can shoot with range, cover ridiculous ground on defense and he's just scratching the surface."

Bossi had also watched the versatile forward at the Peach Jam in July and came away highly impressed:

"It is one thing to see a kid Evans size who can move well laterally and run. But to see a kid as big as him picking up much smaller guards to pressure them for 94 feet is an entirely different thing. His ability to move his feet, slide and contain guys in space is extremely impressive for a big kid, of any age."

Whether it's at the college or pro level, no archetype is more coveted right now than a player with size who can feasibly guard all five positions and score on all three levels. Evans isn't the mythical on-court unicorn just yet, but he's on his way there.

Plenty of eyes will be on him during the 2023-24 season because he's likely to be a top pick in the 2024 NBA draft at this pace.

Evans will join Jackson Shelstad in Eugene. Shelstad is the No. 10 point guard in the 2023 class.

Ducks head coach Dana Altman has brought a consistent level of success the program didn't experience before his arrival. Much of that is down to attracting a high level of talent to Oregon during each recruiting cycle, albeit not with the same value the traditional blue bloods do.

Looking at what's coming next season, Altman might be hopeful another run to the Elite Eight or Final Four is in store.

Unlimited transfers reportedly aren't expected to come to Division I college athletics quite yet.

According to Nicole Auerbach of The Athletic on Saturday, multiple sources believe it is unlikely that the Division I Board of Directors will vote to abolish the one-time transfer rule that is currently in place.

The vote on whether to allow unlimited "free" transfers to college athletes is set to take place at a meeting on Aug. 3.

Auerbach noted that the Division I Council endorsed moving to an unlimited transfer rule this month as part of an effort to modernize college athletics.

The proposal to eliminate the one-time transfer rule also would have resulted in the creation of transfer windows and required schools to "provide financial aid to the incoming student-athlete through the completion of the student’s five-year period of eligibility or undergraduate graduation."

Under the current system, athletes are only allowed to play immediately after one transfer. Any subsequent transfer requires the athlete to submit a waiver request.

The athlete can play immediately if the waiver is accepted, but if not, they have to sit out one year before returning to competition.

Per Auerbach, college football and basketball coaches have been particularly resistant to the idea of unlimited transfers due to how much more difficult it would make managing a roster.

The landscape of college sports has already changed drastically in recent years thanks largely to the advent of name, image and likeness deals.

With college athletes now having the ability to earn money based from endorsements and other avenues, it has moved college sports closer to the professional ranks.

The expansion of the transfer market would be another step in that direction, as it would essentially allow for yearly free agency.

It doesn't appear as though that change is imminent, but it will likely continue to be a major topic of conversation moving forward.

According to Auerbach, sources expect the transfer proposal to be sent back to the Transformation Committee since it is unlikely to pass.

It is possible the Board of Directors could vote only on the transfer window and financial aid pieces of the proposal after sending the unlimited transfer portion back, but it is said to be a "fluid" situation.

Former Duke guard Michael Savarino pleaded guilty to driving while impaired Wednesday, according to the News & Observer's Steve Wiseman.

Savarino, the grandson of retired Blue Devils head coach Mike Krzyzewski, completed 24 hours of community service and will remain on unsupervised probation for 12 months under the terms of his plea agreement. He also paid $300 in fines and will be due back in court in January.

Savarino was was pulled over last November after running through a stop sign. His blood alcohol content was measured at 0.08 following a breathalyzer test, which is the legal limit in North Carolina.

Former Duke star Paolo Banchero was in the car at the time as well and riding in the back seat. Per Wiseman, Savarino was driving a vehicle registered to Banchero, who faces a charge of aiding and abetting impaired driving that is pending.

Krzyzewski suspended Savarino as a result of the incident. The 6'0" reserve didn't return to the floor until the Blue Devils' 103-62 victory over South Carolina State on Dec. 14.

Banchero, on the other hand, was right back on the floor when Duke cruised past Gardner-Webb 92-52 on Nov. 16.

"It's two entirely different situations," Krzyzewski told reporters at the time. "Headlines make it look like it's the same, but it's not. The decisions we made are in conjunction with our authorities and my superiors. We're taking action and we'll continue to take action."

Banchero is now a member of the Orlando Magic, who selected him first overall in the 2022 NBA draft. Savarino transferred to NYU in June upon graduating from Duke.