00:00The thing that's so upsetting to me is NIL.
00:02I think NIL is ruining college sports.
00:05Why is it ruining it, Rick?
00:09Because the kids are only going there for one reason.
00:12They're not going for an education.
00:13They're not going to get the experience of going to college
00:16because you can't go to the NBA until a little bit later,
00:19and so they're going there, and it's all about the money.
00:20Why do you think so many of these coaches who have been around forever
00:23are retiring and going into broadcasting?
00:26Rick, it's not even recruiting anymore.
00:28First question, how much are you offering?
00:31It's all about money.
00:35How about the transfer portal, Rick?
00:37Are you a fan of that where you can leave a program
00:39and go to another program?
00:42And like you said, they're chasing the money now.
00:44They're not really chasing fundamentals.
00:46Do you think it's helping or hurting those players as their development
00:50and getting ready for the NBA?
00:52Because, again, if you're transferring from program to program,
00:55do you believe these kids are being prepped and being primed
00:59and ready to play in the NBA?
01:01Well, most of them aren't from the early ages.
01:03That's where they get the service.
01:04The service is done at the early ages
01:06when they don't have anybody teaching them the fundamentals properly.
01:09And as great as some of the players are, even in the NBA today,
01:11they'll never be as good as they should be
01:13because they really don't have a true understanding
01:15of the principles and concepts of the sport.
01:17It doesn't matter whether it's sports.
01:19It doesn't matter whether it's music, whether it's science.
01:21If you don't have a foundation to build on,
01:23you can't build a tall building on a small foundation.
01:27It's going to topple over.
01:28It's an impossibility to build it.
01:29The bigger the foundation, the taller the building.
01:31So if you don't understand the fundamental principles,
01:34you're only going to get to a certain point.
01:35A lot of these guys are good enough to get to the NBA
01:37and become multimillionaires,
01:39but they'll never be as good as they should be
01:40because they're not going to utilize that amazing God-given talent
01:43that they have to its fullest
01:44in the most efficient and effective way possible.
01:47And so that's the part that's discouraging to me
01:49because I love greatness.
01:52I absolutely love greatness in anybody in any walk of life.
01:56I so admire someone who is able to reach the pinnacle of success
02:00because of their effort that they put forth
02:03and their willingness to,
02:05and no, no, the desire is probably more than a willingness,
02:07their desire to want to be the best that they could possibly be.
02:10I really respect that.
02:12And so, unfortunately, because of the lack of proper teaching
02:17at the early ages, these kids develop bad habits.
02:20They don't understand.
02:21I mean, I'm not a huge fan of AAU basketball.
02:24I try to keep my youngest son, Canyon, out of it as much as possible
02:27because so many times what they do,
02:29they get all of these kids who come from affluent families
02:32to spend all this money to be a part of the program,
02:34and then they use the money to go out
02:36and they go recruit the really great athletes
02:38to say, go out, run faster, jump higher,
02:41and just play better than the opposition.
02:43And instead of having someone hired to run the team
02:46to focus on the fundamentals,
02:48which would be the best thing possible for those kids,
02:51that's where they get shortchanged.
02:53I can't even tell you how many kids came up to me
02:56in the minor leagues when I coached
02:57and had Clifford Ray as my assistant,
02:59one of the greatest big-man coaches in history, NBA.
03:02And we were just appalled at the lack of fundamentals
03:04that some of these kids had,
03:05especially some of them coming out as reputed great programs.
03:08They were so poor fundamentally, it was astonishing.
03:11It was astonishing to us.
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