The era of the "student-athlete" is over. Sure, there are a few still doing it. The much maligned Anthony Leal finished his Kelley undergrad in 3 years. But the NBA-bound guys are doing online classes and whatever minimally qualifies them as "students" in the eyes of the NCAA and I doubt they ever finish a degree. The teams like RMK had, where nearly every player graduated, are a thing of the past.
Purdue may be a holdout in that sense, and maybe why they have trouble getting any of the really elite players. Maybe Painter sill expects them to be students. Just speculation...
Very very very few still do it sure some lineman in football may go it but does anyone think a guy like aj bybansta went to class let along participated in the mormom suff. LOL. Once people agree this is just like the pros except al they do is put on the schools uniform . And even if they are taking classes they take online tests which are easy as pie to cheat on. It is total and complete joke. Why they still require freshman to go to college is beyond me. The worst part is we are giving free tuition to guys who dont even want to go to class and are already making millions. That money could go to an actual student who cannot afford college.
]The point is with Painter, the guy wins 25-30 games a year but despite that, he cannot land top 25 guys to get him over the top.
Their talent coming in in 2026 is on par with IU, and honestly, if I was a Purdue fan, that would be unacceptable. IU hasn't won anything for 10 years and they're still getting as good or better talent than Purdue.
Sort of makes no sense, other than all the jokes about Purdue that follow. But if you think about it, its really their program settling for less. I mean, how hard could it be to convince a kid that you can win, when you have 20+ years of success and several deep tourney runs?
The way i look at is is like this no big ten team has had the talent to win it in 25 years so how is purdue any different. They did make a final game a few years ago. Michigan this year might finally have it but most big ten teams have not had it for a long time. I am not defending purdue but until the big ten wins it what they are doing works
I’d have to disagree with that. Just look at the 2012 Hoosiers. They were the best team in the country most of the year & had the talent to win it all, just not the coaching. There have been others…
@ams66 This was going on in one form or another under RMK as well. I had a class with Greg Graham while I was at IU. He showed up the 1st day, the last day, and 1 other day in between. His girlfriend was there every session taking notes for him. I assume it was his girlfriend, could have just been a friend taking notes for him... either way, he came 3 times to that class.
@ams66 This was going on in one form or another under RMK as well. I had a class with Greg Graham while I was at IU. He showed up the 1st day, the last day, and 1 other day in between. His girlfriend was there every session taking notes for him. I assume it was his girlfriend, could have just been a friend taking notes for him... either way, he came 3 times to that class.
Sure it has been going on a long time just look at UNC under Roy Williams but it never went on to the extent it is now. Guys used to actually be academically ineligible I have not seen that in 15 years now.
@oneeyedundertaker plenty of others. The Big 10 has had 8 teams play in the national title game since Michigan State won the title in 2000 (only counting teams who were in the Big 10 at the time). I'd say every single one of those teams had the talent to win. They got all the way to the championship game and lost.
2002 IU- that team definitely had the talent to win it all, that run was no fluke, even if it took a bit of luck to get all the way there
2005 Illinois- that team was loaded, UNC was just more loaded
2007 Ohio State- run into a Florida repeat
2009 Michigan State
2013 Michigan- should have been us, but you know...
2015 Wisconsin
2018 Michigan
2025 Purdue
Only 3 of those game were blowouts (2009 MSU vs UNC, 2018 Mich vs Nova, and 2025 Purdue vs. UConn). Our game against Maryland ended up a 12-point game, but we were in that game with 8 or so minutes to go before they pulled away. The rest were single-digit losses for the B10 team.
Also several more who made Final Four runs but lost in the national semis, like 2000 Wisconsin, 2001 MSU, 2005 MSU, 2010 MSU, 2012 OSU, 2014 Wisconsin, 2015 MSU, 2019 MSU, and this year's Final Four participants UM and UI.
We've had teams with the talent to win, I don't think any of those runs were flukes. We've run into a few juggernaut teams like UConn, Florida, and UNC. Sometimes you just don't quite do enough to win. But all that said, still crazy the B10 hasn't won a basketball natty in so long! Hoping this year is the year the streak ends. For my wife's sake, GO BLUE!
@jhoban19 Well that is a little surprising based on what I remember about Knight being a stickler for attending class and players graduating but maybe that was a bit of a show for public appearances. And even at that, players got a lot of guidance, tutoring, and supervision that was not available to ordinary students. Part of that was to maintain academic eligibility and part was probably just necessary given the number of days of class they would have to miss for travel and away games.
@oneeyedundertaker plenty of others. The Big 10 has had 8 teams play in the national title game since Michigan State won the title in 2000 (only counting teams who were in the Big 10 at the time). I'd say every single one of those teams had the talent to win. They got all the way to the championship game and lost.
2002 IU- that team definitely had the talent to win it all, that run was no fluke, even if it took a bit of luck to get all the way there
2005 Illinois- that team was loaded, UNC was just more loaded
2007 Ohio State- run into a Florida repeat
2009 Michigan State
2013 Michigan- should have been us, but you know...
2015 Wisconsin
2018 Michigan
2025 Purdue
Only 3 of those game were blowouts (2009 MSU vs UNC, 2018 Mich vs Nova, and 2025 Purdue vs. UConn). Our game against Maryland ended up a 12-point game, but we were in that game with 8 or so minutes to go before they pulled away. The rest were single-digit losses for the B10 team.
Also several more who made Final Four runs but lost in the national semis, like 2000 Wisconsin, 2001 MSU, 2005 MSU, 2010 MSU, 2012 OSU, 2014 Wisconsin, 2015 MSU, 2019 MSU, and this year's Final Four participants UM and UI.
We've had teams with the talent to win, I don't think any of those runs were flukes. We've run into a few juggernaut teams like UConn, Florida, and UNC. Sometimes you just don't quite do enough to win. But all that said, still crazy the B10 hasn't won a basketball natty in so long! Hoping this year is the year the streak ends. For my wife's sake, GO BLUE!
I think if Michigan beats arizona they win it all and Dusty has his first of likely several national titles. One thing I know is he wills simply reload for the guys who leave guys are going to want to play for Michigan. Only three of their top seven graduate and he already has a killer recruiting class and is about to land a five star.
Michigan basketball is already on a heater, having dominated the Midwest region of the NCAA Tournament bracket, set to face Arizona in the Final Four on Saturday. But head coach Dusty May isn't just thinking of the here and now, he's working to secure the future.
The 2026 class already has five commitments in high four-star power forward Quinn Costello, four-star small forward Lincoln Cosby, four-star shooting guard Joseph Hartman, three-star shooting guard Malachi Brown, and international center Marcus Moller (who was diagnosed with cancer this offseason). A sixth could potentially be on the way, if a new prediction is right.
According to Maize & Blue Review's Josh Henschke, Michigan basketball is in good standing with 2026 Bellflower (Calif.) Sierra Canyon five-star combo guard Brandon McCoy. So much so that he put in a prediction that the Wolverines will ultimately land the uncommitted, elite talent.
@arioznahoosier4554 agreed regarding the UM-Zona game. I think the winner of that game wins it all. I'm kinda hoping for an all-B10 title game.
@arioznahoosier4554 agreed regarding the UM-Zona game. I think the winner of that game wins it all. I'm kinda hoping for an all-B10 title game.
It is certainly possible if Michigan plays like it did Sunday not sure anyone can beat them. Arizona is good but they have lapses they were down 8 at half to purdue and if michigan gets them down like 15 arizona is not coming back vs them.
@arioznahoosier4554 I thought the same thing when UConn was down double-digits to Duke. Sure they won on something of a freak shot but you can never say never in the tournament.
People need to understand these are no longer student athletes period.
I agree, but the reason they'll never give up the ghost is that they need that branding. No one is going to be interested in the collection of players on teams like the Bloomington Argonauts or Ann Arbor Jackals. People will always want to cheer for the Indiana Hoosiers - how ever empty the idea these guys actually being student athletes is.
@arioznahoosier4554 agreed regarding the UM-Zona game. I think the winner of that game wins it all. I'm kinda hoping for an all-B10 title game.
My guess is that it's UConn-Michigan in the finals, but I'm not betting on it. I wouldn't mind seeing Illinois-Michigan.
People need to understand these are no longer student athletes period.
I agree, but the reason they'll never give up the ghost is that they need that branding. No one is going to be interested in the collection of players on teams like the Bloomington Argonauts or Ann Arbor Jackals. People will always want to cheer for the Indiana Hoosiers - how ever empty the idea these guys actually being student athletes is.
They can call it student athletes all they want but many of us know that is not true in the least. Calling them that is just laughable to me but I guess some people believe it. Like I said id be shocked if half of them ever set foot in a classroom on campus
]The point is with Painter, the guy wins 25-30 games a year but despite that, he cannot land top 25 guys to get him over the top.
Their talent coming in in 2026 is on par with IU, and honestly, if I was a Purdue fan, that would be unacceptable. IU hasn't won anything for 10 years and they're still getting as good or better talent than Purdue.
Sort of makes no sense, other than all the jokes about Purdue that follow. But if you think about it, its really their program settling for less. I mean, how hard could it be to convince a kid that you can win, when you have 20+ years of success and several deep tourney runs?
The way i look at is is like this no big ten team has had the talent to win it in 25 years so how is purdue any different. They did make a final game a few years ago. Michigan this year might finally have it but most big ten teams have not had it for a long time. I am not defending purdue but until the big ten wins it what they are doing works
I’d have to disagree with that. Just look at the 2012 Hoosiers. They were the best team in the country most of the year & had the talent to win it all, just not the coaching. There have been others…
We were talented and had a great year, but we weren’t good enough to win it in 2012.
]The point is with Painter, the guy wins 25-30 games a year but despite that, he cannot land top 25 guys to get him over the top.
Their talent coming in in 2026 is on par with IU, and honestly, if I was a Purdue fan, that would be unacceptable. IU hasn't won anything for 10 years and they're still getting as good or better talent than Purdue.
Sort of makes no sense, other than all the jokes about Purdue that follow. But if you think about it, its really their program settling for less. I mean, how hard could it be to convince a kid that you can win, when you have 20+ years of success and several deep tourney runs?
The way i look at is is like this no big ten team has had the talent to win it in 25 years so how is purdue any different. They did make a final game a few years ago. Michigan this year might finally have it but most big ten teams have not had it for a long time. I am not defending purdue but until the big ten wins it what they are doing works
I’d have to disagree with that. Just look at the 2012 Hoosiers. They were the best team in the country most of the year & had the talent to win it all, just not the coaching. There have been others…
We were talented and had a great year, but we weren’t good enough to win it in 2012.
You specifically said no Big team “has had the talent” to win it all. Should I break down the difference or are you just disingenuous & moving goalposts?