Stanford (& Cal) Basketball Exodus; Michigan's Hired Guns; Brady & Aikman Sell Out

I used to say there were three things that were certain in this world: death, taxes, and Stanford women's basketball.

For 38 years, under Tara VanDerveer, Stanford basketball was one of the premier programs in the nation and dominated the sport on the West Coast.

VanDerveer won three national championships, 26 Pac-10/12 championships, and 83% of her games at Stanford. She took her team to the NCAA Tournament every year after her first two seasons, reaching the Final Four 14 times.

The second winningest college basketball coach of all time, behind UConn's Geno Auriemma and just ahead of Duke's Coach K, she was national coach of the year five times.

She also produced a steady stream of great players like Jennifer Azzi, Sonja Henning, Katy Steding, Val Whiting, Kate Starbird, Nicole Powell, Candice Wiggins, Nneka Ogwumike, Chiney Ogwumike, Alanna Smith, Jayne Appel, Haley Jones, and Cameron Brink.

Following a legend is never easy, and in VanDerveer's case, her shoes may be too big to fill.

Her hand-picked successor, Kate Paye, who served on Tara's staff for 17 years, is struggling, and Cardinal basketball is in a tailspin.

Neither of Paye's first two Stanford teams qualified for the NCAA Tournament. The Cardinal went 21-14 this year and 16-15 last season, posting 8-10 records in the ACC.

And last week, six Stanford players entered the transfer portal, including the team's three best players.

The stunning exodus includes freshmen Lara Somfai and Carly Amborn, sophomore Harper Peterson, and juniors Nunu Agara, Mary Ashley Stevenson and Courtney Ogden.

Agara has been the team leader the past two years. She averaged 15.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game this year, earning All-ACC second team honors.

Somfai, a McDonald's All-American last year as a high school senior, nearly averaged a double double with 10.8 points and 9.1 rebounds per game, earning All-ACC Freshman Team honors.

Ogden was the team's second leading scorer, and its primary three-point threat, with 12.9 points and 4.3 rebounds per game.

Somfai has already committed to TCU and Peterson to Tennessee.

Meanwhile, UCLA just won its first national title, led by Stanford transfer Lauren Betts, and USC has built a strong program under former Cal coach Lindsay Gottlieb.

Unlike last year, when Paye brought in three HS All-Americans--Somfai, Hailee Swain and Alex Eschmeyer--she only has two four-star guards coming in, Jordyn Wheeler from Ontario and Elyse Ngenda from New Hampshire.

Bottom line? Once a sure thing, Stanford's women's basketball is now a huge question mark.

Okorie Declares for NBA: The Stanford men's program suffered its own critical loss last week when sensational freshman Ebuka Okorie declared for the NBA draft.

Okorie was named first team All-ACC this year after leading the league in scoring at 23.2 points per game. He had eight games over 30 points and led the Cardinal to huge upsets over ranked North Carolina and Louisville. 

 A Stanford degree apparently wasn't important enough for Okorie and his parents, both Harvard graduates, to continue his education for at least another year. And the prospect of leading a much better Stanford team next fall--with four four-star prospects coming in--wasn't enough to overcome the lure of the NBA.

There is a potential silver lining. Okorie's NBA draft prospects are uncertain, with most experts projecting him as a late first or early second round pick. If the feedback he and his agents receive has him slipping into the second round, he may opt to return to Stanford, where NIL money would be similar to second-round NBA money. 

In his post on X announcing Okorie's decision, his agent said, Ebuka "has two feet in the draft, but if he returns, it will be to Stanford," which would also seem to eliminate the possibility of a transfer to another school.

In this writer's opinion, another year would benefit Okorie. He's incredibly talented, but the NBA is a much different world from the one he dominated this year.

Okorie is not going to blow by NBA players and get to the basket like he did at the college level, as NBA players are far superior defenders and rim protectors. Generously listed at 6-2, he needs to get stronger, improve his passing, and get more consistent from three-point range, where he shot only 35% this year. 

As pointed out in a previous post, things didn't work out well for Tyrell Terry and Ziaire Williams, the last two Stanford players who turned pro after just one year. It would be best for all concerned if Okorie is projected as a second rounder and returns for Stanford to improve his draft stock. Hopefully he could be a lottery pick next year. 

A date to circle on your calendar: The deadline for withdrawing from the draft and retaining college eligibility is May 27. Perhaps Stanford will get some good news that day.

Cal Also Suffers Portal Losses: Justin Pippen, son of six-time NBA champ Scottie Pippin, was Cal's starting point guard this season, averaging 14.2 points and 4.6 assists. He entered the transfer portal last week and has committed to Ohio State.

His backcourt mate and the team's leading scorer, Dai Dai Ames, is also saying bye bye to Cal. Ames, who averaged 16.9ppg, is transferring to Tennessee.

Ames apparently always has his bags packed. This will be his fourth school in four years. He played at Kansas State and Virginia before Cal. 

This is the new reality in college basketball. To wit:

Michigan's Hired Guns: All five starters on Michigan's NCAA Basketball Championship team were transfers.

Before realizing their lifelong dream of going to school in Ann Arbor--I'm being facetious here--they played for seven other schools: Yaxel Lendeborg (Arizona Western and UAB), Elliot Cadeau (North Carolina), Aday Mara (UCLA), Morez Johnson Jr. (Illinois), and Nimari Burnett (Texas Tech and Alabama). 

Call me old school, but this is a distressing sign of the times. 

Increasingly, college football and basketball are being dominated by teams with hired guns who transfer--sometimes on an annual basis-- or money, playing time, and a chance at the CFP or March Madness.

What does any of this have to do with higher education? 

The NCAA can continue to call them "student-athletes." I call them mercenaries.

Conflicts of Interest? First Tom Brady, now Troy Aikman. The lines between broadcaster and team official are blurring, and the NFL apparently is okay with an obvious conflict of interest.

Aikman is lead analyst on NFL Monday Night Football and previously was the lead analyst for many years on Fox's Sunday NFL broadcasts. In that position, he sits in on production meetings with players and coaches who discuss game strategy, injuries, personnel matters, and other information that isn't available to anyone other than the game broadcasting crew.

Last week, on a Dallas Cowboys' podcast, Aikman admitted that was the reason he was hired as a consultant with the Miami Dolphins.

"I think the Dolphins were wise in understanding my relationships around the league," Aikman said, "and knowing that I have information that they don't have or can't get. And I think they were smart in taking advantage of that--whether it was through me or somebody else.

So there you have it. Aikman has access to info that normal NFL team employees can't obtain. And now the Dolphins have it.

Brady became a minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders two years ago, and initially the league banned him from other teams' facilities. That lasted one season. Last year Brody was allowed back into production meetings, and just like that, the door was opened for Aikman and other broadcasters who might want to land their own gigs with a team.

It's indisputable that broadcasters with team affiliations can acquire and deliver competitive intelligence to teams that can use that info to win games.

It seems a tad hypocritical that teams can be fined for filming opponents and signal-stealing, while this type of information gathering is allowed.

The question now is, what's to stop all 32 teams from hiring their own broadcasting spy?

There is one guy who apparently sees the danger here and has the ethical compass to avoid it. 

Former Falcons' quarterback Matt Ryan, who showed great promise as a broadcaster last year, gave up his TV job when he was named President of the Atlanta Falcons.

Brady and Aikman should have to do the same.