Isiah Thomas’s controversial flirtation with a part-time NBA consulting job ended abruptly yesterday amid an onslaught of criticism from several of his fellow college basketball coaches.
But it wasn’t the finger-wagging that prompted Thomas, the head men’s basketball coach at Florida International University, to revoke his contract with the New York Knicks organization. Nor was it the NCAA’s labyrinth of rules that thwarted Thomas’s plan to consult for a pro team and coach a college team at the same time.
It was NBA regulations that bar team officials from contacting players not eligible for its draft—clearly a problem for college coaches like Thomas—that put the kibosh on his new gig.
An interesting thread of the story has been the NCAA’s stance on Thomas’s quandary. The governing body of college sports, despite its tight regulation of athletics programs, was largely silent on the matter. If a coach wants to wear two hats, it’s up to the university to decide whether such a setup is appropriate, the association said.
Should NCAA rules address this kind of scenario? Or are institutions better equipped to make the call?
3 Responses to Second Thoughts
mbittin - August 13, 2010 at 8:05 am
With all the reprimands, suspensions and sanctions that the NCAA doles out for what I consider less infractions it is shocking that the NCAA did not immediately say NO – how can a person consulting an NBA team and coaching a college team no break at least a dozen of the NCAA rules.
cmmoore1 - August 13, 2010 at 9:21 am
And if a coach could do both jobs….why can’t a player??? Just a thought!!!
_perplexed_ - August 13, 2010 at 12:30 pm
The NCAA’s vague indecisiveness in this case probabaly stems from an inability to really figure out which option would lead to greater profit.