Big money demands big success, which puts intense pressure on coaches and leads to events such as the recent forced resignation of Tennessee coach Jerry Green. In his four years at Knoxville, Green won 89 games and made four NCAA tournaments, but his talent-laden team's failure to live up to expectations this season cost him his job. Green's colleagues have complained at high volume about the injustice of his departure, pointing out how educational institutions send a bad message with such moves. Coaches with six-figure contracts, however, are not really in the education business. Like it or not, they're entertainers, and only as good as their ticket sales and their latest reviews.
Coaches cite such insecurity to justify their huge salaries.
Then some of them complain when their stars leave college after a season or two for the riches and security of NBA contracts. The amendment the NCAA really needs to pass is one making all Division I men's freshman basketball players ineligible, while giving them four seasons to play. A five-year plan would improve graduation rates and decrease players' early exits to the pros by slowing their ascents to stardom. A few more kids would jump straight from high school to the pros, of course, but those players would regard college as little more than a hoops finishing school in the first place. The NCAA would have to raise the men's basketball scholarship limit from 13 to 15 because freshmen no longer would be available.