American university basketball has put on alert the main clubs of the old continent before a paradigm change that has already started and promises to continue evolving in the short term.
Historically, The 'colleges' could not pay wages to their athletes, and the jump to the NBA offered several alternatives to the academic. From good progress in the European Basket, the possibility of playing in the Development League through the Ignite team, or from other more 'exotic' competitions such as the Australian League.
But in a short time, the most appetizing option for players goes through universities, and that Nil (name, image and likeness) which allows a good sum of money to be guaranteed, sometimes higher than what could be achieved in one of the main teams of our continent. Easy and fast money against which you can virtually compete, and that is causing an plunder in the main European quarries.
Do Barça and Madrid consider eliminating their quarries?
'Brand' pointed in the last hours that Both Barça and Madrid had valued the option to eliminate their quarries To save your costs, something that The Barca club denied this newspaper. But it is an obvious concern, and that has recently affected a Catalan entity that last summer lost to Kaspar Jakucionis, And that this course, with the season underway, has seen how Dame Sarr has prioritized the US adventure to have some stability in the first team led by Joan Peñarroya.
Jakucionis preferred the United States to continue at Barça / EUROLEAGUE
The economic power of American universities
In all this matter, FIBA does not want to stay with crossed arms. It is true that the NCAA acts on its own, And that, once the economic closure is opened, little can be done. But the top world basketball body does not want to leave clubs that suffer this situation, and in this case, They align with Barça and Real Madrid, as admitted Andreas Zagklis, General Secretary of the Organization, in a congress that has been held these last days in Baréin.
FIBA takes the floor
FIBA marks a triple objective in this matter: Help players make well reasoned decisions, that players who go to the NCAA increase their availability to be summoned with the selection, and protect the bets carried out by clubs in that investment in young players and their development. To do this, we want to formalize a collaboration with the NCAA that has a mission: that players from outside the United States to the universities that make up the program have the same treatment as the signings between FIBA clubs. To do this, an authorization letter would come into play.
Joan Peñarroya giving instructions to Dame Sar / Dani Barbeito
“It cannot be denied that it is an opportunity for our players. They are amounts of money that end in the hands of players of 18, 19 or 20 years that are welcome both for them and their environments And it is something that makes us happy. But at the same time, we must recognize that this has ceased to be mainly an academic experience for athletes. The universities of the NCAA are approaching commercial entities, professional clubs and that is a challenge for our ecosystem “, Zagklis commented.
Andreas Zagklis, next to the NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver / EFE
Zagklis's words
“Our functioning is based on the fact that transfers can be carried out as long as contracts and agreements are respected, And whenever there is a transfer, there must have been said process. There must be an authorization by the departure club and the National Federation, and subsequently guarantees on the destination of the player and its conditions, their eligibility for the selections, and the compensation for our clubs, which have invested in someone who began playing in their lower categories with 9.10 or 11 years and who now meet an offer of six figures, “he explained.
