Kind of old news, I know, but the end of the 5/8 scholarship in mens college basketball has occurred. This is more of a boon to teams that are rebuilding, decimated by scandals, or lost a lot of players to the draft (graduating or early entry). For those who still don’t know what the 5/8 rule was, it restricted basketall teams from offering more than 5 scholarships in any one season, and no more than 8 over a two year period. Teams are still limited to 13 total scholarships, though.

The end of the 5/8 rule has nebulously been tied to potential penalties for poor graduation rates. I’m not going to delve too deeply into this yet, because the NCAA still has yet to actually say what the ties and penalties will be. I’m just going to say now, that the present way they calculate graduation rates will not be the standard. Ignoring the fact that the present formula uses data that is 6-7 years old (out of necessity), there is no way that the standards will still not include JUCO transfers and kids that leave early for the NBA — as it does now. Just not going to happen.

Why? Because the big name basketball schools would be among the hardest hit. Kansas, Duke, UCLA, UNC, Arizona, UConn — all are among the schools that get the best talent and regularly see them leave school early for the NBA. Other schools/coaches rely heavily on JUCO transfers — Cinci and Ok. St. immediately come to mind. These schools and coaches have clout. You think the NCAA want to fight with them that hard.