The article discusses how college athletics has lamented the impact of name, image, and likeness (NIL) rights and the transfer portal on competition. Despite these claims, veteran coaches like Tom Izzo, Rick Pitino, and Rick Barnes still excel, demonstrating that experience and strong leadership play vital roles in achieving success. The trends show that many top-seeded teams are led by older coaches, challenging the narrative that collegiate sports' soul is lost and highlighting resilience in traditional coaching methodologies amidst modernization.
From courtrooms to Congress, college athletics has spent the past half decade decrying how name, image and likeness rights for players and the transfer portal have adversely affected competition, if not supposedly destroyed the soul of collegiate competition.
Izzo is 70 years old and not just still coaching, but coaching No. 2 seed Michigan State in the South Region in his 27th consecutive NCAA tournament with a real shot at his ninth Final Four.
For all that has changed in college basketball, and for all the claims that said change was running old-school coaches out while making team-first programs impossible for anyone of any age to create, the reality born from the results tells an opposite story.
Of the eight teams seeded either No. 1 or No. 2 in this year's men's bracket, five are led by men 65 or older.
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