1 week ago
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DESTIN, Fla. -- In the aftermath of a historical men's hoops play that saw the league onshore a grounds 14 teams successful the NCAA tourney and Florida triumph the NCAA title, the SEC is looking to repetition history.
One absorbing headwind for the SEC and different apical conferences for 2025-26 was mentioned astatine SEC meetings this week, and it's a looming origin hovering implicit the adjacent men's hoops season.
When asked astir the SEC's quest to replicate history, first-year Texas manager Sean Miller pointed retired that the latest harvest successful the NCAA transportation portal fundamentally has "25-percent of the pastry missing" successful presumption of prime seasoned players due to the fact that of the disappearance of players with an other twelvemonth of eligibility from the COVID-19 eligibility rules.
He said that arsenic "wild" arsenic everyone considered this men's hoops portal to acceptable up 2025-26, determination was a missing notion.
"One happening that's decidedly going to change, and I don't deliberation it's talked a batch astir successful basketball, is the nary COVID year," Miller said. "In our case, we had a fig of players successful my 3 years astatine Xavier that were exercising their 5th year. It's a twelvemonth that doesn't beryllium close now."
He said that this volition apt extremity up hurting the powerfulness conferences with the astir to spend, arsenic there's simply little veteran, high-end endowment available.
"I deliberation conscionable that alone, taking that 1 furniture of talent, wherever you tin person an all-SEC subordinate to instrumentality for a 5th year, and present that that's not successful play," Miller said. "I don't deliberation our league volition stay arsenic old. So I deliberation conscionable with that alone, I don't cognize if 14 of 16 (bids), I hope, but I tin surely spot the effect of that moving forward.
"Even successful the Final Four, erstwhile you looked hard intimately astatine Auburn and Florida, 2 singular rosters, portion of their greatness was that they had this acquisition of a blend of talent, but their older players, they were a large portion of their success."
SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey told ESPN successful March that the SEC's play was a "unicorn." He's looking for another, arsenic helium said the extremity for the league is to get 16 men's hoops teams successful the NCAA tournament.
"So that's what I expect," Sankey said. "Is it a nonaccomplishment that we lone had 14? I thought it was beauteous cool. Can we bash that again? You locomotion successful the country of coaches....we got a heck of a roster of men's hoops coaches and I tin accidental that astir a batch of sports. And erstwhile you look backmost 10 years, (it's a) precise antithetic dynamic arsenic acold arsenic that roster of coaches. So I deliberation there's a accidental to vie astatine a precocious level."
Florida has fortified its roster with the instrumentality of prima guardant Alex Condon, and should beryllium successful the speech to repeat.
Gators manager Todd Golden said that he's unsure if the league tin get 14 bids again, but he's assured the SEC is primed for a tally of wide dominance.
"I deliberation the league volition beryllium precise bully again, this coming year, I do," helium said. "The teams person recruited well, and we're the premier hoops league close now. I deliberation it's beauteous clear. So volition it beryllium arsenic elite arsenic it was this past year? I'm not sure... but I bash deliberation we person a accidental to person different large year."
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