The talk of what sports will look like post COVID-19 is an interesting topic of discussion. For college sports, it's even more interesting. How will universities handle allowing students back on campus with the return of college football in the fall?
Big Ten analyst Shon Morris joined Indiana Sports Beat on Friday to discuss that and much more related to college sports.
“It was an abrupt end to the basketball season and the Big Ten tournament," Morris said. "I was getting ready to do the Michigan-Rutgers game before they called the tournament and we weren’t really sure if we were going to have to quarantine there.”
Now looking ahead to next year, or whenever college sports starts back up, having fans in the stadiums has been a major talking point. Will there be full arenas? Half-filled? How do you decided who gets tickets? It's a lot to talk about.
“Are we going to cause more problems long term than what would otherwise be there if we let just some people in and not others," Morris explained. "How do you tell whatever the number is that we aren’t going to sell you tickets.”
College football makes its money through home games and all of the festivities that surround the weekend on campus. Whether it be TV deals, ticket sales or more, football is the driving force for every universities athletic department.
“It’s going to be a really interesting thing to see how this navigates through. There is a lot of terrain to cover before basketball too. Football and from a financial standpoint what it means to these programs and conferences it is the financial engine that drives them," Morris emphasized. "If there is a kink in that financial hose, it will impact not just football but sports across the line.”
While there is still a long ways to go before the college basketball season starts, college hoops is still in the news. The main reason why is surrounding the transfer portal and how that will impact the game.
“I think when you see guys hopping around it goes back to this, what are 98 percent of you guys going to college for? Hopefully using basketball to help get your degree but not solely on your NBA potential," Morris said. "What concerns me the most is are guys running from things rather than towards it and how are we teaching them. And if you are a coach, how do you build a roster when you are consistently re-recrutiing guys on your team… This waiver process, no one knows who is making the decisions and it is different in each situation on how it plays out.
"What will stop program X from having their star point guard from blowing out his knee in December and then go to program Y and try to poach their point guard and make a run at the National Championship," Morris added.
To hear the complete interview and the entire episode, view the tweet below.
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