California Governor Gavin Newsom is on the verge of signing into law SB 206 -- which would allow student-athletes in our country's most populated state to accept money in exchange for their name, image and likeness without fear of retribution from the universities for which they play. It's a potential game-changer that should go into effect in January 2023. So Matt Norlander and I opened this episode of the CBS Sports Eye On College Basketball Podcast by discussing the 'Fair Pay to Play Act' from every angle.
Would the NCAA really go so far as to ban California schools -- including four Pac-12 schools -- from competing for NCAA-sanctioned championships? How ridiculous was the statement the NCAA released Wednesday requesting that Governor Newsom veto the bill? And how many student-athletes would actually benefit from this bill becoming a law? Would it just be starting point guards and quarterbacks? Or could it also be soccer players, volleyball players and reserves on basketball and football teams?
We discussed SB 206 for about 40 minutes.
After that, the conversation went something like this:
- 40:30: Former Arizona assistant Book Richardson was back in the news this week because transcripts reportedly show that he was caught on tape in June 2017 discussing with undercover agents how he paid $40,000 to a high school coach to help ensure that former Arizona standout Rawle Alkins would qualify academically to compete as a freshmen. So that's academic fraud and impermissible benefits. Dude was stacking Level I violations on top of each other. But what, if anything, will it mean for Arizona?
- 55:30: Cannen Cunningham was hired at Oklahoma State to deliver his brother — 5-star guard Cade Cunningham. But here's the biggest question in recruiting circles right now: Can he hold off Kentucky's John Calipari and North Carolina's Roy Williams and actually get this done? Two months ago, basically everybody assumed he could and would. But now some people I've spoken with aren't so sure -- which is why I wrote about it earlier this week, and why Norlander and I closed this podcast by discussing the sport's most interesting recruiting battle.
The latest "Eye on College Basketball" podcast is below. Give it a listen. If you're not already subscribed, please subscribe via iTunes. And if you've already done that, thank you. #ShoutsToDevanDowney.
