SEC coaches attribute record bids to investment in basketball
LEXINGTON, Ky. -- It wasn't long ago that SEC basketball was an afterthought, with only a couple of entrants into the men's NCAA tournament.
Those days are over -- a statement that was emphatically made when a record 14 SEC teams received bids to this year's tournament.
Auburncoach Bruce Pearl, speaking ahead of his team's opening game Thursday, pointed to the investment level of each program into their respective rosters.
"The difference between the SEC this year and why there was such a great separation, top to bottom, there was commitment in the NIL and investing in our student-athletes," Pearl said Wednesday.
Auburn is the No. 1 overall seed despite losing three of its past four games. The Tigers (28-5) face 16-seedAlabama State(20-15) atKentucky's Rupp Arena.
It isn't just NIL; Pearl cited an improvement in coaching hires and staff resources that dates to former SEC commissioner Mike Slive and has continued with current commissioner Greg Sankey.
Tennesseecoach Rick Barnes, who has spent the past 10 of his 38-year career in the SEC, praised the caliber of coaching across the conference.
"I haven't coached against any bad coaches," Barnes said. "I really haven't. I've coached against coaches that haven't had the same resources along the way, and sometimes you can win some of the time like that, but not overall at the level that you want to be able to sustain it."
Barnes recalled Sankey's first address at the SEC spring meetings, during which the commissioner delivered a "harsh" message. Every sport was trending upward except for basketball.
Barnes pointed out that at the time, the SEC was among the worst in the country in nonconference scheduling.
"Everything that has happened in the 10 years has been a commitment from the top down," Barnes said. "I think at one point in time, I think maybe athletic directors at one time felt like you couldn't be good in every sport."
Pearl pointed to one of the other Power 4 conferences, and two programs in particular.
"Let's just say Louisville and Duke, for example, in the ACC," Pearl said. "Those two programs have been consistently well-supported. They got great history.
"So when it comes to the NIL, they're going to be invested. Not everybody in the ACC invested like those two schools."
Louisville (27-7) is a No. 8 seed and faces No. 9 seedCreighton on Thursday in Lexington. If the Cardinals win, they will face the winner of Alabama State-Auburn.
The ACC program is making its first NCAA tournament appearance in nine years in coach Pat Kelsey's first season.
The SEC schools aren't the only major players at the Lexington regional site. Seventh-seededUCLA(22-10), led by veteran coach Mick Cronin, finished tied for fourth in the school's first season in the Big Ten.
Never shy to speak his mind, Cronin said that the level of investment varies on a school-by-school approach. He also noted that the conversation is rooted in speculation.
"It's like some agent tells me somebody else offered you a million dollars," Cronin said. "Well, he's probably lying. He's just trying to drive the price up.
"And nobody wants to admit what they spent on their team, right? Nobody wants to admit it. They want to act like they did a great job recruiting, OK? That's just how guys are in our business."
The current NIL model could see a massive upheaval, with revenue sharing between players and schools pending on the House vs. NCAA approval hearing scheduled for April 7. Whether or not NIL will still exist in the new era remains to be seen.
But in paraphrasing former UCLA coach John Wooden, Cronin noted that the schools that make investments, such as the SEC programs and others around the country, tend to reap the rewards.
"The guy with the best players usually wins, and the team with the most money has the chance to get the best players," Cronin said. "They don't always do that. But that's just the era we are in."br/]
