NCAA Tournament

With the start of the NCAA tournament we often get wrapped up in upsets and our brackets. However, one thing that we often overlook is how widespread the talent has been throughout all of college basketball. 15-20 years ago the best teams were rooted in having a depth of talent that overwhelmed smaller schools. But the reason why the talent pool has been so widespread lately can be defined on how coaches use to define talent versus how they currently define talent.

In the past, talent was defined by having the biggest and most physically gifted athletes on a team and then maybe surrounding that core group of gifted athletes with a few shooters. In our current version of college basketball coaches have taken the small school approach to evaluating talent; and that's by seeking the most skilled players at their position and a players athleticism is a secondary attribute.

As a result, high school players have shifted their attention from dunks and block shots to ball handling and footwork. And this has given the game an appearance of talent being more widespread but I just think that the way talent has been viewed has changed thus evening out the playing field.