By TERRY LYONS, Editor of Digital Sports Desk
BOSTON – As the 2025-26 college basketball season is now underway (St. John’s defeated Towson, 73-63, in a Saturday afternoon exhibition at Carnesecca Arena in Queens), there’s a new kid in town as some major Div I basketball programs appoint celebrity (and full time) General Managers to the mix of coaches, assistant coaches, graduate assistants and other assorted people on the team bus.
Boston Celtics great Jayson Tatum (recovering from an injured Achilles) made some headlines in Boston and Durham, North Carolina when he and Duke University announced the NBA All-Star would be the new GM of the Blue Devils. Tatum will still keep his “daytime” job as a star player for the NBA Celtics as he works his way back into playing, jumping, sprinting and full court defensive condition. Tatum’s rehab and therapy session are reportedly ahead of schedule for a possible return come NBA Playoff time.
But Tatum lending his name, his game and his money to the Duke University basketball program follows a very interesting trend which is not new to this season but trending upward as the money flows into collegiate sports.
Back in April of 2023, Villanova Vice President and Director of Athletics Mark Jackson announced the creation of a new position, General Manager of Basketball, and named former Wildcats’ Associate Head Coach Baker Dunleavy to fill the role.
There were a sprinkling of others which led to the big scoop. St. Bonaventure alum and multi-million dollar earner Adrian Wojnarowski left his mobile device and his 24/7 job as an NBA Insider for ESPN, dropped the serious coin and became the GM of men’s basketball for his alma mater. It was more of less a dream “retirement” job where Woj can still work 24 hours a day, but rather than scoop San Antonio Spurs leads, he can improve the Bonnies’ chances of making the big Dance. Surely, he’ll get some good tips on up & coming talent from RC, right?
Davidson basketball GM Austin Buntz spent several years at Under Armour, and originally joined Davidson’s athletic department in the fundraising department. But he’s recently moved over into the GM role, which he describes as “an extension” of the coaching staff.
Buntz was “one-upped” when Golden State Warriors guard and Davidson Wildcats’ most famous alum, Stephen Curry, signed on as defacto GM. Curry, at the direction of Coach Bob McKillop, led the 2008 Davidson team to a wild ride through March Madness only to fall a game away from the Final Four. And, while Curry fell short in college he made up for it in the pro game as an 11-time NBA All-Star and four-time NBA champion, in addition to his three-time USA Basketball gold with the senior national team at the Paris Olympics (2024) and twice at the Worlds (2010-Turkey; 2014-Spain).
Curry lending his name and frequent appearances on campus helps build the Davidson brand globally while raising much needed money for NIL, and general expenses, noting the small collection of alum from such a small Carolina school.
Think that’s enough? How about other active NBA players like Portland’s Damian Lilliard as a GM for Weber State; Brooklyn’s Terance Mann helping out at Florida State; Atlanta’s Trae Young lending a GM hand at Oklahoma.
It’s not just hoops, either, as Andrew Luck is a football GM for his alma mater, Stanford; Michael Lombardi has an active, day-to-day gig as GM with Bill Belichick’s North Carolina Tar Heels and former NFL head coach Ron Riviera is lending a hand at Cal, all according to a short list assembled by The Old Gray Lady,” The New York Times by way of its sports subsidiary, The Athletic.
For major change, however, college athletic departments, as a whole, need to operate in similar fashion as a pro franchise, complete with a pro mentality of investing in their product, staffing up properly – especially in ticket sales – more facility and game operation improvements, along with front office savvy. Of course, the initial investment is something college ADs refuse to entertain, so they dip their toe in the water, a bit, as long as the newly created positions come with a major donation. to the “U.”
The changes need to be much more substantial. Colleges and the NCAA have long kept a straight arm up against the professional sports leagues, citing the need for compliance and keeping their products squeaky clean and far away from the big bad wolf of professionalism and money.
Well, the barn door blew wide open when the NCAA lost its case to Ed O’Bannon and the world of N.I.L. hit the colleges like a cold slap in the face. No longer could the payments go under the table or in FedEx envelopes to addresses unknown. As it’s been written here before, Now, It was Legal (NIL). Let the Vitamin Water guy (Mike Repole) fund coach Rick Pitino’s St. John’s starting five and some.
GM positions for college basketball are the perfect example of what is really needed. Instead of the head coach making each and every decision as it relates to his program, a trusted GM – even one reporting on a dotted line to both the basketball coach and the AD – can accomplish much more, especially in season. A good GM can run a much better and deeper scouting department (both high school prospects and potential transfer portal options, never mind the upcoming oppenents.
A good GM can make 10 decisions a day that the head coach need not concern himself with at any level. It would free-up time for the coach to coach his team and better prepare for the next game. In addition to a good GM, college coaches for both basketball and football should have a right hand man to clear and guard his/her schedule for the most important activities. If the school marketing department needs a photo shoot, schedule it through the right hand man. If the development office needs some meet and greets on a road trip, run it through the right hand man to best schedule the task. That way, it’s sure to get done and the head coach doesn’t get five calls from five different people for the same requirement/obligation.
The big question is whether the power hungry, control everything head coaches, who control all aspects of basketball and football, will yield their power and responsibilities to a newfound colleague or not?
Of course, football and basketball are the revenue generators but a more professional approach needs to take place within every sport and the athletic office as a whole.
Can the colleges and college conferences make sacrifices for the greater good of college sports as a whole?
Along with the schools moving ahead, the NCAA and individual college conferences need to call a cease fire and form a truce. No more raiding each others’ colleges until a fair and universal approach can be negotiated. In other words, will the NCAA or the colleges have the clout, or will the NCAA be relegated only to run post season play?
The BIG EAST Conference will gather industry leaders this week to discuss the “Future of College Basketball” (Monday, Oct. 20, from 2:00 to 5:30pm (ET), at the Empire State Building), a day ahead of BIG EAST Basketball Media Day on Tuesday, Oct. 21st.
The seminar will start with a “One-on-One” with NCAA president and former Massachusetts Governor Charlie Baker who will sit down with Bonnie Bernstein, a former reporter for CBS and ESPN and now Founder/CEO, of Walk Swiftly Productions.
There will be four additional panel discussions which are all listed in the BIG EAST agenda – HERE.
The BIG question for Big Charlie – will he re-establish the NCAA and his own power to rule over all of college athletics or will he allow each conference to run amok the way things have been going, which resulted in the Pac-10 imploding? Stanford and Cal playing in the ATLANTIC Coast Conference and other abnormal activities have turned college athletics into a very bad lesson in geography and business sense.
HERE NOW, THE NOTES: MLB’s Gold Gloves finalists were named earlier this week. These players are the best defensive gloves in the game of baseball. Players from the Boston Red Sox are in BOLD.
American League
P – Jacob deGrom, Texas Rangers; Max Fried, New York Yankees; Luis Severino, The Athletics.
C – Dillon Dingler, Detroit Tigers; Alejandro Kirk, Toronto Blue Jays; Carlos Narváez, Boston Red Sox.
1B – Ty France, Minnesota/Toronto; Vladimir Guerrero Jr., Toronto Blue Jays; Carlos Santana, Cleveland Guardians.
2B – Andrés Giménez, Cleveland Guardians; Luis Rengifo, Los Angeles Angels; Marcus Semien, Texas Rangers.
3B – Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays; Maikel Garcia, Kansas City Royals; José Ramírez, Cleveland Guardians.
SS – Corey Seager, Texas Rangers; Taylor Walls, Tampa Bay Rays; Bobby Witt Jr., Kansas City Royals.
LF – Steven Kwan, Cleveland Guardians; Wyatt Langford, Texas Rangers; Tyler Soderstrom, The Athletics.
CF – Kyle Isbel, Kansas City Royals; Ceddanne Rafaela, Boston Red Sox; Julio Rodríguez, Seattle Mariners.
RF – Wilyer Abreu, Boston Red Sox; Adolis García, Texas Rangers; Cam Smith, Houston Astros.
UTIL – Ernie Clement, Toronto Blue Jays; Mauricio Dubón, Houston Astros; Daniel Schneemann, Cleveland Guardians.
National League
P – Matthew Boyd, Chicago Cubs; David Peterson, New York Mets; Logan Webb, San Francisco Giants.
C – Patrick Bailey, San Francisco Giants; Carson Kelly, Chicago Cubs; Luis Torrens, New York Mets.
1B – Bryce Harper, Philadelphia Phillies; Matt Olson, Atlanta Braves; Spencer Steer, Cincinnati Reds.
2B – Xavier Edwards, Florida Marlins; Nico Hoerner, Chicago Cubs; Brice Turang, Milwaukee Brewers.
3B – Ke’Bryan Hayes, Pittsburg/Cincinnati; Ryan McMahon, Colorado/NY Yankees; Matt Shaw, Chicago Cubs.
SS – Nick Allen, Atlanta Braves; Mookie Betts, Los Angeles Dodgers; Masyn Winn, St. Louis Cardinals.
LF – Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs; Tommy Pham, Pittsburgh Pirates; Kyle Stowers, Florida Marlins.
CF – Pete Crow-Armstrong, Chicago Cubs; Victor Scott II, St. Louis Cardinals; Jacob Young, Washington Nationals.
RF – Corbin Carroll, Arizona Diamondbacks; Sal Frelick, Milwaukee Brewers; Fernando Tatis Jr., San Diego Padres.
UTIL – Miguel Rojas, Los Angeles Dodgers; Javier Sanoja, Florida Marlins; Jared Triolo, Pittsburgh Pirates.
Winners will be announced on November 2nd.
TIDBITS & NUGGETS: Formula-1 racing dumped ESPN to sign a five-year deal with Apple TV. While the fringe sports trend towards big money and long term deals with streaming services, they fall short with the ability to extend their audience/reach. F-1 can kiss nightly/weekly news highlights on SportsCenter goodbye.
In other words, the ESPN TV coverage of F-1 will be as terse as their parting shot statement after the Apple TV deal was announced: “We’re incredibly proud of what we and Formula 1 accomplished together in the United States and look forward to a strong finish in this final season. We wish F-1 well in the future.”
Sort of an F-U to F-1?
Speaking of ESPN, many an NBA fan expressed some outright glee when former Golden State team GM and now former NBA on ESPN studio analyst Bob Myers took a lofty position as president of Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment – the parent company for the Philadelphia 76ers (NBA), New Jersey Devils (NHL), Washington DC Commanders (NFL) and The Prudential Center in Newark (home of the NJ Devils).
“Our goal has been to hire, grow, and retain the best and brightest executives in the world and we are a stronger, more dynamic organization with the addition of Bob Myers,” Harris and Blitzer said in a statement.
Myers was already working as a senior advisor on the Commanders’ reorganization plans.
Let’s see if the Commanders, Sixers and Devils can get one of the greatest players in their respective sports with the seventh pick of the draft?
Miami’s Erik Spoelstra was named head coach of the USA Basketball Men’s National Team through 2028. Spoelstra was selected by USA Basketball’s Men’s National Team managing director Grant Hill and was approved by the USA Basketball Board of Directors.
In addition to an Olympic gold coaching effort as an assistant coach at the Olympic Games Paris 2024, Spoelstra was an assistant coach to Steve Kerr at the 2023 FIBA Men’s World Cup, where the USA finished fourth. He also served as head of the 2021 USA Basketball Men’s Select Team, which trained alongside the 2020 USA Men’s National Team ahead of the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo.
Spoelstra is the perfect choice for this time and place, but it’s sort of amazing his boss, Pat Riley, never had an opportunity to coach the USA at the Olympic Games.