Ryan Burnett

In my struggle to understand why B10 revenue sports have taken a back seat to other conferences I’ve called a lot of people names, demanded that others be fired, and even on one occasion demanded that a head coach be castrated. But this morning it hit me, like a cup of ice cold water to the face I discovered the true roots of Big Ten ineptitude. It’s the schools. Not the universities, but elementary, middle, and high schools of the midwest. It’s bad enough the schools aren’t teaching kids to read as well as the Chinese, but it’s unforgivable that they aren’t teaching our kids to throw a ball as well as a Texan. 

Seriously, I owe a lot of coaches apologies. Last week I looked at the top 50 hoops recruits in the ‘09 class and mocked the Big Ten coaching as a whole for only being able to land 4 of them. I blamed it on their boring style of play and their inability to adapt to the modern game. But you know how many of those top 50 prospects lived in Big Ten Country? Four. B10 coaches defended their home-turf. Maybe it’s not their fault they’re stuck tilling a barren garden.

The lack of regional talent was just as pronounced in football where, again, only 4 of the consensus top 50 were from Big Ten Country. And you know what? The B10 landed all four of those players. You know how many of those players were from SEC states? Eighteen!  Twelve came from the Big 12, and eight came from Pac 10 states.  And just in case you’re thinking B10 coaches should go out like Rich-Rod did this year and snatch up some fleet-footed southern boys to bolster your slim pickings, remember that 72% of the top 50 players in 2009 committed to play for a university within their home state. So, poaching ain’t easy. What Rodriguez did was impressive, but it is NOT a long term solution.  When the state you’re in isn’t producing high-caliber athletes for you to pursue, its nearly impossible to go out and get them elsewhere.

I don’t have an answer for this problem, mind you, this is just my mea culpa. B10 coaches actually deserve a (small) pat on the back. I’m especially sorry to the coach (you know who you are) whose scrotum I said should be severed and shoved down his own neck-hole. That was somewhat out of line.