For those that were curious, Following the Compass is still a thing. I still pick teams and follow them through the year, and if the situation allows, I'll watch a randomly selected game off their calendar. Having a wife and children makes actually going to the games a bit tougher, but this year, back in February, I went to Kansas City to watch North Dakota (my selection for the year) square off against Missouri-Kansas City.
The game was on Saturday night of Super Bowl weekend, surely not the most top of mind event in KC that weekend, but it was still a weekend contest that was inexpensive and in town. The Roos have a loud and loyal following unlike those I have seen in many of my other adventures, so it was a good atmosphere in the fairly tiny Swinney Center, which has been in use for 84 years. The age gave the game a bit more gravitas.
The building is unassuming, and is housed within the Student Recreation Center, so I had a difficult time figuring out A) where it was and B) where I needed to go to park. I finally found a lot, got distracted, missed a turn, got yelled at by a campus police officer and made it to the game. While neither team had a terrific year, they each had a terrific player. Jamar Brown for the Roos and Treysen Eaglestaff for the Fighting Hawks were the stars. Eaglestaff was a prolific scorer, and Brown was scrappier and more well rounded, but both stood out. UMKC ended up winning 80-69.
Somehow, and against all odds, the Summit League has become an important power player in college basketball. Brown ended the season with UMKC and will be joining UCLA next season. Similar letters, completely different program. Eaglestaff was going to South Carolina, but changed his mind and is now at West Virginia next season. Regardless of what happened, he needed to end up at a state with a direction in the name. As a point of curiosity, Eaglestaff's brother Teysean is not going anywhere, and is staying... at UMKC.
But the two stars of the game I went to aren't the only Summit League stars making big moves this summer. The Gophers added former Fighting Hawk BJ Omot (via California), while Wisconsin collected Andrew Rohde, formerly a Tommie from St. Thomas. Perhaps most famous was Grant Nelson, who had played for North Dakota State before becoming a vital cog for Alabama the last couple of years. And don't forget the key players from Oral Roberts' Sweet 16 run, Kevin Obanor (Texas Tech) and Max Abmas (Texas).
More lax transfer rules are talked about often, and about how teams need the money for NIL deals, ensuring the best players come to their school, but it doesn't address the fact that the way it works now, the top schools are indeed getting the best players. Instead of churning through blue chip freshmen, college blue bloods can let a player like Jamar Brown mature at a smaller school before coming to UCLA and the bright lights.
A skinny kid from Mankato isn't a likely candidate to get playing time right out of high school, but now here is Omot, in his second power conference. A member of the Cheyenne Sioux Nation doesn't see too many recruiters at his games, but now Eaglestaff is going to play in the Big 12. NIL, and transfer rules have taken the onus of big schools from finding the player that fall through the cracks, or worrying about developmental years and only having to claim nearly finished products, be they players from rural environments, unrefined players who only started because they were tall exchange students, or players that needed to develop a bit more physically.
There is no consistency at schools anymore, but now we can be sure that the best players are going to be playing on the biggest stages.
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