Commentary on Pac-12 developments on and off the field, and court …
Rising: George Kliavkoff
Given that the Pac-12, at a critical moment in history, with football sagging and revenue lagging and a barrage of challenges upcoming, chose to hire as commissioner someone who has never worked in college sports and has no background in football but instead spent the past three years in the entertainment industry and oh-by-the-way is on the board of BetMGM, an online sports betting platform, and while he’s not a tennis player from Harvard, he is a rower from Boston University …
Given all that, the George Kliavkoff hire is going quite well through the first week.
That’s largely due to Kliavkoff’s winning performance in his introductory news conference and the absence of behind-the-scenes resistance that turns into a whisper campaign that turns into leaks to the media that fuel initial public skepticism.
So far, anyone who doesn’t know Kliavkoff is willing to give him a fair shake, and anyone who has worked with Kliavkoff is reporting a positive experience.
We’d liken the situation to the hiring of a football coach — albeit one requiring fans to Google the name of their favorite team’s new leader.
In that situation, a smooth public debut is important to reassure skeptical constituents, and Kliavkoff managed that on Thursday.
Staff decisions are also critical. A new coach in unfamiliar territory needs highly competent coordinators and recruiters, and Kliavkoff must hire executives and/or advisors and/or consultants who can patch the holes in his resume.
Now, we’ll remind readers that Larry Scott did well in his initial round of media interviews some 12 years ago.
In fact, Scott did well with just about everything for his first three or four years.
That’s good perspective: If Kliavkoff’s tenure atop the Pac-12 is a marathon, all he’s done is register for the race.
Out of fairness, we’ll withhold judgment of any kind until at least Mile 10.
Falling: Past USC fiscal management.
This item requires the use of the not-so-way-back machine, to the tenures of former USC athletic directors Lynn Swann and Pat Haden.
In case the Trojans’ recent streak of administrative competence has made memories fuzzy, the L.A. Times provided a reminder of how things used to be.
The outlet obtained USC’s federal tax returns for the 2020 fiscal year, which show the compensation figures for football coach Clay Helton and basketball coach Andy Enfield in the 2019-20 sports season.
Helton earned $4.8 million that fall, making him the highest-paid coach in the conference, according to our cross-checks against USA Today’s salary database.
Over a two-year period encompassing the ’18 and ’19 seasons, Helton collected $9.4 million while winning 13 games and losing … wait for it … wait for it … 12.
Yep, Helton was 13-12 but paid like he was 23-2.
It’s almost like his boss wasn’t, you know, paying attention.
Meanwhile, Enfield earned $3.35 million for the 2019-20 season the year before the Trojans made their run to the Elite Eight.
That’s right: Enfield was earning well over $3 million and one of the top-paid coaches in the conference back before he had advanced beyond the first weekend of the NCAAs.
In each instance, Haden and Swann were practicing fiscal mismanagement … in case there was any doubt.
Rising: Colorado basketball.
The Buffaloes currently have the top-rated 2021 recruiting class in the conference, which isn’t something we necessarily would have expected.
Especially because so many key pieces were secured before the just-completed season.
Good fortune certainly has played a role in forming the class.
It’s not often that the state of Wyoming produces one of the top-10 big men in the country, but 7-footer Lawson Lovering happens to be from Cheyenne and wanted to play 90 minutes from home.
And it so happens that four-star guard K.J. Simpson’s original plans were derailed when Arizona fired Sean Miller, prompting Simpson to shift his allegiance to CU.
But fortune and circumstance are part of recruiting for every program every year, and the Buffaloes have taken full advantage.
What the class doesn’t possess, at least based on the recruiting ratings, is an uber-talent — a top-25 player nationally who has one-and-done potential.
Perhaps an elite player will emerge from the group set to join CU for next season. Perhaps the overall quality of the class is such that the absence of a transcendent talent is irrelevant.
Either way, the program has undeniable momentum.
Falling: Pac-12 collegiality.
One day after the Pac-12 removed the redshirt rule for intraconference transfers, Washington cleared the way for quarterback Ethan Garbers to compete this fall for UCLA.
The Huskies did the right thing.
Obviously, they had concerns about the process by which Garbers left the program over the winter, but they also recognized the cost of digging in once the Pac-12 presidents followed the NCAA’s lead and eliminating restrictions on first-time transfers.
No school, no program and no head coach wants to appear more inflexible on player movement than Mark Emmert.
So the Huskies made the smart play — that’s relevant background for this item but not the crux.
The crux is this:
A conference long known for order among football programs has implemented a rule that could jeopardize the collegial culture.
With no penalty for switching schools, unhappy undergraduates will cast an eye to opportunities elsewhere.
Imagine an edge rusher frustrated with his playing time at USC, but loath to leave town, transferring to UCLA.
Imagine a sophomore quarterback with detailed knowledge of Oregon’s playbook, deciding to transfer to Washington.
Until now, intraconference transfers were extraordinarily rare, especially at the undergraduate level.
Our sense is that the new world of player movement will be something less than a tidal wave — coaches only have 85 scholarships, after all.
But the frequency of transfers within the conference assuredly will increase.
With that comes the likelihood of hurt feelings, stolen secrets, accusations of tampering, and a level of lawlessness never before seen in the mild West.
Rising: Arizona basketball.
The comings and goings (and coming and goings) in Tucson are such that we could assess the Wildcats’ stock price on a weekly basis.
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The attrition has been significant since the season ended in early March, above and beyond the coaching change.
James Akinjo, Jemarl Baker, Jordan Brown and Terrell Brown have departed, taking 44 points per game with them.
But new coach Tommy Lloyd is rapidly restocking the roster, and the latest newcomer, wing Adama Bal, is a major international prospect who should join the rotation immediately.
Given Lloyd’s background, it should come as no surprise that the Wildcats have been successful thus far with transfers and international recruits.
But in our view, the talent pipeline cannot rely exclusively on the transfer portal and overseas recruits; some degree of balance is required.
There’s plenty of time for Lloyd to succeed with high-level U.S. high school prospects, but the issue is certainly worth watching.
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