Happy Wednesday - Make sure you’re taking game shots.

The news around Sherrone Moore at Michigan is crazy (and I have to preface that some of what's been reported remains alleged). But regardless of how this situation plays out, it's already a powerful reminder and valuable lesson for coaches, especially young ones trying to climb the coaching ladder to be a head coach one day.

I try not to judge. We all have flaws. We all face pressure. Coaching is demanding, stressful, and incredibly public. But my god, the truth will always remain: one bad decision can wipe out years of work. One moment of poor judgment can cost you your job, your reputation, your family's stability, and your future in the profession.

Nick Saban would discuss this with his players every year. This is one of his more infamous quotes:

I have always been one to just be blunt and straight to the point. Here's an uncomfortable truth young coaches need to hear: No piece of *** is worth losing your livelihood over. I promise you that.

As an assistant, you can sometimes get away with things you shouldn't. Fewer eyes are on you. Your name barely shows up in the headline - if it shows up at all. But the moment you slide over one chair and become the head coach? Everything changes. Instantly.

You're no longer just you. You represent the program, the school, the community, and every kid in that locker room. When something goes wrong, the headline doesn't read "assistant coach involved." It reads: Head Coach of [Your School] Arrested. That name follows you. Google doesn't forget. Neither do administrators, parents, or potential future employers.

We see it every year. Talented coaches. Winning coaches. Coaches who spent their entire lives working to get to the pinnacle - all for it to be undone by something they knew better than to do. I could hyperlink at least four stories that happened in the last month that involved coaches being fired because of inappropriate relationships. We’ve all seen them, yet they continue to happen.

This isn't about piling on. It's not about making light of anyone's situation. It's about awareness and accountability. Your choices carry more weight than you realize, and the higher you climb, the smaller your margin for error becomes.

If you're a young coach reading this, take it seriously. Protect your name. Protect your family. Protect the opportunity you've worked so hard to earn.

The wins are great and I know the thrill of being admired feels good in the moment. But character is what keeps you employed. Tread carefully.

The Transfer Portal Is Hurting College Basketball (But Not How You Think)

Let me be clear from the start. I'm not here to complain about players getting paid. The top guys were probably always getting paid in some form or fashion. That's not new. I’m OK with players getting a piece of the billion dollar pie. I'm also not going to whine about players leaving early for the NBA. That's been happening for 30 years now. We've had one-and-done for a long time. We’ve adjusted.

What I am worried about is something harder to measure but easy to feel if you've been around this game long enough.

The ghosts of college basketball: Tradition. Consistency. Connection.

I love watching old college basketball games. Call it a hobby, call it an obsession, whatever. Recently I've been going back through some Indiana University games from the early 90s. The 1992 team with Calbert Cheaney, Alan Henderson, and Damon Bailey. Then I’ll dive into the YouTube rabbit hole and jump to the 2012-2013 squad with Jordy Hulls, Cody Zeller, Yogi Ferrell, and Victor Oladipo. Then somehow end up on a random Final Four game from 2002.

What struck me wasn't just how good those teams were (I loved Cheaney’s smooth left handed shot). But it was the identity they carried.

Those rosters were loaded with Indiana kids. Guys that Hoosier fans had followed since high school. Fans knew who these players were before they ever put on a college jersey. They watched them develop over two, three, four years. There was a thread connecting one season to the next. You knew who was coming back. You knew who was leading the charge.

And here's the other part that I think nobody talks about anymore. You knew the other teams’ rosters too.

That's what made rivalries actually mean something. You developed real feelings (well, hatred) about opposing players. You absolutely loathed the guy who always seemed to hit big shots against your school. You hated that senior who felt like he'd been there for a decade and would never graduate. There was history. There was weight.

All of that may be slipping away.

Now, every year at the blue blood programs, you're looking at near-complete roster turnover. The transfer portal and NIL have combined to create an open market where it makes perfect logical sense for any player with moderate success to test the waters. Why wouldn't you? There are hundreds of thousands of dollars, sometimes millions, waiting for whoever is willing to shop around. Mid-major programs have become feeder systems. Play well for a year? You're gone.

Indiana recently played Kentucky at Rupp Arena. First time in years that rivalry had been renewed at one of the actual venues. It should have felt electric. But honestly? It just didn't carry the same weight as that 2011 game when Christian Watford hit the buzzer beater to knock off an undefeated #1 ranked Kentucky powerhouse. For some reason, that moment felt like it meant something more. Maybe because we knew those players. We had watched them for years. We were invested.

Here's my concern as someone who loves this game.

How do casual fans stay invested when they have to learn an entirely new roster every single season? At some point, that becomes exhausting. It becomes hard to care. You watch a game and find yourself asking, "Who is this guy?" instead of cheering for players you've followed since they were freshmen.

I'm not saying we need to go backwards. The game evolves. Players deserve opportunities. But I do think we need to have an honest conversation about what we're losing in the process.

Tradition matters. Legacy matters. The thread that connects one season to the next is what makes college basketball special. Without it, we're just watching a glorified summer league with rotating rosters and no memory.

I want this game to stay great. I want it to matter 20 years from now the way it mattered 20 years ago. But that's going to require more than just great basketball. It's going to require something worth caring about.

Questions for you:

The Scouting Report is your weekly dose of resources that can help your coaching. Plays of the Week, videos, drills, etc. What’s the old joke? The best coaches are just the best thieves?

Shared Resources

A good zone set vs. 2-3 zone:

We’ve all gotten that one message from a parent that makes you pause, blink twice, and say… “Did they really just send that?”

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Let’s remind each other we’re not alone in this coaching journey.

That’s a wrap on Episode 22 of Game Shots. Thank you for subscribing.

My mission has always been, and will always be, to support coaches around the world who love the game and want to keep getting better.