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Coaches address lack of uniform ball

Michael SandersBy No Comments6 Mins Read
Ncaa Tournament Balls.jpg

In case you haven’t heard, the ball is important in basketball.

I know, I know – breaking news, right?

Well, in the men’s and women’s NCAA tournaments, there has been a lot of discussion about these balls in several media outlets. For example, on the “Pat McAfee Show,” ESPN reporter Rece Davis talked about balls, including how players in the men’s tournament were losing control of the ball.

The most recent example came from the women’s tournament, and the LSU Tigers coach Kim Mulkey had choice words for his team and the balloons. She’s not the only coach talking about using the ball during March Madness.



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In the clip above, Mulkey says his team’s poor performance to this point “could be because those balls are too bouncy, but it’s a bad ball.” The Tigers would go on to beat the Miami Hurricanes 54-42 while shooting 30.2 percent from the field, but that has been a topic of conversation dating back to the start of each tournament.

In the first two rounds of the men’s tournament, the three-point shooting percentages were low. Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats said his team also discussed running balls.

“We kind of had that discussion as a team,” Oats said Thursday, via the Associated Press. “You can inflate any ball to be too hard. It would be great if the referees actually made sure it was within the guidelines as to how hard it’s supposed to be because, obviously, if you pump it up to where it’s a rock, you’re not going to pull as well.”

In addition to Oats, Alabama guard Jahvon Quinerly said: “I just feel like sometimes the balls bounce a little too much. I don’t think it’s affected me personally in this tournament , but you know, it’s something guys talk about in the locker room.”

Nate Oats defends appeal

Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images

Alabama, one of the favorites to win the tournament, lost in the Sweet 16 to San Diego State after making just three of 27 three-point attempts.

On the other hand, some players don’t seem affected by this, like Iowa Hawkeyes women’s guard Caitlin Clark. Throughout the tournament, Clark did not score fewer than 22 points in a game. Most recently, she dropped 41 on Louisville, shooting 57.1 percent from the arc.

So what gives?

The Truth About NCAA Tournament Balls

The March Madness logo.

Photo by C. Morgan Engel/NCAA Photos via Getty Images

RELATED: Caitlin Clark Hopes Her Revenge Tour Ends With Iowa Shutting Down the Net in Dallas

So, here’s the deal: New balls are being used in the NCAA tournaments.

Tournament players use the Evo NXT from Wilson Sports Goods. These were also used in championship matches last year. The men’s tournament featured the Kansas Jayhawks and North Carolina Tar Heels. The Jayhawks shot 35.3 percent from the field and the Tar Heels shot 21.7 percent from behind the arc. Both were below the teams’ season averages, with the Tar Heels having the largest gap of over 14%.

For the women’s championship against the UConn Huskies and South Carolina, both teams shot 25% or less.

The Evo NXT is supposed to be a “high caliber” bullet. It is equipped with a micro-touch cover and is bright orange in color. The micro-touch cover is said to add an “extra layer of grip and moisture management, as well as a super soft core providing exceptional control and a softer feel,” according to the NCAA.

As expected, the NCAA, which has used Wilson balls in the NCAA tournament since 2002, defended the Evo NXT.

“Relationships with suppliers like Wilson are invaluable to the NCAA as they provide superior brand quality and innovative products for our championship basketball,” said Dan Gavitt, NCAA senior vice president of basketball. , in June 2021.

However, many have pointed out the poor quality of this ball. This has clearly been a topic of conversation at the women’s and men’s tournaments (re: Mulkey’s Tigers and Oats’ Crimson Tide), but social media users have also expressed their disapproval.

Former Wisconsin forward and first-round NBA draft pick Sam Dekker called attention to this:

There are others too:

Either way, the numbers are hard to ignore. ESPN’s John Gasaway compared the Round of 16 three-point shooting to previous years, and… it’s not great:

In the Elite Eight, many teams shot well below their season averages from behind the arc. Gonzaga made just two of its 20 three-point attempts against UConn, good for 10 percent. Creighton is shooting 35% from three, but shot 11.8% against San Diego State, whose 23.1% mark was also below average. But is it because the defenses are improving? Oats said he believed him. Could these teams have simply had offside games? This is all speculation.

One way the NCAA can make this not an issue is to have uniform ball like the NBA does. If all NCAA teams used the same ball throughout the regular season and postseason, teams would be accustomed to that ball by tournament time. And even if the ball East poor quality, well, at least everyone uses it.

?(Assistant coach) Charlie Henry was in the NBA and he said, “I don’t know why college doesn’t have uniform ball, like I couldn’t imagine.” You’re in the NBA, everyone plays the same ball every night,” Oats said. “I think it would be a lot better if the NCAA mandated a particular ball.”

But that day has not yet come.

This scandal may be a bit overblown, but if one of the NCAA title games comes down to a last-second shot that goes away, expect fans to start questioning the bounce.

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