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'May Not Live Another 15 Years' - Jim Nantz Worried About Future Of College Basketball

Originally posted on The Spun | By Kameron Duncan | Last updated Apr 3, 2025 7:59 PM ET

The NCAA Tournament will reach its conclusion this weekend, as four teams battle in San Antonio for the right to be called national champion.

For the first time since 2008 and only the second time ever, all four teams in the Final Four are No. 1 seeds. It's a testament to how good each team has been all season, but some have complained about the lack of upsets in this year's tournament.

Teams with more resources have been able to snatch great players from smaller programs, and that's resulted in far less parity throughout the game in recent years.

Jim Nantz is in San Antonio this weekend, but as a fan instead of a broadcaster.

Nantz is on hand to cheer on his beloved Houston Cougars, but he also says he's mourning the loss of what college basketball once was.

“My concern on your question is the future of college basketball,” Nantz said, responding to a question from Dan Patrick on whether golf or college basketball had a more grim future.

“That may not live as we know it another 500 years. It may not live another 15 years. Because the portal and NIL, it’s difficult. And I don’t want to paint it doom and gloom, I don’t want to say it’s bound to be extinct, it’s not going to be.

But what we knew it as, what we grew up with, that model doesn’t exist anymore, and some people have a real problem with that."

Nantz said that Houston has had to "play the NIL game" to get some of their players to stay multiple years, but the continuity within the program is an example of the old days of college basketball.

"They believe in their coach. There’s a family culture there; they’re all in," Nantz said, giving a shoutout to Houston's Kelvin Sampson.

TUCSON, ARIZONA - FEBRUARY 15: Milos Uzan #7 of the Houston Cougars reacts after the Cougars defeated the Arizona Wildcats 62-58 at McKale Center on February 15, 2025 in Tucson, Arizona. (Photo by Chris Coduto/Getty Images)Chris Coduto/Getty Images

Houston's roster is filled with upperclassmen who have stayed with the program, but it could be argued that one of their best players arrived from the transfer portal.

Milos Uzan, one of the key contributors for the Cougars, played at Oklahoma before transferring to Houston.

We'll see if Sampson can win his first national championship this weekend.

It's his third career appearance on college basketball's biggest stage, and the Cougars will be tested in their national semifinal on Saturday against Duke.

This article first appeared on The Spun and was syndicated with permission.

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