Competition in college basketball might be extending beyond such noted — perhaps soon to be quaint — rivalries like North Carolina-Duke and Kentucky-Louisville.
College basketball is increasingly being perceived as only one of several viable options for high-profile high school seniors with NBA aspirations. So, programs like Kentucky that sell themselves as gateways to NBA careers face the possibility of stiffer competition for elite players.
LaMelo Ball made playing overseas more plausible. He skipped college — and the last two years of high school — to play in Lithuania and Australia before the Charlotte Hornets made him the third pick in the 2020 NBA Draft.