Is college basketball violence on the rise?

There seems to be a noticeable increase in outbreaks of fighting in college basketball. Players seem all too ready to come to blows over the simplest thing.

Before college basketball season started (the NCAA games opened late June and the UAAP starts mid-July), there were more than half a dozen incidents of fistfights on the court, even in private tune-up games. From the Fil-Oil pre-season games to the Fr. Martin Cup, players lost their cool and started going at it. Arellano University hosted a PBA D-League team for a “friendly” practice game, and they couldn’t even finish the first half from all the fisticuffs. One reserve player even yelled invectives at Chiefs head coach Koy Banal and challenged him to a fight. This shouldn’t be the case, considering the games are supposed to be meaningless. Those aren’t official tournaments, after all. At least two college coaches have expressed their concern about it to this writer.

What’s behind the increase in violence? 

To begin with, for many players, college sports is a shortcut through school. Frankly, some colleges treat their athletes (especially basketball players) like rock stars, letting them breeze through classes they don’t even study for. They feel a certain entitlement. And with television networks looking for more sports content, the environment has become more competitive, and a handful of schools have sought ways to recruit players who are older than average, and this breeds hostility in their rivals. Imagine a 23-year old “rookie” playing against 18-year olds. There’s bound to be hostility.

Also, the trend of bringing in foreign (predominantly American or African players) gives a few schools an advantage that can only be neutralized by rough play. The last five years alone have seen NCAA teams resort to dirty tricks to overcome the height and talent of San Beda College, for example. The Red Lions broke a 28-year dry spell by bringing in Nigerian Sam Ekwe, then American Sudan Daniel, and now Congolese Ola Adeogun, all of whom are 6’7” or 6’8”. Similar recruitment by other schools has not been as successful.

In one season, Ekwe was disqualified from MVP contention because, after falling to the floor, he kicked a player from University of Perpetual Help, probably feeling like a target. In one game against a major league rival, Daniel fell like timber after being punched in the groin. Many leagues have strict punishments for just taking a swing at another player, even if you don’t make contact, but they don’t seem to be enough anymore.

Next, a jersey guarantees a player free education, and are hard to come by. If you are willing to hurt someone else to keep your spot on the team, then the coach may favor you. 

If the player you’re guarding keeps blowing by you and scoring, you look bad, and you most likely will get or lose your place to a more extreme player. So you find more unethical ways of stopping an opponent. That may include clotheslining him, or hitting below the belt. And if the league, team or school doesn’t punish you, then that is a tacit acceptance of the tactic.

In addition, many coaches don’t have the patience to teach skills. They prefer their players ready to play. So even raw players are thrust into situations they can’t handle, or are forced to guard players with superior talent. They don’t learn how to deal with frustration, either, and often lash out when things don’t go their way. And how many coaches have actually told their charges to do whatever it takes to stop the other team’s best player? Those conversations are sometimes even seen on TV.

In the US, they have the Positive Coaching Alliance (Phil Jackson and Cal Ripken are members), and it enforces strict rules against bad behavior from tot sports up. Perhaps we should consider a similar arrangement for varsity sports, particularly the more high-profile leagues. It sets a bad example when a fight breaks out. Young children are watching.

The competitiveness in school sports has to be channeled some other way. The players are the ones getting hurt. Is violence in college basketball on the rise? Let’s keep track of the numbers.