AmeriLeague

[Jim3k]

Seems a new basketball minor league (http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13898623/amerileague-signs-former-nba-first-round-draft-pick-royce-white) is trying to come out of its chrysalis in Las Vegas. AmeriLeague has begun signing its players and hiring its coaches. Supposedly a six team league, it is the brainchild of LA sportswriter Ethan Norof and mystery man Ceruti Brown (http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2015-05-12/las-vegas-dealers-basketball-one-and-done-cerruti-brown-mcdonalds-all-americans).

Somehow I'm unimpressed, but I'm popping some corn and maybe the butterfly will actually take wing.

[uh_no]

Seems a new basketball minor league (http://espn.go.com/nba/story/_/id/13898623/amerileague-signs-former-nba-first-round-draft-pick-royce-white) is trying to come out of its chrysalis in Las Vegas. AmeriLeague has begun signing its players and hiring its coaches. Supposedly a six team league, it is the brainchild of LA sportswriter Ethan Norof and mystery man Ceruti Brown (http://www.sportingnews.com/ncaa-basketball/story/2015-05-12/las-vegas-dealers-basketball-one-and-done-cerruti-brown-mcdonalds-all-americans).

Somehow I'm unimpressed, but I'm popping some corn and maybe the butterfly will actually take wing.

good. then maybe college sports can go back to being about college sports than a made-for-tv show!

[ChillinDuke]

good. then maybe college sports can go back to being about college sports than a made-for-tv show!

Yeah, kinda glad this is happening. Something to keep an eye on.

I continue to feel that the likely outcome of a league like this will be an influx of a motley crew of players: high schoolers dreaming of straight-to-NBA-esque returns, NBA veterans ravaged by injuries, NBA should-be retirees hanging on too long, great college players who just aren't good enough, and a variety of other one-off storylines that you can sort of fit player types into. My best guess at what then happens once the league is full and the too-high salaries that were contracted to jump-start the product are finally exiting league bank accounts is that 200K per year (Royce White number from article; is it per year or over many years?) to watch the Royce White's of the world will plunge the league into a loss position. The entire thing will flounder, salaries will reduce more in line with D-League numbers, as such players will become peeved at their new less lucrative/attractive status in the AmeriLeague, and the D-League will absorb whatever semblance of a "league" remains as a few expansion teams in small- to medium-size metropolises around North America.

Throughout this entire process, college ball will continue as a more-often chosen path for talented basketball players who want history and stability. Some will opt for the new, untested path - with mixed results. There will be successes - you'll hear them. There will be failures - you won't hear them - unless you search them out.

...Or that won't happen. But, hey, I tried.

- Chillin

[awhom111]

I don't know if anyone has seen the news creep across, but it has been a crazy 48 hours or so of news about the league and its likely demise.

Nolan Smith tweeted that they wanted to sign him (which makes sense from the perspective of what the league was trying to do). It is good that he did not waste any time being involved.

[BD80]

I don't know if anyone has seen the news creep ... .

Doug Gottlieb?

[Jim3k]

Update from yesterday's Las Vegas Review-Journal (http://www.reviewjournal.com/sports/sideline/report-amerileague-founder-las-vegas-actually-convicted-con-man).

This dude is a real crook.