We had a couple of bits of breaking news in our world the last few days. The first came on Friday night, when U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken finally approved the settlement in the House v. NCAA lawsuit. This step was long-awaited and much anticipated, and when it came, however, it landed with a thud. Many people had hoped it would bring about stability and clarity, but the realization has set in that things are still really messy, and with mass confusion and legal challenges still piling up, they are not likely to get cleaned up anytime soon. 

The second piece of news came the next day, when former Villanova coach Jay Wright confirmed to me that he will not consider coaching the New York Knicks. I had predicted as much on Twitter the moment the news of Tom Thibodeau’s firing broke, but that didn’t take any grand intelligence on my part. Jay has been saying all along that he was done coaching The only thing I did was take him at his word.

Many people have assumed that the reason Jay got out of college coaching was that he didn’t want to deal with this strange new era. That’s not really true. He was just tired of living the job 24/7/365. I talk to a lot of college coaches, and the vast majority of them have no problems with players getting paid. They are just tired of the confusion, and they are exhausted by the grind. All they want, really, is a few days off. Jay has all of those he wants, and he has no intention of giving those up. Trust me — and him — on that.

We are still six months from the college basketball season starting, but there are plenty of fast-moving developments to track between now and then. The Jay Wright Story is done, but there will be plenty more to write. So keep it right here at Hoops HQ, where there is no off-season.

Have a great day and thanks as always for your support of Hoops HQ. —Seth

How to Build a Program in a Matter of Weeks

By Alex Squadron

New NC State coach Will Wade held a Zoom call with Texas Tech transfer Darrion Williams, a 6-foot-6 senior forward and former All-Big 12 First Team selection, shortly after Williams entered the portal in early April. Then the 22-year-old turned his attention to the NBA Draft process. During that time, Wade and Williams exchanged a few texts per week, but that was it. Wade didn’t have a great read on the situation and was quite nervous, given how highly his staff thinks of Williams. “On our metrics, he’s the number one transfer in the country,” Wade told Hoops HQ.

After Williams withdrew from the Draft on May 21, everything moved quickly. He took visits to NC State and Kansas within the week. Wade felt better about his chances, but he was still unsure. Then, a day after his visit to Raleigh, Williams called to deliver the incredible news that he was committing to the Wolfpack. “It was one of those deals where we did the initial Zoom and just kind of hung in there, hung in there, hung in there, and then boom!” Wade says. “I tried to contain my excitement when he told me. I don't often get excited in recruiting. After I got off the phone, we were very excited.”

There has been plenty for Wade and his staff to be excited about over the past few months....

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Seth Trimble Is UNC’s Last Man Standing

By Mike Barber

When Ven-Allen Lubin decided to bolt from North Carolina and transfer to rival N.C. State earlier this month, Tar Heels guard Seth Trimble couldn’t resist taking a little good-natured shot at his exiting teammate. Under a social media post announcing Lubin’s move, Trimble commented with a GIF that shows himself staring down North Carolina State’s Dontrez Styles – another UNC defector – while Lubin steps in between them.

His response went viral and became the talk of North Carolina basketball fans in the triangle.

House Settlement Finalized, But Many Questions Remain

By Kristi Dosh

The long-awaited, much-anticipated final approval of the House settlement was finally issued by U.S. Judge Claudia Wilken on Friday, hereby ushering in a new era in college athletics that will begin next month. Although revenue sharing is the most widely publicized change in store, the settlement includes a number of significant provisions related to Name, Image and Likeness, with a start date on the new process that came significantly earlier than expected.

NCAA president Charlie Baker hailed the step and expressed hope it will finally bring to an end the chaotic transition of the last few years. “Approving the agreement reached by the NCAA, the defendant conferences and student-athletes in the settlement opens a pathway to begin stabilizing college sports,” Baker said in a statement. “This new framework that enables schools to provide direct financial benefits to student-athletes and establishes clear and specific rules to regulate third-party NIL agreements marks a huge step forward for college sports.”

A huge step? No doubt. An end to the chaos? Far from it. Here are some of the most-important open questions stemming from the settlement....

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