The 2024 college basketball sits just over a week away. With that, the pre-season preps and entitlement are lining up as the hot topic. One of which is the 2024 AP Preseason Men’s College Basketball All-American Team. This six-man squad comprises North Carolina’s RJ Davis, Alabama’s Mark Sears, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson, Auburn’s John Broome, and Arizona’s Caleb Love, the experienced players and Duke freshman Cooper Flagg, who was named to the list on Monday.

Now, Flagg being on the list has shocked many, especially UConn’s head coach Dan Hurley, who has called the AP Preseason All-American team an “emblematic of a societal issue with sports.” A part of the reason behind Hurley’s reaction to this is a valuable player was snubbed from the list, i.e. Alex Karaban, who has been a key contributor to UConn’s back-to-back success.

In the recent episode of the Locked On Uconn, Mark Zanetto touched upon the matter and discussed why Karaban’s snub for pre-season All-American honors indicates a bigger issue in college basketball. He called it, “not just an oversight it’s a symptom of a much larger problem in how we view and promote players in the game.”

Karaban carried UConn to two back-to-back national titles. Last season, he averaged 13.3 points and 5.1 rebounds while he led the Huskies to their second national championship. And when he listed for the 2024 NBA draft, he was ranked No. 36 by ESPN. But he chose to withdraw in May, saying, “Storrs is home. Let’s run it back.” His return had ESPN speculating UConn into the top five of Way-Too-Early Top 25.

So, given Karaban’s impact and return for 4th year, Zanetto points that it would have been just the right opportunity to celebrate a player like him, as compared to Flagg who hasn’t really contributed to college basketball yet, maybe just as a “flash” as the podcaster terms it.

“Instead of… a college basketball player that’s at least going to be here for four years… we are going to highlight someone who is more of a flash and who has not done anything in the college game,” Zanetto remarks.

The host admits Flagg to be a generational talent, but he isn’t going to be playing college basketball much longer. The almost 18-year-old is already favored to be the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NBA draft class. So Zanetto argues, “There will be a blip on radar screen but Alex Karaban contributions will last a lifetime.” It is a sentiment Dan Hurley relates to.

Dan Hurley furious over current ‘value in sports’

For many, Copper Flagg’s inclusion is because of the popularity he already holds. Dan Maheen, the guest on the podcast admits that is necessary, terming it as ‘entertainment’ and ‘selling tickets’. But Dan Hurley isn’t happy that is what it has come down to. He even takes a jab at Karaban for not being active on social media platforms.

“Alex does a s–tty job of drawing attention to himself. Maybe if he did more TikToks, he’d have solidified his All-American status. We value the wrong things in sports. We don’t value champions, but maybe that’s a societal issue.”

Putting things in perspective, Alex Karaban ranks at #70 in the NIL 100 with a worth of $989,000. On the other hand, Cooper Flagg ranks in the top 5 with an NIL worth of $2.6 million despite not having played any college basketball game, while Karaban’s skills couldn’t have been clearer.

So while Zanetto gets the need for ‘flash,’ Men’s College Basketball All-American Team isn’t about it. “This isn’t about promoting a game on ESPN or Fox where you throw Cooper Flagg’s face and people get excited… I think that’s irrelevant,” he opines. More than a few would agree.