2017 witnessed several key developments in the legal and business issues impacting universities and intercollegiate athletics. From new tax laws to FBI investigations, sports gambling to amateurism, there are a number of issues that have the potential to fundamentally alter the operation of college athletics for the foreseeable future.

At the very least, there needs to be a redefining of what constitutes substantial academic assistance. This redefinition should be in terms of how much assistance need be given in an individual case and, more so, in recognizing a systemic failure as constituting substantial assistance without regard to the proofs as to the extent of assistance in individual cases.

For athletics, the athletic director is the equivalent of the college dean. But when the “front porch” of the campus misfires, it can inflict much more serious and lasting damage on a university than a scandal in the English Department or Medical School. That means that a president also must have an active outside-athletics eye on athletics. Enter the Faculty Athletic Representative.

Transfers have become a vitally important aspect of college basketball. Adding players from the transfer market to fill out rosters can sometimes mean the difference between winning a national championship and suffering an early tournament defeat. Losing players via transfer also carries a similar importance.

Few people know that ESPN Lead Analyst Jay Bilas served on a NCAA committee while in college. That experience, along with so many others, have helped shape the perspectives that he has today. Trip Durham sits down with Jay to get his thoughts on transfers, venue brand, and whether or not opinions should ever be held back.

South Carolina had both its men’s and women’s basketball teams playing in their respective 2017 NCAA Final Four.