The G-League is here to stay, and Joel Justus has done his homework

Times are changing in the world of sports, especially within college basketball.

For starters, COVID-19 has shifted what we thought as normal. There’s no telling when fans will be back in the stands or what precautions players/coaches will need to take before and after the game, along with the hundreds of other unknowns going forward.

If that weren’t enough, college basketball’s biggest fear has finally come to fruition: the G-League ascending as a desirable hot spot for some of the best high school players in the country.

The NCAA has continued to give the student athlete the short end of the stick. As a result, these athletes are given newer opportunities that can both advance their skills and pay them generously.

Kentucky assistant coach Joel Justus isn’t surprised by any of this, as he’s done his homework and understands the new landscape of college basketball, as reported by Vaught’s Views.

“You’re going to see guys who will take advantage of it (G-League). When you’re in our profession, you’ve gotta do you homework,” Justus said. “You’ve got to do your research to see the information that’s out there.”

There’s no denying that Kentucky will be one of the hardest hit programs in the country when it comes to the G-League extending offers to these players. However, there’s a reason behind why Kentucky backed off a few guys like Isaiah Todd and Jalen Green.

“All of the guys who are coming here are going to have that opportunity at some points. It’s our job as coaches and assistant coaches to do the research,” Justus said. “If you go back into the fall and you take a look at our steps of who we selected and who we ended up signing, there were other guys that we kind of backed away from.”

There were rumors regarding the Cats incoming five-star freshman Terrence Clarke on taking one of those lucrative G-League deals, but he shut that down days after it spread and showed his loyalty to Kentucky.

The G-League is still a very serious threat to college basketball. John Calipari and his staff has always been ahead of the curve, so hopefully they will continue to do so going forward.