Candid Coaches: Who is the most powerful person in college basketball?

This is the final week of our 2026 Candid Coaches feature. College basketball insiders Gary Parrish and Matt Norlander surveyed nearly 100 men's Division I coaches in the thick of the offseason; as always, interviewees were given the promise of anonymity in a swap for honest and enlightening answers on a medley of topics. Links to all previous questions are at the bottom of this story. This is the last entry of this year's series.

Talk to any college basketball coach over the past few years, in person or on the phone, basically about anything, and, at some point, the conversation typically turns to the so-called state of the game. Players are bouncing from one campus to another (and often another and another) via unprecedented transfer numbers while using agents to secure paydays previously unrealized or even allowed. Former professionals, even NBA Draft picks, are circling back to college with the help of savvy attorneys and friendly local judges, sometimes even to the chagrin of the conferences they're trying to join. At least one league, you might've heard, is actually suing one of its own members and football coaches right now in federal court.

The term "chaos" gets thrown around…

Original source: https://www.cbssports.com/