March Madness Cinderella teams are worried about their future in the NCAA tournament. They can blame NIL

When his team opened conference tournament play earlier this month, Queens University men’s basketball coach Grant Leonard glanced into the stands and was surprised by what he saw. Sitting courtside, Leonard said, was an SEC assistant coach who was there to get a head start scouting and recruiting a Queens player who had not yet entered the transfer portal. The SEC assistant wore school-branded apparel just like coaches do when trying to make their presence known to high school prospects while attending Peach Jam or other AAU tournaments.

“I don't think it is the right thing ethically to go to our conference tournament, sit on the floor and try to interact with my player in an elimination game,” Leonard told reporters Thursday on the eve of Queens’ first-round NCAA tournament game against Purdue. “That is my opinion; it is not a fact. Is it permissible?

Maybe, maybe not. Is it ethical? In my opinion no.

” Stories like that help illustrate why the Cinderella runs that have long been the lifeblood of the NCAA tournament are rapidly becoming more scarce . The gap between college basketball’s haves and have-nots is rapidly widening because top-tier programs can offer massive NIL payouts to the best available talent and because transfer rules no longer prevent players from switching schools as often as they want without penalty. The name-brand programs who have advanced in this year’s NCAA tournament have treated mid-major teams like their personal farm system.