March Madness: Weighing How Player-Coach Power Struggles Could Impact the Tournament

• As March Madness approaches, college basketball player-coach disputes have been happening publicly
• The days of the borderline omnipotent head basketball coach ruling his team as a dictatorship are over
• But NIL money and players enjoying financial freedom have flipped the power dynamic
• How might the recent, high-profile player-coach dustups impact the tournament?

The Days of the All-Powerful Basketball Coach Are Over

Bobby Knight, John Thompson, Mike Krzyzewski, John Chaney — these are just some of the high-profile college basketball coaches of the past whose teams were successful and whose players functioned based on the coaches’ rules rather than vice versa.

Now, with players getting paid based on Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) and it being perfectly legal rather than “allegedly” 😉 being paid under the table, the power dynamic has not just tilted, it has flipped completely.

Recent events in which one coach was terminated after unloading on his players and another needed to cautiously sidestep questions about a probable top NBA draft pick pulling himself out of a game have increased scrutiny on player behavior and how coaches can maintain at least a semblance of authority.

As the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament (aka March Madness) approaches, how could this impact the top seeds and provide a window for lower seeds to stage upsets, roil brackets, and offer opportunity for profit?

Kansas State’s Jerome Tang’s Rant Got Him Fired

Kansas State’s head basketball coach Jerome Tang was fired days after the above rant. He expressed his embarrassment at their perceived lack of effort, outright said that players on his current roster did not deserve to wear their uniform, and that they would not be wearing it next year.

It came in the aftermath of a 91-62 home blowout to Cincinnati.

For its part, the university referenced the team’s poor overall 2025-26 record under Tang. This season, the Wildcats are 10-15 for the season and 1-11 in the Big 12. This is the second consecutive disappointing season for them. They spent heavily in the transfer portal and were not getting the results they paid for.

Still, given Tang’s contractual status, this comes as something of a surprise. The university owes him $18 million. The school is trying to fire him for cause after he tore into the players. It’s hard to envision that strategy succeeding. They’ll likely need to pay him every dollar.

Admittedly, the team has not played up to expectations in the past two seasons. In his first year, Tang led the team to a 26-10 record and the NCAA Tournament. They missed the tournament in the next two years. This year has been a disaster.

Of course, they’re justified in firing him based on results. But there are lingering issues beneath that decision. The head coach clearly had enough of not being able to get through to his players. At the end of his rope and so frustrated with their performance, he played his one remaining card. He got fired for it.

In the past, what could the players have done about it if they were on scholarship and needed to comport themselves based on the coach’s edicts? They would have done what they were told.

Today, that is no longer the case and puts 18-22-year-olds in charge. Needless to say, that is not a good thing.

Kansas’ Bill Self Has an Issue of His Own

Load management is a hot-button term in the NBA. The league is trying to navigate players taking extensive time off during the regular season so they are prepared for the playoffs.

This was unheard of in the past. But given the NBA’s lengthy season, the amount of money players are paid, and that playoff success far surpasses regular season success, players and organizations feel justified in doing it. Advanced metrics are used to explain why a player like LeBron James or even a younger player like Victor Wembanyama benefit from the rest. Fans who pay the exorbitant prices to go to games or put their money on an outcome or a player prop suddenly seeing a player pulled after 15 minutes without him being injured have a right to complain.

For prospective NBA players whose status all but guarantees pro riches, pulling themselves from games is the new norm.

Such is the case with Kansas’ Darryn Peterson.

Peterson is a freshman for the Jayhawks and could be the first overall pick in the 2026 NBA Draft. However, he is looking out for his own interests in lieu of team goals by constantly pulling himself from games.

Head coach Bill Self expressed his frustration with the situation when Peterson removed himself after playing 18 minutes.

Self is one of the most decorated coaches on the planet. He is in a unique situation that is also faced by contemporaries like Rick Pitino and John Calipari in that they ran teams when the coach’s word was law. Now they need to adapt to the players having the ability to say no or leave at will.

These challenges and the players’ point-of-view are somewhat understandable. No matter how much money Peterson is getting at Kansas, it pales in comparison to what he’ll get in the NBA. Is he supposed to risk that life-changing money? Money that will potentially take care of him and his entire family for generations if he’s smart?

Basketball Player-Coach Disputes Are Not Uncommon, But…

As March Madness gets closer, the teams with a litany of star players like Duke, Arizona, Michigan, Kansas, and UConn could be confronted with a player who has a twinge in his calf and is worried about getting hurt before the draft. It makes sense to decide that his future is far more important than the present.

This ties in directly with the lower-tier teams who find themselves in the tournament and have players whose competitive ceiling is the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, not the NBA or even making a living playing overseas. They’re more likely to throw everything into the center of the table and play with pain to win.

When filling out a bracket or picking individual games, it’s worthwhile to look at the roster, gauge which players were taking significant rest breaks during the season, who is likely to go high in the NBA Draft, and pick accordingly when they have a talented and hungry opponent that will play as hard as they can from tip-off to the final buzzer.

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