College hoops coaches need to care about kids

Will somebody please think of the children?

With every single college basketball team… Will somebody please think of the children?

With every single college basketball team hiring a new coach in the off-season – at least that’s what it feels like – there are numerous recruits heading to universities they agreed to attend before the coach that signed them left.

Look no further than Kansas State, located in boring Manhattan, Kan., where Bob Huggins, affectionately or mockingly referred to by many as “Huggy Bear,” left for West Virginia after one season.

In the process of Huggins’ successful season, one in which he brought the Wildcats to the brink of the NCAA Tournament, the controversial coach recruited Scout.com’s No. 1 recruiting class.

The biggest recruit, Michael Beasley, is rated the No. 1 power forward in the nation by Scout.com and the best overall prospect by Rivals. The 6-8 stud turned down Jim Calhoun and Connecticut, Jim Boeheim and Syracuse and even Final Four visitors Georgetown and up-and-coming coaching star John Thompson III to attend Kansas State.

Beasley is from Fitchburg, Mass., which, in case you failed geography, is not anywhere near the dusty fields of Kansas.

Several media outlets asked Beasley how he felt about Huggins’ leaving for the hills of West Virginia and, like your roommate yells when you accidentally devour half of his recent grocery acquisitions, his response was simple: not cool, dude.

Beasley and fellow big-name prospect Bill Walker are left wondering if they should look to play elsewhere.

Walker spent an awkward period trying to figure out where he’d go to school or if he’d wait to turn 19 to enter the NBA Draft before enrolling late at Kansas State. He joined the team for the second semester before injuring his knee.

Sonny Vaccaro, a name anyone who claims to be a basketball fan should know, was not happy with Huggins or the NCAA. Vaccaro advises and works with recruits, serving Walker before he enrolled at Kansas State.

“Where’s the loyalty?” Vaccaro asked in The New York Times. “Here’s a case where a young person was again put in jeopardy for the benefit of others who should have known better. The adults have the freedom to break every heart in the world. The young kids don’t have the freedom to do anything. This is wrong.”

When ESPN.com caught up with Beasley, the recruit said he hadn’t asked to be released from his commitment to Kansas State yet.

“[Huggins] supposedly had the best recruiting class in the nation, but he didn’t look out for us,” Beasley said.

But The New York Times reported that it’s not Kansas State’s policy to allow any athletes to pull out of their commitment.

How is that fair? Have you ever been to Kansas?