No NCAA Cinderellas? Here’s Another Way College Sports Will Soon Never Be The Same

At this point, we’re all crying about our imperfect NCAA tournament brackets.

But now, we’re also fretting about how poor Cinderella not only can’t find her glass slipper, but also about how she’s not even getting the chance to sneak into the ball through the back door.

Where are all the fun, exhilarating upsets of March, we ask? 

There are no Cinderella teams left in the 2025 NCAA Basketball Tournament. (Photo by Ben Hider/Getty Images)

Sorry Cindy!

Well, smaller schools are having a tough time competing these days, and everyone is blaming the new NIL era for it. "Name, Image and Likeness" money gives the big and powerful universities the ability to buy – more so than ever before – the very best athletes, and in turn, wins and success.

The little guys can’t keep up.

Buh-bye, Cinderella.

See Ya, Seniors…

You know what else we can wave goodbye to…something else that is never to be the same in major college athletics?

Lifers in coaching. The veteran and tenured elders, if you will. 

You know the types. They've got mileage and baggage and lots of war stories. They're the old crusty curmudgeons who have been around for so long that they no longer care about all the silly (and sometimes controversial) things they do and say. They can be fun, and funny. And they bring a certain cachet to the game.

But their type is endangered….and not being replicated.

The minuscule attention span that we now have as a society puts younger and less proven coaches who don’t win immediately on the hot seat. Add in all that powerful NIL money that is meant to generate even faster and bigger results, and say, "Hello, pink slips!"

The term "coaching longevity" in college sports will eventually be an oxymoron.

Lifers in college coaching are going extinct: Connecticut women's basketball coach Geno Auriemma ((Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images), St. John's men's basketball coach Rick Pitino (Photo by Patrick McDermott/Getty Images), Michigan State men's basketball coach Tom Izzo (Photo by Otto Greule Jr/Getty Images), LSU women's basketball coach Kim Mulkey ((Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images), Iowa football coach Kirk Ferentz ((Photo by Michael Reaves/Getty Images).

Poof! The Giants Of College Coaching Will Soon Be Gone

Meanwhile, the coaches who do have any kind of extraordinary longevity in college sports are all aging out, or about to.

I remember thinking how remarkable it was when Tara VanDerveer retired after last season. The longtime women's basketball coach put in 38 years as the head women's basketball coach at Stanford and 45 years overall. Likewise, Mike Krzyzewski retired two years earlier after a 42-year stint at Duke and 47 years overall. That's 92 years between two coaches, a combined 80 years at the same two schools! 

It's hard to imagine that happening in this new era.

PALO ALTO, Calif. - Stanford Cardinal head coach Tara VanDerveer celebrates at Stanford Maples Pavilion after a game against the Oregon Ducks. tying longtime Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski with 1,202 NCAA career wins, on January 19, 2024. VanDerveer eventually surpassed him and finished her career with 1,216 wins. (Photo by Brandon Vallance/Getty Images)

Also on the clock are: Tom Izzo of Michigan State (42 years), Geno Auriemma of Connecticut (40 years), Rick Pitino of St. John’s (32 years) and Kim Mulkey of LSU (25 years), as well as Kirk Ferentz of Iowa (27 years), the longest-tenured coach in college football.

How do you replicate numbers like that, in this new era?

On Friday, another one-of-a-kind "lifer" took a knee. And for me, it hit hard, and close to home.

CHICAGO - DePaul Blue Demons head coach Doug Bruno reacts during a game against the Marquette Golden Eagles on March 6, 2018 at the Wintrust Arena.  (Photo by Quinn Harris/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

A Chicago Institution

DePaul women’s basketball coach Doug Bruno, announced on Friday that he’s stepping down after 39 years as the Blue Demons’ head coach.

The 74-year-old Bruno is a gem, cherished in the women’s game for being unapologetically old-school, particularly on a personal level. He is widely respected for doing basketball, college sports, and life the right way.

After nearly four decades on the job, you kind of develop a winning formula. And win he did. 

Bruno, known for a fun, high-scoring, uptempo style with a pressing defense and a fast-breaking, three-point shooting offense, went 786-405 (.660) while his teams earned 25 NCAA tournament berths. The Blue Demons also won 19 conference titles under Bruno.

An assistant coach under fellow lifer Connecticut coach Geno Auriemma for the 2012 and 2016 women's Olympic teams that won back-to-back gold medals, Bruno was inducted into the Women’s Basketball Hall of Fame in 2022. 

The court at DePaul bears his name. And Bruno's youth summer camps have drawn hundreds of girls from the Chicago-land area each year for decades. His reach and influence has been far and wide.

Long-time friends and coaching rivals Geno Auriemma, left, head coach of the UConn Huskies, and Doug Bruno, right, head coach of the DePaul Blue Demons, have a laugh before the start of their game at McGrath-Phillips Arena in Chicago. (Cloe Poisson/Hartford Courant/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)

This season, Bruno was listed as the head coach at DePaul, but, due to some health problems, he was unable to perform his normal sideline duties and watched from afar as his assistant Jill Pizzotti stepped up as acting head coach.

"I owe my professional athletic life to DePaul University," Bruno said as part of a statement. "Athletic success is the result of three forces coming together and working together: a talented, hardworking and supportive administration, coaching staff and, most importantly, players, and I’ve been fortunate to experience all three at DePaul.

"I would like to offer my deepest personal appreciation to all those who helped grow our DePaul women’s basketball program."

On A Personal Note…

Right back at you, Doug!

I would like Doug, and all of you, to know how much I appreciate him.

Having covered DePaul women’s basketball for more than a decade, I always appreciated Doug's kindness to me and my family, and his cooperation with stories and interviews. 

I also marveled at how many former players came back to DePaul each and every season when the team hosted Alumni Day games. Dozens sometimes. 

I already knew Doug was a great Xs and Os coach and a winner on game days. But the loyal return of all those former players told me all I needed to know about him and what kind of program he ran behind closed doors. He built a family of players who were excited to stay connected and visit years after they graduated.

Cheers, Doug Bruno, to a career well done.

There won’t be many more like you, if any. Ever.

Neighborhood Watch: More "Lifer" News

There’s something in the Lake Michigan water around Chicago.

Another lifer, stationed just up the road from Doug Bruno, is Northwestern women’s basketball coach Joe McKeown. And he's in transition, too.

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Northwestern Wildcats head coach Joe McKeown shouts instructions to his players during the second half of a regular season Big 10 Conference basketball game between the Northwestern Wildcats and the Ohio State Buckeyes on February 21, 2018 at the Value City Arena. (Photo by Scott W. Grau/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

McKeown has been coaching the women’s team at Northwestern for the last 17 years, but has been a college basketball head coach for 40 years. 

He announced recently that the upcoming 2025-26 season will be his last before he rides off into retirement.

"We are grateful for the many people that have supported us along the way," McKeown said. "To all the great players, coaches, support staff and fans that have given everything to Northwestern Women’s Basketball, thank you."

Like Bruno at DePaul, I got to know McKeown and covered his teams. He’s salt of the earth as well. Good guy, good coach and a refreshing kind of humble, with a good sense of humor and a genuine love for and devotion to the game.

Four decades as a college head coach.

Remarkable, soon to be extremely rare…and a reminder of a golden era of college sports gone by.