This is not the case across the Atlantic however, where Deng's extraordinary ability on the hardwood marks him out as one of the best basketball players on the planet.

BBC: NBA superstar Luol Deng spreads the basketball word

The alleged investment scheme could prove to be embarrassing to the NCAA because Salinas was prominent in the Houston basketball scene, backing a summer league that attracted the best local basketball players.

FORBES: SEC Accuses Investment Group That Lured College Basketball Coaches of Fraud

Mike Krzyzweski, head basketball coach at Duke, was a member of the Dream Team coaching staff and wondered how much he could really do to help some of the best professional basketball players in the world.

FORBES: Be Like Mike: Three Keys to Collaboration and Winning

That early culture-changing work is why it was "no big deal" as some writers said recently when Brittney Griner, the No. 1 pick in the WNBA draft and one of the best female basketball players, came out of the closet, before she even played her first pro basketball game for the Phoenix Mercury.

CNN: Here's to Collins -- and the NBA

Suddenly, a school with an enrollment of about 12, 000, whose first graduating class wore the caps and gowns in 2001, is getting national attention because of a basketball team loaded with players whose best recruiting offers were from conferences like the Atlantic 10 and Missouri Valley.

NPR: Coach Leads Florida Gulf Coast To NCAA Success

If the football players date the hottest girls, if the basketball players get invited to all the best parties, then there is a jock culture.

FORBES: Lesson From Steubenville Trial: How Jock Culture Morphs Into Rape Culture