Underage and BALLIN

Now that March Madness is over and the NBA season is coming to an end, basketball fans start thinking about the NBA draft. It’s the time of year when players call press conferences to announce that they are foregoing their remaining college eligibility to enter the NBA draft.

In 2006 David Stern, the NBA’s commissioner instituted a rule that you must be at least 19 years old and one year removed from high school in order to enter the NBA draft. This is the reason why O.J Mayo spent a year at USC, Kevin Love a year at UCLA, Michael Beasley a year at Kansas State and Derrick Rose a year at Memphis. While no high school kids will be eligible, there are potentially twelve college freshman that could be drafted in the first round alone. That means twelve students decided to put their education on hold to pursue the “next level” or as Gene Wojeciechowski from ESPN puts it, twelve “One ‘N Dones.”

I don’t really see an upside to this rule. Players hate it because they can’t go pro right away and administrators and officials don’t like it either because these players aren’t attending college with the intention of receiving an education. With the new system, you have high school All Americans’ who go to college just to satisfy a rule and don’t take it seriously. They sign up for spring classes that they will never attend because they know they are not returning to school. So who ultimately benefits from this rule?

The players certainly don’t benefit because they are deprived the opportunity to turn pro after high school even if their games are ready. These same players also risk injury. One bad fall or torn ligament could potentially end their basketball careers. The beneficiaries have to be the college athletic programs. This year Kansas State had more nationally televised games than any previous year in their history due to the curiosity surrounding Michael Beasley. Attendance at games went up for USC because of OJ Mayo. Derrick Rose led Memphis to the NCAA Championship game and his coach, John Calipari, received a multi-million dollar contract extension. Freshman “One ‘N Done” Keith Love led UCLA to another Final Four and another huge boost for this storied basketball program.

Could you imagine how Kobe Bryant, Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudimire and Dwight Howard would have heightened college programs? All these players went straight to the NBA from high school. Lebron James had a multi-million dollar shoe deal with Nike before he was even drafted. From 1995-2005, the ten years leading up to when the draft rule was instituted, twenty-six high school players were drafted starting with Kevin Garnett in ’95. Prior to that, no high school player was drafted since Darryl Dawkins was taken fifth by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1975.

If this rule wasn’t bad enough, the NCAA and NBA Commissioner David Stern have recently discussed possibly adding another year to the age requirement so that players would have to be 20 and two years removed from high school to enter the NBA. Let’s just remember that two of the best players in the NBA, Kobe and Lebron, were drafted at the ages of 17 and 18, so I really see no problem with players entering the league directly out of high school.

I recently talked to Walter Norton Jr., the strength and conditioning coach for the Boston Celtics, to gain some insight on this topic. He essentially said David Stern was trying to accomplish a few things. He wanted to promote a higher quality of basketball, wanted guys to display better behavior and wanted them to mature and become better students of the game.

So, I guess there can be some benefits to playing college ball. You get to work on your game. There are actually very few players who can handle the NBA right out of high school. There is a different level of intensity and a different work ethic that some just don’t have at the age of 18. In college you can develop that intensity and work ethic and become ready to turn pro. You also learn to deal with other people. You have to learn to deal with other great players, respect your coach, your trainers, and your doctors and learn to work as a team. In college, most of your teammates were also the stars at their high schools so you’re exposed to many good players. You learn to share the ball and learn the intricacies of the game. In college, you begin to realize that it’s about teamwork. In the NBA, they expect you to deliver every day, no excuses. Playing becomes your job and you are expected to act with a certain level of maturity. Also, by adding another year, it forces players to attend classes keep their eligibility and at least work their way towards an Associates degree.

Pat Duquette, associate head coach for the men’s basketball team at Boston College, didn’t think this was a bad rule either. The extra year in college gives the NBA teams more time to scout players and players more time to develop their skills. Ultimately, it cuts down the number of mistakes made in the drafting process when you are able to evaluate players at the college level. However, he did say that when a kid has the ability to turn pro, it is very difficult to tell a kid not to go.

While I understand and fully support athletes getting an education, it really is difficult to gauge at what age someone is ready to turn pro. Such players as Lebron James and Kobe Bryant are one of a kind. Considering the Kobe Bryant’s, Dwight Howard’s, Lebron James’ and other young phenoms, I don’t see college making a huge difference. The NBA should get rid of the age requirement because after all, it is where amazing happens!