5 Star R.J. Hampton (Friend of Jalen Wilson) Skipping College-Playing in the Australian Basketball League
R.J Hampton just announced he will play for the New Zealand Breakers in the Australian Basketball League. He will be passing up several offers from the blue bloods of college to go and make some money immediately before going to the NBA.
There was some thought that he would go to Kansas which would result in Jalen Wilson going with him since they are friends. Have to wonder how this could possibly effect Wilson's recruitment and chances of signing with Michigan again.
Also wonder if this trend will continue with high-profile 5 star recruits until the "One-And-Done" rule is gone.
Thanks for including some content with your OP---I vote that yours stays up.
Very small percentage of kids will do this...seems like 1 out of every class tries this.
We need a viable domestic version of this for all the kids who don't want to play school. Good for Hampton. Hope more follow this path.
We do. Starting this year the G-League will take you right out of high school at $125K a year.
I don't see any reason to hope more kids go overseas. Except this one: it validates my longstanding argument that college doesn't monopolize the development path, and there are perfectly good options overseas that 99.9% of all prospects decide to forgo.
I hope young men who want to get paid to play basketball and have no interest in a college classroom go play professionally in a paid league that doesn't require classroom attendance. I don't give a shit where it is.
I hope he prospers and returns to the US as a top draft pick. I hope that inspires those who hold his same priorities to follow in his footsteps, wherever that may be, and leave college and its scholarships to the students who appreciate their value.
Not sure I was with you until your final comment. Would be nice to develop a scenario where college ball really was a place for student athletes who valued getting an education and were committed to sticking around to complete it. Not sure that will or could happen but it is frustrating to watch guys come and go that really have zero interest in "playing school".
That is all fine and good and I love that this kid is telling the NCAA to shove their scholarships up their collective a$$.
However, if the "do-gooders" (to me they are out of touch, selfish assholes) get their way and college basketball returns to a (never existed) time where are the kids are true student athletes that are prohibited from earning compensation for their time and effort; the sport will be destroyed.
College basketball will end up as a 3rd tier sport that 99% of the national sports fanbase doesn't give a shit about - along the lines of college baseball or D2 college basketball. Don't tell me that it won't happen, the process was already starting in the mid-2000 decade when HS kids could go directly to the draft. And that was maybe 10 kids per year, if you take out 30 of the top 50 kids - the sport is going to be boring and nobody will watch.
To me, that sucks and I don't get how that scenario is better than athletes getting their NIL right back - remember, these are the same rights that every other American enjoys, even people in prison.
Why not at least give college basketball a chance to be competitive in the new environment?
Shocking that the Aussies out bid duke and kansas.
They didn't. The Kiwis in the Aussie League outbid the Dukies and the Jay Hawks.
This is flat out not true. This is merely your opinion.
From 1995-2005, 11 years, there were 39 high school kids drafted into the NBA. Only ~1/3 of them played for enough years in the NBA to become recognizable names. Only about 1/4 of them ever made an all star game. There's simply no way that the NBA is going to pick 30 of the top high school kids every year. The 30th best high school kid in America is going to get torched by any of the top 5 high school kids. Few are ready for the NBA that young. The draft will always be made up of mostly college kids.
Mid-2000s college bball was awesome. Look who was drafted .... mostly out of college nonetheless (link).
BUT... there was no minor league. If a minor league is established, that would allow for many more high school kids to join that system instead of biding their time pretending to be students.
Regardless, he's nuts. Send 30 per year to the NBA system. We'd never notice a difference in the college game.
i think the nba could have shared teams in the G league to develop some players (ie. a 15 team league). i think the nhl did this many years ago. if two nba teams shared a G league team, each could have 6-7 prospects on a minor league team and develop them. it could also be a better landing spot for many first or second round draft picks; instead of just sitting on the bench on the nba team.
kids could get good signing bonuses/contracts out of high school and it would give kids with no interest in college another option.
The G-League is headed to a place where every NBA team has its own affiliate, which I think is much more ideal. Teams don't want to share, because they'd have to share development tactics and plans. It'd be good for G-League teams to be like AHL teams - some of their players are signed to the NBA affiliate, and some are signed independently, which gives those guys a place to showcase and try out. I also fully approve of the plan to have the G-League accept kids right out of high school. It allows for a safety net that didn't exist the last time 18-year-olds could be drafted, which is really my main objection to the status quo ante.
It'll be interesting to see how many kids skip once the G League starts offering bigger contracts to elite high school prospects starting next year.
If it is more than about 20 kids, college basketball is going to have a big problem. Literally, the only teams that will get top players are the big-time cheaters that can compete with actual salaries.
And if they crack down on the cheaters, college basketball will get downgraded to a tier 3 sport. Nobody wants to see a bunch of 6'4" marginally athletic try-hards grinding on the court. A couple of those guys on a team make for fan favorites, a team full of those guys is a recipe for destruction of the sport.
I think that's far doomier and gloomier than what will actually happen. American kids will still dream of playing for big time college programs even if there's a good paycheck for playing over seas or in the G-league. I mean, most of D1 players will never sniff the NBA and March Madness is still (imo) the greatest sporting event on earth.
Realistically, you'll probably lose some of the guys who were already getting paid to the league that can pay better, but I think many 5* guys will still want to play in front of thousands of people, enjoy the college life and the college girls vs. being a semi-pro playing for the Maine Red Claws in front of a few hundred people
Just look at what was happening in the mid-2000 decade when the top 10 kids were going straight to the draft. College basketball was in-decline until the 1 and done rule came in.
Now imagine where 30 of the top 50 kids are opting out. You might get 5 NBA 1st round draft picks coming out of college - no bueno.
I don't mean this to sound like I'm being a jerk, but what are you basing the statement that college basketball was in decline in the mid 2000s on? I looked up the ratings of the Championship games for the decade and there isn't a noticeable improvement in 2006 when one and done came into effect.
There were also some good games in there (2001 Arizona Duke, 2003 Kansas Syracuse with Carmelo, 2005 UNC Illinois)
I don't really remember that era being any worse for college basketball other than Michigan sucking.
it's called pulling shit out of thin air; or something like that. D1 attendance was 23.6mm in 1999. It gradually increased to a peak of 28.1mm in 2008. it has been pretty flat since then. 28.0mm in 2018.
This, Not only were the ratings good but the quality of basketball was good and a vast majority of the NBA picks came out of college.
An average of 3.5 high school kids taken per year in the NBA draft (39 in 11 years). Dude is just making shit up off the top of his head.
one of the most talent-rich years in high school hoops, 2001, saw the lottery play out with 5 high schoolers going in the first round, notably with eddy curry & tyson chandler ending up on the bulls, and kwame brown going to the bullets. in 2004 there were 8 players drafted in the first round, causing the NCAA to miss out on dwight howard, shaun livingston, robert swift, and sebastien telfair.
honestly, i think the sport will survive without those few high-end "stars" going to blue blood programs. moreso it will just force duke to start running an actual offense.
ya, because 10-20 high school kids jumping directly to the pros each year is going to ruin college basketball that has over 4000 D1 players. all but a few of the one-and-doners will be just minor footnotes in the history at their respective schools.
"Nobody wants to see a bunch of 6'4" marginally athletic try-hards grinding on the court."
Absolutely right. It's why virtually nobody attends high school basketball games. Every time I see highlights, the try-hards are in front of empty seats. I don't know why any school district wastes their time and energy on such stuff.
What will really be interesting to see is how dedicated the NCAA et al. is to preserving "amateurism" once the exodus of elite prospects to various pro leagues starts to directly undermine its main cash cow (the NCAA mens basketball tournament).
I am anxious to see if the "You can't pay players, they should feel grateful to receive scholarships" crowd will be as gung ho when school payouts and coaches salaries start to suffer after NCAA basketball basically turns into the NIT.
You've got this whole thing backward. The NCAA would do cartwheels to get all the "pay the players" bullshit to go away.
I wouldn't be as gung ho, I'll be more gung ho than I've ever gung ho'd.
I love the assumption that the NCAA tourney is going to suffer because RJ Hampton is in New Zealand. Did the tournament suffer when LeBron and Garnett and Kobe and all of those guys were jumping straight to the league? Absolutely not. You didn't even care because they weren't involved at all.
(Edit: Speaking of KG, you know he was supposed to come to Michigan if he didn't jump to the NBA, right? Did you care? Did you not watch 1995 Michigan beat Duke at Crisler because KG should've been there and you just didn't feel so "gung-ho" about the whole thing?)
You root for the guys on your college team, whatever their names are. Whatever their talent level. That won't stop, and the game won't even slightly change losing the top tier of football or basketball to developmental pro leagues. It has happened before and we all lived to tell the tale.
Did college football suffer when the USFL was actually legit and stole a whole additional league's worth of pro football players? Not even a little bit. There's not a minor league in the world big enough to hold all the guys it would take to make a dent in collegiate sports.
Michigan hoops just won 60+ games the last two years with barely a draft pick anywhere to be seen. MSU was better once their draft picks left. What you think would happen to college sports wouldn't happen to college sports. We only care about who's here. There would still be a full roster of guys wearing maize and blue playing a roster full of guys wearing scarlet and gray for the B1G crown and a shot at the CFP. And you think I'd pout and not watch because JJ McCarthy decided to skip college and is playing minor league football in Dubuque for a Green Bay affiliate?
I assure you I would not.
That's really good news for us. Although i guess it means the bag is a little bit bigger for Jalen, but it should be easier now that RJ isn't going to Kansas.
Kids have always had the opportunity to do this, it's just the Blue Bloods have paid more than the Euro leagues.
Maybe, but branding is really important
If Zion received $0 to go to Duke, it have still would have been a much better branding decision than getting $70k (i have no idea what the contracts are like) to play in Australia.
Exactly plus being around a bunch of ppl your age in a much more familiar setting also is why a ton of kids will be reluctant to do this.
Emmanuel Mudiay went and played in China for a year and got $1.2M plus an Under Armour deal. Can't blame these kids at all for doing this.
He got paid but he was pretty much out of sight out of mind. Brandon Jennings, Mudiay and Terrence Ferguson have all done it, and successfully got drafted in the NBA. I just believe if you blow up in college the sponsors will be willing to pay more for your services.
You shouldn't use Zion, he is a special kid. He would have gotten more than this kid and still would be the #1 pick. He's a generational type athlete. Now that doesn't mean he will tear the NBA up, because he showed some major flaws in his game against State, but more people knew who Zion was in HS than know about R.J Hampton.
He actually wouldn't have been #1. Not even sure he would have been top 5.
He was the 3rd ranked recruit. Most scouts had no idea he would be that huge at Duke.
He very much benefitted from the Duke brand
He actually wouldn't have been #1. Not even sure he would have been top 5.
He was the 3rd ranked recruit. Most scouts had no idea he would be that huge at Duke.
He very much benefitted from the Duke brand
The thing missing from your equation is that there's brand value everywhere. You're probably right on Duke vs. Australia but what about Duke vs. playing in China?
The major reason to play in college vs. overseas for a year is that the NCAA is much easier and therefore better for your draft stock.
True but his branding impact will be short lived there, because he’s coming in as a complete unknown to the masses and he will be gone by March once the season is over with.
A complete unknown who had the clout to be given an opportunity to announce his decision live on ESPN, the largest sports TV network on the planet, and is currently being discussed on a message board dedicated to a school he wasn't even considering committing to.
Yeah... complete unknown.
Was speaking from the perspective, of people in New Zealand. Not trying to come down on the kid...but I doubt Kiwi’s are up watching “Get Up!” waiting on the RJ Hampton announcement.
Maybe, maybe not, but he's not a complete unknown. A complete unknown wouldn't be on ESPN at all, let alone announcing a decision live on air as a featured segment.
He already has more Instagram followers than all NBL teams combined. In today's landscape, that means something from a marketability standpoint. He will be coming in as a star. Basketball fans in NZ will undoubtedly be pumped to have him there. He is reportedly already finalizing a shoe deal. His salary is probably well into the six figures.
I don't think he cared at all about college and sees the NBL as a place to focus his entire life on basketball while competing at a professional level, making a ton of money for an 18 year old kid, and spending a few months abroad while doing so. Win-win-win.
Zion would have gotten 7 figures (hell, maybe he did) in an open market last year. Like it or not, that is his market value.
this + the reinstatement of de sousa hopefully means less of an incentive for Wilson to go to Kansas, given that their starting front-court is now set and less minutes available overall for JW. just speculation, but i hope he comes back into the fold.
Hopefully it'll be a g'day for us and Wilson.
Would Wilson be a 4 for Kansas? He always struck me as more of a 3/wing type player.
yea you're right, perhaps a tad optimistic from me. still means less minutes overall if an established forward comes back, but JW's scouting is all about how he's a 3/4 tweener who scores really well.
True. Just depends on how Kansas uses their 4 which admittedly I’m unfamiliar with.
Wait, what? De Sousa was reinstated, with actual eligibility? I missed this... Must be Kansas' consolation prize for losing Zion to Duke. They offered $120K, you'd think that would be enough!
yeah it's weirdly hard to find news on it:
https://kuathletics.com/news/2019/5/24/mens-basketball-ncaa-student-athlete-reinstatement-committee-rules-de-sousa-eligible-for-2019-20-season.aspx
Going overseas and playing a sport for money when you're 19 or 20 years old sounds like the best decision a kid could make
Wish I'd been good enough at a sport to do it!
Right?
Take what essentially amounts to a gap year, play a sport you love and become insanely wealthy for your age in some awesome locale in Spain, Italy, China, Australia, etc.?
I'm surprised more top players don't do it. It's also part of what makes me roll my eyes when people talk about how these guys are being exploited. They have this awesome opportunity right in front of them and actively choose not to take it.
Does this make Hampton a faux Aussie, like "UM Fan from Sydney"?