UNDRAFTED - Manny + Warren
I want to know who is telling these kids to leave and go pro? Obviously another year of school for both these kids would have dramatically improved there draft stock. Just doesnt make sense...you think there would be someone in the university to tell these kids the truth or mentor them or something. i dont know...thoughts?
I know he is not a point guard.
No, you clearly don't.
Think of the time when you were about to finish your degree - how excited were you for your first job - the chance to finally make some money - and how you couldn't wait another day to move from being a penniless student to a well to do professional. Now, imagine that you have tonnes and tonnes of talent and you are being asked to go through a grinder of a work schedule so that other people make money off you while you continue to be a penniless amateur student athelete - wouldn't you want to just have it finished so that you can finally get some monetary returns from your talent.
I think this is the big problem with the whole NCAA Student Athelete system. Coaches make multi-millions a year, University makes hundreds of millions; Game Companies, Sponsors, Apparel Companies makes billions - all based on the talent and hard work of people like Manny and Warren - and what do they get - the pride and glory for sure, an excellent education of course - but I am sure it is often not enough against the more immediate need of improving the financial state of your family by getting some valuation for your talent before it is too late and the vagaries of injuries, competition from other elite talent or just pure luck takes it all away from you.
I think NCAA needs to think about allowing the schools to give the students on the roster a living allowance - does not have to be too much - say $50K - 70K per year so that they don't have to run out of school because the family roof is leaking and they need a couple of thousands to fix it.
$50-$70K? Seriously? That's an absurdly high number. I know it's not a lot compared to the money the school is taking in, but c'mon.
Why stop at $50-70K? Start them at $500k so they can work on managing a shit load of money.
Seriously, they go to school for free. They get to showcase their skills in front of millions of people watching on tv. And if they're really good, they get to make more money than we could ever imagine at the next level. Otherwise, they're debt free coming out of an elite university. That's more than enough!
I admit that up front, but the sheer stupdity of the suggestion demands mockery. If you have 85 scholarship football players and 13 b-ball players, the bottom end of your range is $4.9M. Don't forget Title IX - you must spend a similar amount on women's programs. So let's call it a nice, round $10M. There are only a handful of athletic programs that run any kind of surplus right now, a $10M hit takes most Division 1 programs out of the game. Congratulations, you've destroyed college athletics to benefit the select few who will actually be able to earn a living on their sports ability after college.
Okay - I agree that the amount does not make sense from the scale and Title IX point of view - but still - I would say that the idea of student atheletes making zilch while everybidy else raking it in is absurd.
Think of it from the perspective of a truly elite talent - if a degree is really that valuable then you would not see such abysmal graduation rates as you see in college football/bball. Elite talent comes to college sports because that is the *only* way to get into the pro sports. They deserve compensation - at least at the minimum level at which they can provide a basic living to their families - then there won't be the huge pressure on them to jump ship at the first available opportunity.
NCAA can set limits so that it does not become a bidding contest - but come on - think of someone who has to rise out of penury based on his/her physical skills? and if you were one of them - wouldn't you take the first cash offer that comes your way rather than gamble with injury/competition/luck - and wouldn't you just hate the system that makes so much money off you and gives you not a penny. Wouldn't you call it unfair?
They don't deserve a fucking dime while in college. I had to work hard. My family had to work hard so we can afford my Michigan education. The "truly elite talent" get a free education, free food and priceless exposure.
If they need money so badly, the b-ball players can play in Europe (see: Brandon Jennings) and the football players can suck it up for two years.
There's no fine line with elite talent and non-elite talent. What's the difference? Walk on versus scholarship? That's horribly unfair.
They get scholarships, instead of working at a job to pay for college, they work out to keep their scholarship.
I'm not saying this isn't an issue but consider this. How about the thousands of students whose families are similarly stretched for resources, work extremely hard in school, and do not have full rides? They have all the same issues but come out of college burdened with substantial debt. Let's try and keep some things in perspective - the athletic scholarship carries a lot of value, especially at a school like Michigan.
Manny really needs his outside shot to fall. He isn't big enough to play the three in the NBA, so he needs to shoot well enough to play the two in the NBA. Beilein's system is great for a player who needs to develop his outside shooting. Remember that the main criticism during Belein's first year was that players "did nothing but jack up a lot of threes.:
I would have preferred for Manny to stay, get a degree, and clean up his outside shot a little bit. It would have been nice to see him end his career at Michigan on a positive note. Now that he is gone, I wish him well. I am thinking Europe or Israel will be his eventual destination.
No matter what one may think of Manny's decision, though, Michigan fans owe him a debt of gratitude for being a high-profile recruit who said no to the "other school" and helped Michigan claw its way back into a better part of the food chain, both on the court and in recruiting. Hopefully, somewhere down the road, Manny will be seen as the first block of a successful, though long, rebuilding process.
I'd quibble as well with the notion that Harris is making a bad decision or that he was misled or given bad advice. Everybody knows he needs further development - now he gets to do that while getting paid a few hundred thousand dollars a year. Not a bad deal, right?
People act like playing overseas is some sort of purgatory-like sentence. My cousin played four years and Villanova, was a 2nd-team all conference performer, but had no shot at the NBA. He went and played in China for 9 years, they paid him a few hundred grand a year and paid to house and feed him while there - he retired after 9 years with enough money to buy three successful restaurants.
it's a good gig for Manny provided he's intelligent (which he demonstrably is), regardless of whether he makes the NBA.
probably learned some Chinese, as well. Not a bad post-grad (and paid-for) education.
the question manny needed to answer (and i don't know the answer) is if by staying in school and improving his draft stock, he could have made more money the following year such that he would have made more money in one year having stayed, than in two years having left. my guess is that he would have made more money had he stayed, but i don't have a lot of evidence to back that up.