OT-Paths to the NBA for those not able to maintain elligibility
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/23/sports/ncaabasketball/23prospect.html…
Not even sticking around for his senior year of high school says something along the lines of, "I am not going to be able to meet the minimum standards for academic eligibility no matter what college I attend and I am having major difficulties maintaining a 2.0 in high school."
April 24th, 2009 at 12:15 AM ^
Kids have been doing this in Europe for years. If the kid is better at hoops than he is at school, than why the fuck shouldn't he go and make money?
According to Scoop Jackson on First Take this morning, there are a lot of extenuating circumstances with this kid. Basically, the entire coaching staff from his HS is gone, and there were some bitter politics involved. Kids that age get fed up easily, and Sonny Vaccaro sorta greased the wheels a bit to get him a nice contract in Europe. I think he will get an endorsement for whatever shoe company Vaccaro stumps for, too.
I would prefer to see the NCAA end shamateurism and pay the athletes. They could also cut out most of their rulebook and let a free market determine who plays for who. The NBA should do the same thing. If a teenager is good enough to play NBA ball, he should be allowed to.
The difference between Europe and here is that a lot of second and third-tier players can make decent money in Europe because there are a lot more leagues and teams that pay decent money. Many of the underachieving Wolverines from the last ten years are making money in Europe right now.
I am not going to judge anyone for taking the money. It's kind of hard to turn down a six-figure salary for doing something you have wanted to do for your entire life.
April 24th, 2009 at 11:52 AM ^
If the kid is better at hoops than he is at school, than why the fuck shouldn't he go and make money?
What if he gets hurt, or just turns out to be not good enough to last in the NBA? Then what will he do? Sports in Europe are dog-eat-dog to an extent unknown here. I'm not sure we should emulate them. I like that our society steers kids to keep going to school through at least part of college. I don't see what's the rush to get paid at 16-17 years old.
I would prefer to see the NCAA end shamateurism and pay the athletes.
Do you realize that the large majority of athletic departments are not profitable? Do you want just the small percentage that make money to pay their athletes, or do you want to force all of them to pay, and make the large majority drown further in red ink than they currently are? Where would the money come from to pay these guys?
April 24th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
I agree with your second point.
Put as per your first - it's nobody's responsibility to make the choice for him other than his own. We allow kids to enter the draft regardless of how good they are 1 year after high school - how is what he's doing any more risky to his future than early entrants to the draft who don't get chosen?
April 24th, 2009 at 12:13 AM ^
Or it says I can get paid to play for two years and still be just as prepared for the NBA. Personally if it were me, I would go overseas and make money playing against better competition.
...then why don't more high schoolers (i.e. OSU one year recruits) just do that. I don't necessarily have a problem with someone choosing to go to Europe, I just think that the reason they do so generally relates to the fact that they know they wouldn't be able to make it through college, which I sometimes find to be a little sad.
April 24th, 2009 at 10:07 AM ^
Playing in Europe is not very easy for these kids right now. The European teams are slow to play younger players, they usually have them spend a lot of time on the bench, learning the system in practice or on the youth team. You should look at Brandon Jennings story or stats, he's a top ten pick this year who played last year in Europe, on Rome's team. I'm pretty sure he didn't play much at all at first, and now is getting ~20 minutes a game.
The Europe leagues just aren't well suited for a "one and done" player right now, although they may adjust if more kids start doing this.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:03 PM ^
Yes, elite pro basketball in Europe is a higher level of competition than NCAA basketball. But there are other factors to consider. Would you be comfortable moving to a foreign, non-English-speaking country and playing on a team full of guys several years older than you, when you're barely old enough to have a driver's license? Would you like to be thousands of miles and six or more time zones away from your family?
The system is different, too. As a rule, European coaches push their players considerably more than their American counterparts, and put up with a lot less crap. (It's routine for European teams to practice twice a day, with each practice often lasting 3 hours or more.) And a lot of them probably don't speak English well, so an American who plays there can look forward to getting yelled at in a foreign language and waiting for the interpreter to translate.
And of course there are issues of racism and xenophobia that black American players can face - plus unrealistic expectations. (Americans who play there are assumed to be superstars who will carry the team to championships.) Not everyone is cut out for this kind of a transition.
I hope this isn't the shape of things to come.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:12 PM ^
I don't know if the competition in Europe is that much better than playing for one of the top college programs here. However, it does allow guys to do nothing but basketball, which you'd think would be good for their game. It probably gives NBA GMs a good view into the player's maturity -- if they can jump into a new culture, language barrier, etc and still do well, that's a point in their favor I'd think.
It definitely not going to be for everyone though -- the college experience is almost certainly a lot more fun, and obviously is still a great path to the NBA if you're good.
The competition is certainly vastly higher than high school though. If this kid feels like his game was stagnating and he's that good of a prospect, why not? He'll definitely be a better player one year from now than if he'd stayed in high school.
April 24th, 2009 at 12:08 PM ^
will even allow it. I know in soccer there was quite a bit of red tape (in addition to the skill level issues) in getting Jozy Altidore and Freddy Adu transferred to European leagues before they turned 18.
Something regarding the issuance of work permits for underage foreigners. I don't think it was coincidence that they were both almost 19 before it happened.
Maybe this kid turns 18 before their season starts, but if he doesn't I'd be surprised if it will be as easy as just throwing his name in a European hat.