Here's a suggestion for all the exceptional, well-above-average and above-average college basketball underclassmen who are considering making the jump to the NBA this season: Don't do it.
Please don't misunderstand here. This has nothing to do with harmonizing on the sanctity of the phrase "scholar-athlete" and how not playing all four years in college is a detriment to the school and how some other poor sap with wicked chemistry fundamentals but no mid-range jumper would be better served with that scholarship money.
Far from it. This is about looking at life from a slightly different point of view.
Stay in school. Enjoy the beauty of college a little while longer. At least for one more year. There are no housing issues to worry about. Very few bills to pay. You're safe on campus.
Once you leave college, life changes. Doesn't matter if you're an athlete or not. It's about managing other people's expectations. In college, a panty raid on a sorority house is called "a prank." In the real world, it's called "breaking and entering" and "fined by the league."
The NBA money isn't going anywhere and it's not like UNC sophomore Tyler Hansbrough, Texas freshman Kevin Durant, Ohio State freshman Greg Oden, Florida junior Al Horford and all the others will have to repay any student loans. So, you've got a few more classes to consider attending. I know, I know, thumbing through the course handbook to register for an extra two semesters of classes can be a chore, but think of all the extra pep rallies, booster club dinners and television interviews you'll get to do. Plus, free meal plan!
Be the big man on campus for another season. You'll be praised by everyone in town. Students. Teachers. Advisors. Local business owners. Citizens in the community.
The media spends the entire season discussing the non-conference schedule, followed by the in-conference performance, followed by the conference tournament and who did enough to earn the No. 1 seed and who's on the bubble. That's seven more months of mostly positive exposure.
NCAA basketball is more of a national sport than the NBA. Everyone and their mother, literally, knows about "the brackets." Very few mothers ask if the Bucks beat the Hornets last Tuesday. Even in Milwaukee!
That's the often unappreciated aspect of being a big-time college star. The best college towns live and breathe with their teams. It's completely acceptable for a business to close and post a sign on its door reading "Will open up after the game" in a college town. Try that in a pro town. It doesn't fly.
A recent poll conducted by SI.com on Campus showed that 36 percent of students said their college's athletic reputation was a "significant factor" in deciding to go to the school. Another 34 percent said it was a "small factor" and 30 percent said it was "no factor."
Basically, fellas, seven out of every 10 students in your classes are there because you are. What more could you possibly ask for?
Fans of pro teams don't care that you caught your girlfriend cheating on you with some drunk fraternity dude. Fans of college teams do care. They'll ask if you want them to beat up the drunk fraternity dude. They may even accidentally fail the drunk fraternity dude on a test. Fans of pro teams are the drunk fraternity dude.
College fans travel. Pro fans rarely do. When you're on the road and you can look into the crowd and see a whole section of fans wearing your school colors, that's pretty cool. That doesn't happen in the NBA.
And consider this: being the coveted prize in the NBA Draft is not as cool and hip as it sounds. Sure, it's nice to say and it looks good on your player bio on the team's Web site, but that team was one of the 14 worst in the league last season. And likely the season before that, too. And the one after it. Since the NBA Draft Lottery was implemented in 1985, 60.2 percent of the teams in the lottery one year qualified for the lottery the following year (147 out of 244).*
Once you hit the lottery and get drafted by a marginal team, you'll toil in anonymity in such Orbitz Getaway Vacation Package destinations as Portland, Milwaukee, Oklahoma City, and of course, the effervescent Las Vegas-esque city of Salt Lake.
If you all wait another year, your draft class could be more competitive. Better to wait until a draft class looks deeper than Bill Gates' pockets and get drafted by a better team.
Soak up the pageantry of college basketball. Bask in its stately Xanadu. It captures the heart, mind and spirit of fans. Let it do the same to you.
* Total number reflects teams who earned a lottery pick prior to previous trade obligations.
Comments (6)
with the amount of money they'll be making, they won't even have to worry about paying their bills. and what if they get injured?
You'll still get drafted
stupidest idea ever. As a NBA fan whose seen the level of play decline b/c players are making a jump without being prepared correctly I am all for the players staying in college longer to fine tune their game. From the players point of view this is a nonissue. To leave millions of dollars behind just isnt gonna happen. Nobody walks away from money this great. What happens if say a Livignston injury happens to Oden. He might still go high, but say goodbye to #1 pick and all those millions. If things are to change, the NBA has to impose limits. Otherwise players have no reason to stay in college once their stock rises high enough.
Dude, you are so right-on. I wish I never left college. It's good to be a BMOC!
this is 1 of the dumbest posts ive ever read. this guys a dum bass
Life is short...I gots to get paid!