Yes, The sooner CBB dies the better. I can't wait until the NBA goes Academy system like Europe. CBB is dying in ratings and relevance. It's just too slow the lanes are not sized properly and three line is a joke.
I think it's funny that the author references Jonathan Abram's great book Boys Among Men in the same sentence that he writes "for every Kobe Bryant and LeBron James — players who skipped college and became stars — there are many more who washed out." In fact, the closing point of Jonathan's book is that there is NOT a wash out to correspond to every success. There are wash outs no doubt, but on average, players that go straight from HS ended up making more money, being in the league longer, and having greater success. Jonathan shows that there are many more success stories than failures in prep to pro players.
I think it's more accurate to say that for every player that washes out because of skipping college, there is a player that, because they go to college, ends up getting drafted in later rounds and loses out on money.
It seems irresponsible to quote a book to argue a point that the book itself ends up dismissing explicitly.
This one and done rule is just done to protect owners from making bad draft decisions. To pretend it is because of some altruistic concern for these kids is absurd.
I think it's more accurate to say that for every player that washes out because of skipping college, there is a player that, because they go to college, ends up getting drafted in later rounds and loses out on money.
It seems irresponsible to quote a book to argue a point that the book itself ends up dismissing explicitly.
This one and done rule is just done to protect owners from making bad draft decisions. To pretend it is because of some altruistic concern for these kids is absurd.
1
The university won't pay the athletes. Title IX makes it impossible from a financial standpoint. What is viable and have players get agents and those agents can leverage the players brand, I.e an ad for a car dealership, Nike commercial, etc. This way 3rd parties pay the athlete not the university directly. And yes encourage more players to go overseas. But stop with this farce of a student-athlete is revenue sports.
If he was so unenthusiastic about college, why didn't he simply skip college and go to Europe as Brandon Jennings did? It's not as if he was a home-grown American kid with roots in the US; he was always going to be pursuing his profession internationally.
Get real folks - tens of thousands of kids go to college or university for one year and then decide to go out to work for a living - explain to me one more time why it is different if they happen to play basketball during that one year?
1
Abolish college sports like football and basketball, or make freshmen not eligible. I agree that the NBA and NCAA ought to follow the lead of the MLB.
1
The one and done rule is a totally racist PR rule by the NBA. Players are signed at "16" by MLB out of the DR. Sid Crosby at 18 was the saver of the NHL after the NHL cancelled its season. I don't follow Hockey but didn't some 19 year old kid just score 4 goals in his first game and everyone was "WOW!" They of course were white. Black athletes need to be kept in their place for their own good for a year--so says the NBA and NCAA.
1
For the thousandth time, the NCAA has no control over the NBA and the Players Association and therefore has no control over NBA draft eligibility. But Mr. Joe Nocera doesn't want to tell you that because then his arguments fall like a deck of cards.
I agree. The NBA Players Association is probably the most racist organization in sports despite its membership is over 75% African American! I of course was joking. The Players Association agrees with the NBA draft rules. It's collectively bargained, it used to allow players to go directly into the draft after high school.
This is an easy problem to solve. The number of scholarships available to any college team should be based on the graduation rates of athletes from that team, averaged over a period of time, say 5 years. If 100% of athletes graudate, the team gets all of its scholarships. If only 1/3 graduate, the school only gets 1/3 of the number of scholarships. With this plan, schools like Kentucky will run out of scholarships rather quickly and be fielding mediocre squads. Then they might start to recruit STUDENTS who are also good at basketball.
4
The issue here is money and opportunity. I think the NBA and NCAA need to take a page out of MLB's playbook. Allow players to be drafted directly from high school and have the option of stashing players in the minor leagues. Salaries would be contingent on potential with an expectation of development in the minors. Teams will not be forced to pay crazy prices for untested talent. Players can be paid for their skills. The NCAA product is not helped by these one and done players. A better system would be for players that want to get a degree to have that option. There are many players that develop in college and become pro prospects. I can think of Frank Kaminski or Chris Dunn. They were great college talents that made for an entertaining product. The NCAA game is great. To make it a even playing field teams must meet a graduation requirement % to qualify for the tournament. That way teams will be forced to recruit college players and avoid the mercenaries. Players can choose to go to JC if they don't like that just like in NCAA football.
3
Thinking these kids don't do anything for the NCAA is very naïve. The only problem the NCAA has is they don't get to market these kids longer. The kids leave at some point anyway. Whether it is after 1 year or 4 makes no difference except to fans who selfishly want them around longer. One and dones have done nothing to make college basketball any less than it was. I still enjoy the March Madness as much as ever and get to follow even more players to the NBA.
What LSU did is bad enough--but for Duke, an elite academic institution, to bring in 3 such players in a single year is far more hypocritical.
Why Coach Calipari a media punching bag and Coach K a media saint when they do the same thing, but Calipari is more honest about it?
Has anyone asked if the Duke One and Done's attended spring semester classes?
Why Coach Calipari a media punching bag and Coach K a media saint when they do the same thing, but Calipari is more honest about it?
Has anyone asked if the Duke One and Done's attended spring semester classes?
8
Thoughts:
1. NBA Development League: Waive 19 year old age restriction, open tryouts.
2. Overseas professional basketball: See above.
3. NO one-year athletic scholarships.
#1 -3 will free up space/money for university academic scholarships and level playing field (court...)
1. NBA Development League: Waive 19 year old age restriction, open tryouts.
2. Overseas professional basketball: See above.
3. NO one-year athletic scholarships.
#1 -3 will free up space/money for university academic scholarships and level playing field (court...)
1
To all the supposed adults and to all the parents of prospective college bound children in the room, I submit that the tacit or explicit support of "one and done" is your fault.
To the extent that support of these minor league teams for the NBA and NFL for that matter means enough to you that you are willing to overlook the Baylors, the NCarolinas, the Joe Paternos, the Rick Pitinos and so on of the world of division 1 sports, then you are what you are.
To the extent that parents are willing to send their kids to such schools where such fraud is considered school spirit, well then you are what you are.
The only way that the division one student athlete academic fraud will stop is when adults and parents put their money and their decisions where they put their mouth. As the song once said, you've got to walk it like you talk it. Right now, too many people talk it.
They must all be republicans.
To the extent that support of these minor league teams for the NBA and NFL for that matter means enough to you that you are willing to overlook the Baylors, the NCarolinas, the Joe Paternos, the Rick Pitinos and so on of the world of division 1 sports, then you are what you are.
To the extent that parents are willing to send their kids to such schools where such fraud is considered school spirit, well then you are what you are.
The only way that the division one student athlete academic fraud will stop is when adults and parents put their money and their decisions where they put their mouth. As the song once said, you've got to walk it like you talk it. Right now, too many people talk it.
They must all be republicans.
1
Before the rule was issued, few players went straight from the high school level to the NBA. Now, the one-and-done rule creates this falsetto for athletes. They think that if they are so close to NBA potential that one year in college will have them ready to compete at the highest level. The truth is, if you are so close, then you are going to need to spend more than one year to develop your game.
The true prodigies are being forced into a scenario they don't need to be in. Americans think that just because we are so low on the education scale within the world, that everyone needs to go to school. Some people have abilities that cannot be taught.
Now I am not saying college basketball is bad for a player because college basketball is one of the greatest sports in the world. Although it is not for everyone.
Imagine this, Lebron James wearing the Duke Blue Devil number 23, but during a game against the rivals North Carolina, he rips his Achilles Tendon and his career is never the same.
Yes that could happen in the NBA, but at least we would got the chance to witness Lebron in the league and thankfully he didn't go to college and tear his Achilles.
Anyone reading this is probably saying, "What about Jordan?" Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time because he worked harder than anyone on the court with him. He is a prime example of how college can help make a great player.
The NCAA and NBA shouldn't limit these players. If they have it, then the world will know.
The true prodigies are being forced into a scenario they don't need to be in. Americans think that just because we are so low on the education scale within the world, that everyone needs to go to school. Some people have abilities that cannot be taught.
Now I am not saying college basketball is bad for a player because college basketball is one of the greatest sports in the world. Although it is not for everyone.
Imagine this, Lebron James wearing the Duke Blue Devil number 23, but during a game against the rivals North Carolina, he rips his Achilles Tendon and his career is never the same.
Yes that could happen in the NBA, but at least we would got the chance to witness Lebron in the league and thankfully he didn't go to college and tear his Achilles.
Anyone reading this is probably saying, "What about Jordan?" Michael Jordan is the greatest player of all time because he worked harder than anyone on the court with him. He is a prime example of how college can help make a great player.
The NCAA and NBA shouldn't limit these players. If they have it, then the world will know.
This is an NCAA not an NBA issue. If the NCAA wants to foster the idea of the student athlete, then it should make it disadvantageous to the schools to recruit one and done players. For example; mandatory 2 or 3 year scholarships. If the player leaves after one year, for whatever reason, the school does not have use of the scholarship line until the termination of the 2 or 3 year time period. This way, the school has a vested interest in recruiting players who will stay the duration of the scholarship term. Conversely, if the NBA is unable to rely as heavily on the NCAA as a cheap minor league option, it will have to invest more in its developmental leagues.
All this assuming that the NCAA really is interested in the STUDENT-athlete.
All this assuming that the NCAA really is interested in the STUDENT-athlete.
4
Great idea, discriminate against all of the great African American players and give the scholarships to lesser players who are white! Beautiful, only a reader of the Mr.Nocera come up with this idea.
Again, the NCAA and it's member schools have zero control over NBA/players association draft rules.
Again, the NCAA and it's member schools have zero control over NBA/players association draft rules.
Why are we being so short sighted here. Does anyone say that Harvard did anything wrong when Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg left after one year? They went into their profession after their Freshman year. The best in any profession don't use college the same as everyone else. So many want to think about the way they used college as the only way though. I needed a degree to do what I wanted. I needed a couple of degrees actually. Not everyone needs college for that reason though. Gates and Zuckerberg didn't need it for a degree and neither do 7 or 8 kids a year who go on to the NBA after one season. We are really complaining about 7 or 8 kids a year who are one and done. Talking about doing a complete overhaul because of these few kids. How can a handful of kids be harming any system so much?? How is it bad for a kid to attend college for one year and go on to become a millionaire as one of the best in his profession? The rest of us need 4-5 years to get a $30k a year job. If colleges were smart they would start an athletic track. Make it more about finance, contracts and business than English and Biology. Make it a 1 or 2 year associates degree in business with an emphasis on sports.
5
Great article Joe! What's a school to do if a child doesn't value education? Is it the schools fault when a child drops out of school? Of course not.
Joe, I would rather you focus on the discrimination against boys in school, If getting higher test scores but lower subjective grades is not proof of discrimination, what would be proof. Imagine the national outcry if African Americans scored higher on tests but received lower grades. There would be one federal investigation after another.
Why do men attend college and graduate schools at a far lower rate than women. Is that not proof of discrimination? I would think that is of far more import that a dozen players deciding not to go to college but rather get paid for playing basketball.
Joe, I would rather you focus on the discrimination against boys in school, If getting higher test scores but lower subjective grades is not proof of discrimination, what would be proof. Imagine the national outcry if African Americans scored higher on tests but received lower grades. There would be one federal investigation after another.
Why do men attend college and graduate schools at a far lower rate than women. Is that not proof of discrimination? I would think that is of far more import that a dozen players deciding not to go to college but rather get paid for playing basketball.
1
Let HS players be eligible for the NBA draft. If you are not drafted, then you can go to school. If drafted then you are a millionaire.
Also, no one talks about the athletes that get injured playing in school.
The insurance for the stars is a pittance and schools do not cover medical treatments after leaving college. The latter is a crime.
Also, no one talks about the athletes that get injured playing in school.
The insurance for the stars is a pittance and schools do not cover medical treatments after leaving college. The latter is a crime.
1
Division I schools like LSU are for-profit entities and should pay the same taxes on profits that other businesses pay.
What are other models that could be adopted?
How do the soccer leagues in Europe handle developing and educating players and would that system make more sense here?
How do the soccer leagues in Europe handle developing and educating players and would that system make more sense here?
They use a club system which has nothing to do with education. The only system which doesn't revolve around school is AAU ball and it is vilified by many.
What about the students who are displaced by one and done bound athletes and any other privilege provided to them like early registration? Did the eligibility policy consider these students who did want to attend college and have equal access to classes? It would seem fairer to reverse this decision.
What about students who are displaced by kids who simply drink too much and flunk out? What about the kids who are displaced by kids who like to party so they don't go to class? What about students who are displaced by kids who go on the husband track and are knocked up in the first year? What about the kids who are displaced by kids who get into drugs or other illegal activity? There are a great number of students leaving after their first year which nobody is crying about because they don't reap the school and NCAA financial rewards. It is the 7 or 8 kids a year who leave to become millionaires that is causing all the fuss.
1
Has this been challenged in court? It is a discriminatory labour practice that favours a college system that does not compensate its employees, er, student-athletes. If colleges were forced to adopt a proper pay scale that reflected the value of their programs to the school, much of the desire to leave would be gone. But it is still discriminatory.
It has been challenged as recently as last year when a private college was denied forming a union as they weren't deemed employees.
The NCAA's business model--compensating athletes with an education--gets really strange when you consider how many athletes need to be forced to accept their compensation. It's not often, if ever, that someone takes a job but refuses to cash the paycheck.
1
So, when Ben Simmons recovers from his broken foot, he'll take the court with the 76ers. Karma...gotta love it.
1
The minor league sports of NCAA Division 1 football and basketball exemplify the oxymoron of student athletes. Actually, it would be entertaining to quiz the players to define both the term "student athlete" and the word "oxymoron." That's unfair to the young men since they are doing what is logical for most of them; eg, pursue a career in sports that will pay them $m if they are successful in their pursuit.
When the schools are confronted with the scandal of N Carolina basketball and football fraudulent classes, or the scandal of Baylor sexual assaults, they cover it up as long as they can, then get it over with as quickly as they can. But the only thing that really happens is that the schools and their supporters solidify the hypocrisy of their institutions.
In the long run, who cares whether some poor kid goes to college for a "one & done" ride? If the college administrations and the state governments support fiction of the student athlete in these sports, which they clearly do, then let it be. The kids get a shot at millions, the coaches get their millions and the schools get their millions.
The only people who can change this trend are the parents of college bound high school students. Just do not send your kids to NCAA football and basketball minor league factories. Send them to division 3 schools with smaller class sizes taught by faculty. Your kids will get a better education.
When the schools are confronted with the scandal of N Carolina basketball and football fraudulent classes, or the scandal of Baylor sexual assaults, they cover it up as long as they can, then get it over with as quickly as they can. But the only thing that really happens is that the schools and their supporters solidify the hypocrisy of their institutions.
In the long run, who cares whether some poor kid goes to college for a "one & done" ride? If the college administrations and the state governments support fiction of the student athlete in these sports, which they clearly do, then let it be. The kids get a shot at millions, the coaches get their millions and the schools get their millions.
The only people who can change this trend are the parents of college bound high school students. Just do not send your kids to NCAA football and basketball minor league factories. Send them to division 3 schools with smaller class sizes taught by faculty. Your kids will get a better education.
Mr Nocera, in your ongoing crusade against the NCAA, you let the NBA skate. Why are there so many one-and-dones? Because the NBA not only offers ridiculous money but also guarantees it fir two years whether the individual can play or not. No other business does that. Decrease the money and eliminate the guarantees and maybe some of these individuals stay in college. But with the NVA offering guaranteed riches to non-proven commodities, who wouldn't do what Ben Simmons and others do?
When people talk of paying players I have to remind them that going to Stanford or Duke, means a scholarship of over $60K per year. Seems to me that is pretty good pay. And if they stay for 5 years (a red shirt year included) we are talking over a quarter of a million dollars. They are getting "paid" to learn and play sports. What a life.
5
I did not understand if the article was addressing the lack of degree or the lack of skills and knowledge that a student can obtain at a College.
I strongly believe that any player could meet her/his mates and discuss with them any issues and by attending meetings, parties could really improve their personal skills.
In brief, on the fact to get in touch with some nerds, who will become important lawyers and/or doctors and/or engineer could provide the players to call them in future to fix further problem.
For players obtaining a degree does not mean that your could have skills useful for your life, staying together with out mates at College could anyway help players to improve and to manage any issues batter that people who had not the opportunity to do that.
I strongly believe that any player could meet her/his mates and discuss with them any issues and by attending meetings, parties could really improve their personal skills.
In brief, on the fact to get in touch with some nerds, who will become important lawyers and/or doctors and/or engineer could provide the players to call them in future to fix further problem.
For players obtaining a degree does not mean that your could have skills useful for your life, staying together with out mates at College could anyway help players to improve and to manage any issues batter that people who had not the opportunity to do that.
This "one and done" phenomenon is a result of the NBA rule saying that a player has to be 19 or one year removed from high school graduation. This rule has nothing to do with the NCAA. This article repeats the notion that kids are forced to attend college for a year before entering the NBA draft. First, this is not true. And secondly, no one is forcing the players to do anything. Just this year, a player who is predicted to be a draft lottery pick in 2017, opted to play professional basketball in Australia for obeyer instead of going to college. Others have done that recently as well. Terrance Ferguson, Emmanuel Mudiay, Brandon Jennings, are some of the players who have opted to play professionally overseas for one year before entering the NBA draft. Let's quit vilifying the NCAA and collegiate athletics for the one and done players. There is plenty to go after colleges and the NCAA for, the one and done thing is not one of them. As far as Ben Simmons goes, perhaps some personal responsibility by the player himself or the players parents would have been nice to see. Ben Simmons could have just as easily stayed in Australia for the year and then entered the draft like his fellow countryman Dante Exum did. Instead, Simmons went to LSU and knew that there would be academic requirements... it is a university after all. And Ben Simmons, once he passed his first semester, tanked his studies to the detriment of his chosen school and his teammates.
3
Make it a rule that a player must be 21 years old if he wants to play in the NBA. What he does with his time between graduation from high school and entry into the league is up to him. If education is a joke, he can flip hamburgers, or mow lawns, or sit around the house playing video games. If education isn't a joke, he can attend college and maintain at least a 2.0 GPA to continue playing for his college team. This will also allow him to continue to work on all facets of his game, not the least of which is learning how to be a team player. For the young man who is the subject of this documentary, it sounds like it's "all about me."
1
This is not the big problem everyone seems to think it is. It involves a small percentage of college athletes. What is consistently overlooked are all those young men and women playing division 1AA, II and III.
1
It's a problem for those students directly effected. They are forced into labour for nothing in return, all the while risking injury.
For everyone else, it makes no impact either way.
So why do it. Because it fills the coffers of the schools with the sweat of mostly black kids.
Yeah, no problems here...
For everyone else, it makes no impact either way.
So why do it. Because it fills the coffers of the schools with the sweat of mostly black kids.
Yeah, no problems here...
It's in the players hands, where it belongs.
Who cares if a few young men make the decision to avoid an education of any kind in order to play in the NBA? It only matters to he individual, and he made the choice.
A few turnips fall off the truck. Who cares?
Who cares if a few young men make the decision to avoid an education of any kind in order to play in the NBA? It only matters to he individual, and he made the choice.
A few turnips fall off the truck. Who cares?
Once upon a time --say 1880 or so-- the best athletes who happened to be at one college would play against the best athletes who happened to attend another and they would compete for the greater glory of dear old Millard Fillmore University. Then someone got the bright idea of *recruiting* athletes; "ringers".
Ever since, it's been your ringers against my ringers.
The only thing new about the farce is the level to which it's descended and the astronomical sums involved. Fortunately, in terms of things to worry about, this issue is about number 4,631 on my list.
Ever since, it's been your ringers against my ringers.
The only thing new about the farce is the level to which it's descended and the astronomical sums involved. Fortunately, in terms of things to worry about, this issue is about number 4,631 on my list.
1
"You cannot blame him..." Really? Even though he didn't plan to graduate, by going to class he might have learned something. What a quaint notion.
7
Yeah, let's risk injury for a year and sacrifice millions in earnings to pump up a school.
Mr. Nocera, I look forward to every one of your articles savaging the hypocrisy and unfairness of big-time college sports. My deepest gratitudes. Keep it up. The dam will break, eventually.
17
Yes, if the dam breaks you can kiss all of those scholarships to women goodbye because there will be no money if college football ceases to exist. Congratulations, you just killed off the pathway to prosperity and happiness for thousands and thousands of women athletes. We'll done.
Major college sports in general are a farce - they are now merely the baseball minor league equivalent for football but especially basketball.
I don't watch anymore. Its obscene that these "student-athletes" are only in school for a year, basically to give the NCAA the slightest veneer of respectability. Everyone knows its a farce. Especially the players.
Make semi -pro leagues of future Ben Simmons' from high school (and even middle school) athletes the real minor leagues for the NBA or NFL, and let true amateurs play college. I know all the colleges, alumni and sports networks will cry foul, but I have a question to ask them : What is the true mission of a college ? To educate young minds or provide bodies for the pros?
I don't watch anymore. Its obscene that these "student-athletes" are only in school for a year, basically to give the NCAA the slightest veneer of respectability. Everyone knows its a farce. Especially the players.
Make semi -pro leagues of future Ben Simmons' from high school (and even middle school) athletes the real minor leagues for the NBA or NFL, and let true amateurs play college. I know all the colleges, alumni and sports networks will cry foul, but I have a question to ask them : What is the true mission of a college ? To educate young minds or provide bodies for the pros?
10
The NCAA has no control over NBA and players union rules. Period. This is the result of you reading Joe Nocera ill informed columns.
1
One and done exposes the [Collegiate] Sports Industrial Complex for what it really is―a business that watches out for its own self interest. Professional sports is a vocation, so college degrees are not necessary to do the job. It's sad that academics is used as a pretense to justify not paying these athletes while the schools profit handsomely from their free labor.
16
I would love for you to show me the profit when the overwhelming number of athletic departments are subsidized by general university funds. Why do schools waste money soliciting donations if they make a profit? What must the general universities profit be according to your accounting? Every Big Ten school has a budget well over One Billion dollars per year while employing well over 5,000 people. Imagine what the profit must be with revenues over One Billion dollars per year.