Poll: Pros or College first?

Derrick

First let me say that if I were good enough to be looked at by scouts in the professional level, then I sure as hell would go ahead and take the money while it's there on the table. In my opinion, you'd be crazy if you didn't.

vittleboy

I Say inless you are 100% sure you are a top 4 pick then go. If not then no. I think they should all go to college. The numbers prove only a few guys who jump make it good.

YanksFan

I'd go to the pro's. If you get a career ending or career shortening injury in college then what?

AlanB

Definitely go to college. You'd risk getting injured but please tell me, what kind of rookie season would you rather have, a JRich type or a Kwame Brown type?

vittleboy

JRich is not a good guy to use. He should have stayed in college.

UofAWildcatFan

I'm a huge College Basketball fan so I voted to stay in College. College Basketball already has the most popular sporting event in all sports. Imagine how much bigger it would be if all the underclassmen that opt for the draft stayed.

Derrick

What purpose would it serve a kid for him to go if the kid doesn't want to go to college? For example...take a look at the football players who were fu^king around for several years without even a 1.0 grade point average. Why? I believe it's because they had no desire to be in college and used college as a stepping stone to the pros. Society puts so much pressure on kids to attend college regardless of a true desire to excel in the classroom. The end result is to attain a degree and everyone is happy. Once you get the degree, you may not be able to get a job but as long as you have a degree everything is ok...Hmmm...the college experience is great, but doing school work is part of the experience as well. Hell, you can't pick and choose to make money for the school and not do your school work and then have the administrator's kick you out after the player fails to attend class.

I say if the money is there, and it's waiting for you...why not just go ahead and skip college and go on to the pros? You can always go back and get your college education later on...while all along being a millionaire to boot.

UofAWildcatFan

Like I said, as a diehard fan I'd prefer they all served their 4 years in college.

If you're asking what I would do, I'd go to the pros and earn my degree in the off season at a college of my pickings.

Derrick

<< <i>Like I said, as a diehard fan I'd prefer they all served their 4 years in college.

If you're asking what I would do, I'd go to the pros and earn my degree in the off season at a college of my pickings. >>



That's fair enough...but think about this...

I was taught that you go to college to better yourself and increase your chances at a better job. Hello, but following your dreams and playing in the pros for at least $1 million seems to be a win win situation. Shaquille O'Neal left college 2 years early and now has contracts that are worth over $300 million dollars total. He went back to school to get his degree in "General Studies". Please, what is a degree in General Studies going to prepare you for? If you can't manage $300 million+ than how would you manage $40,000? Don't forget, the average Joe has to work 40 years to make $1.2 million dollars. A NBA rookie can do it in a tenth of that.

See what I'm saying?

UofAWildcatFan

You sound like a broken record. A 5 year old could understand your repetative point. Using Shaq as an example is not a good demographic of the thread topic. He is one of the biggest stars in sports and in no way is he a representation of what happens to the typical decent/star player that leaves college early.

Your thinking on college makes me think you've never even gone. Believe it or not some people actually go to college to learn about a topic that interests them. Often times this topic is not one that will make them more money, but it will make them a more "rounded" individual so to speak. Knowledge is power and respect in some walks of life. There is much more beyond college then just going to make more money in the future.

I'll say it again, if I had the skills I would opt for the pros before college, but I would also go back to college to get a worth while degree when time allowed. Assuming a few things, if my NBA career didn't pan out at least I'd have something to fall back on. Business Management would be a logical choice with the amount of money NBA players make in a few years.

uwftke26

College was the greatest time of my life, and I wouldn't trade that 4 years of my life for anything....not even 4 years of being pro sports player. Nothing tops the freindships you forge there by necessity, the social skills you learn, the tail you get

That being said, someone like Kwame Brown could be a total bust and still live his life as a rich man if he'd invest that initial 11 milion and not spend it all on bling bling and Playstation 2's for his car.

uwftke26

I do agree with Derrick, I hate to think there are these athletes who are at the school and don't care, because they get first dibs on classes and thus keep some real students from classes they may have wanted to be in. Take someone like Stephon Marbury, who amde it clear from the start he was spending only one year at Georgia Tech...what teacher would want him in their class? If you didn't get into that one class you really wanted, how pissed would you be if that flunkie was in it?

Derrick

<< <i>You sound like a broken record. A 5 year old could understand your repetative point. Using Shaq as an example is not a good demographic of the thread topic. He is one of the biggest stars in sports and in no way is he a representation of what happens to the typical decent/star player that leaves college early.

Your thinking on college makes me think you've never even gone. Believe it or not some people actually go to college to learn about a topic that interests them. Often times this topic is not one that will make them more money, but it will make them a more "rounded" individual so to speak. Knowledge is power and respect in some walks of life. There is much more beyond college then just going to make more money in the future.

I'll say it again, if I had the skills I would opt for the pros before college, but I would also go back to college to get a worth while degree when time allowed. Assuming a few things, if my NBA career didn't pan out at least I'd have something to fall back on. Business Management would be a logical choice with the amount of money NBA players make in a few years. >>



OK, know it all. Your obviously missing the point here. Whether I've gone, or have not gone is a different story. So...put yourselves in the shoes of some of these athletes. Would you spend 4 years in College when you don't want to be there and your just wanting to take the stepping stone to get into the professional level, or would you go ahead and skip college and take a huge contract? If your not wanting to be in College, then it'll show the work you get done, and so forth...like the example of the GPA's of the football players I mentioned. I'm not saying college is a bad thing, I'm just saying that if someone went ahead and offered a million dollar contract to play in the pros, I'd take it because who knows if that same type of money will be there later on? If the NBA or any other pro sport doesn't work out you can still go to college 3 years later. If you can get in to college today, why would suddenly no one let you go in 3-5 years? Could it be because colleges want these players also to make money? Hmmmm!!! I personally believe that if you were drafted out of high school that you will probably get a new contract because you've gained valuable experience playing against the best players in the world and you're only 21 or 22 years old. Jermaine O'Neal is a perfect example. He wasn't playing for Portland and got traded and now 4 years later, he's really come into his own and is showing his stuff nicely. Don’t forget Kobe, Iverson, Garnett, Barkley, Moses Malone and Michael Jordan as players who either skipped school or left early.

Derrick

<< <i>I do agree with Derrick, I hate to think there are these athletes who are at the school and don't care, because they get first dibs on classes and thus keep some real students from classes they may have wanted to be in. Take someone like Stephon Marbury, who amde it clear from the start he was spending only one year at Georgia Tech...what teacher would want him in their class? If you didn't get into that one class you really wanted, how pissed would you be if that flunkie was in it? >>



Atleast someone agrees with me.

uwftke26

Jermaine O'Neal isn't really the greatest example, in the four years he was riding the pine in Portland he could have been dominating at Duke or Arizona and making himself a top 3 pick.

Derrick

need a tiebreaker

to tha friggin top...

battier

i say go to the pros.....and then in the offseason work towards getting your degree so you will have something to fall back on...
pros 1st....most of these cats are poor and live or lived in the slums of the projects and then the people come waving draft money in their face and you dont think they should take it?


pros 1st just invest your money well....if you got skills then 4 get college...example.darius miles..was very very poor,now look at him he can buy the projects..6 million vs 4 years in college hmmmm go figure

supastar33

this argument is impossible to look at from one dimension. they both have pros, they both have cons.

i'd say the decision should come down to the individual - there is NO general rule that should govern the discussion.

some players are destined to be rich morons. they're not geniuses on an academic level, and they dont want to put in the effort because they know fame & fortune lie ahead, so there is no point in wasting their time in college. and some kids need a quick shot of $$, even a 2 year contract at a base level will change their lives for the better.

my argument against going straight to the pros is based on the need for education, development, and the whole experience. some pros may believe they dont need an education because they can rely on other people to do things for them and they can retire happy and live out their days on 1 year's salary. there is a hell of a lot of life after your sporting career is over, and it is only the lucky few that will get endorsements to live out their career. it is all well and good to use examples of the bryants and the garnetts that are superstars, but there are enormous amounts of players who elected for the draft from HS and are now nowhere. who knows what would have become of them had they elected to go to college. for the least part, they would have gotten an education.

also, what good is it for an 18 y.o. to have millions of $$ anyhow? most of them can't handle that kinda money. and what's the difference between $10m now and $10m in 4 years? hell, even if they go to college for only 2 years, they're not losing much income. money isnt everything, and regardless what the figure is their salary is going to more than the average man will ever see in his life. so if you need it, take it while you can, but you may be trading in a career for a short term payout.

players that go to college - yes they might get injured, yes their stock may plummet. by the same token, they may become the hottest prospect in the country and go from a 2nd round projected pick out of HS, to a gauranteed top 3 pick 2 years later. if they are the type of player that can jump straight to pros, it is likely every college is drooling over them already, so the college will look after them.

beside the money, there is also the travel, the interviews, the training, and having to deal with changing from the biggest player in the state to being the 8th man in a training scrimmage. some teenagers will not be able to handle this.

of large importance, college also allows a player to develop physically. too many underbuilt players running around on court nowadays. yes they have skills, but they just aren't NBA built.

but the thing that would have me choose college over pros above all else is this. you can only ever have 4 attempts to win an NCAA title. once you're pro, sure you can go back and get a college degree, but you can't win that NCAA title. and out of hundreds of schools, its one hell of a hard prize to get your hands on. which makes it all the more lucrative.

uwftke26

If Kwame Brown wants to go pro, let him....if I were a college student still, I wouldn't want that moron taking up a space in a classroom that a legit student could have used.

That being said, it is in the athlete's best interest to spend a year or two at school, just to make some freinds and learn what it's like to be broke (except at UNLV, of course )

KBryant1

i would go to college cause if you go to college you have a better chance of getting better then you would to jump straight to the pros

bjork73

My view is somewhat different, and involves the (failing) structure behind high-revenue (basketball, football) college athletics. There have been quite a few sports journalists, historians, and commentators saying that either the NCAA scholarship program needs to be abolished (athletics could count for well-roundedness when the college decides who to accept, however) and that the athletes be held to the same academic standards as everybody else: the other option would be to pay college players, remove any semblance of them being "student-athletes", and essentially have it be a semi-pro league (maybe with some sort of guarantee that players who wanted to go to college in 5 years could, again provided they are held to the same academic standards as everybody else), with the colleges still receiving the revenues to make sure they don't lose the money they were receiving before. As it is now, in most schools many players don't graduate (never really being encouraged to do so) and those that can't find work in pro ball are stuck. Colleges sell the pipe dream of the successful "student-athlete" to kids who barely got through high school and struggled to get the NCAA-minimum SAT score; what should be expected? To expect somebody to be a "student-athlete" compromises both aspects of the term; thus, the term should be abolished from the popular lexicon. To not do as such would compromise the futures of many more people than it could possibly help.

uwftke26

I think we're looking at this argument too narrowly by just referring to the Garnett's and Kwame Brown's of the world...how about those high school guys who look like studs but get exposed in college...they could have gone pro and gone second round like Rashard Lewis did...however, if they do, no guaranteed money and no paid college. You always end up hearing about them working as baggers somewhere or getting in trouble, because they ahve no marketable skills, no social abilities, no education.

That being said. I agree with bjork that the current system has faults....the ones who see the least of the college basketball machine finances are the players. However, remember college kids aren't broke....scholarships are often lump sum payments that more than cover school and board. My senior year of school, one of our girls softball players had enough from her scholarship to pay tuition, room, food, and other expenses...with enough left over to buy a pair of brand new jet Skis. Not exactly slumming.

yanyak5

i say if your good enough to go straight 2 the pros and its your dream, then do it...you can always go back to college, but you may never get an opportunity to make it to the pros again....