Options
Mitch Albom - One and done makes joke of college life
Michigan
Posts: 4,942 ✭
in Sports Talk
Don't call it college. It's not college if you don't even declare a major. It's not college if you needn't bother finishing your second semester. It's not college if you spent most of your time in the gym, or on a plane, or being interviewed. It's not college just because you wore a uniform with the school's name on it.
We are hearing lately about all these freshman basketball stars -- Kevin Love of UCLA, O.J. Mayo of Southern Cal, Derrick Rose of Memphis, Michael Beasley of Kansas State -- leaving college to jump to the NBA. Leaving college? Please. They were never really there.
Let's face it. The NBA uses college as a smokehouse to cure its beef, forcing young men to spend a year there or playing overseas before becoming eligible for the draft at age 19.
Meanwhile, college teams are only too happy to snare these trapped high school phenoms -- even for one season -- in hopes of riding them to a quick championship.
They use each other.
But it's not about college.
"Since I was 5 years old this has been a dream of mine," Love told the media.
"I proved myself," Beasley told the media.
"Why pass it up," Mayo told the media, "when you've been waiting all your life?"
They meant the NBA -- not about poly-sci.
He's practically a saint, right?
What's ironic is that April is when many high school seniors anxiously open their mail, hoping for an acceptance letter from a university -- a letter will that may change their lives.
It is also when these freshman hoop stars say bye-bye.
And yet colleges are amazingly silent about their coaches spending countless hours and significant funds to sign up kids who have no intention of sticking around. And how come the NCAA jumps all over players for taking a dollar, but looks the other way at the mercenary concept of using a college as a tryout for the NBA?
Memphis coach John Calipari recruited Rose hard in high school, weaving through a family network in Rose's tough Chicago neighborhood. When the kid signed, it was a big day for Memphis basketball.
Now, after one season, Rose is done. All that work. All that coddling, those letters, phone calls, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering. You would think Calipari would feel a fool -- or at least used. But because Memphis went to the championship game, all you hear are hosannas.
"We are forever indebted to Derrick and his family for what they did not only for this basketball program," Calipari told reporters, "but also for the university and the city of Memphis."
Wow.
You'd have thought he endowed a chair.
Taking the step to riches
What did a kid like Rose "do" for his university? Get it on national TV? Convince other basketball phenoms to rent space there for a year? (In fact, another red-hot prep star, Tyreke Evans, has indeed committed to Memphis, now that Rose has vacated the penthouse.)
No wonder Mayo, by most reports, chose USC on his own. The word is he wanted a major media market so that he could enter the NBA as a brand. Hey. The kid's no dummy. Never mind that USC only tied for third place in the Pac-10 this season and was ousted in the first round of the NCAA tournament, a feat it might have accomplished without Mayo.
"Attending USC," Mayo said in a statement announcing his departure, "... has really helped prepare me for my next step in life."
Right. But not because of a single thing he learned in a classroom.
Which is the whole point. If you want to run a minor league, then say it's a minor league. Don't call it college. Don't play charades with words like "student" and "alum." Are the Loves and Beasleys of the world really alumni of a school? Do their pictures really belong in the hallways and in brochures?
They are the basketball version of in-transit passengers, the ones that go from one plane to another by walking through a special corridor. If you really attended college, you know its value. You learn to be a student, to live on your own, to make decisions about time, study, friends, to grow up.
You don't get that pulling on a uniform for a few months. Dick Vitale used to call these kids Diaper Dandies. Not anymore. Diapers don't have pockets. And stuffing pockets -- on both sides -- is all this charade is about.
We are hearing lately about all these freshman basketball stars -- Kevin Love of UCLA, O.J. Mayo of Southern Cal, Derrick Rose of Memphis, Michael Beasley of Kansas State -- leaving college to jump to the NBA. Leaving college? Please. They were never really there.
Let's face it. The NBA uses college as a smokehouse to cure its beef, forcing young men to spend a year there or playing overseas before becoming eligible for the draft at age 19.
Meanwhile, college teams are only too happy to snare these trapped high school phenoms -- even for one season -- in hopes of riding them to a quick championship.
They use each other.
But it's not about college.
"Since I was 5 years old this has been a dream of mine," Love told the media.
"I proved myself," Beasley told the media.
"Why pass it up," Mayo told the media, "when you've been waiting all your life?"
They meant the NBA -- not about poly-sci.
He's practically a saint, right?
What's ironic is that April is when many high school seniors anxiously open their mail, hoping for an acceptance letter from a university -- a letter will that may change their lives.
It is also when these freshman hoop stars say bye-bye.
And yet colleges are amazingly silent about their coaches spending countless hours and significant funds to sign up kids who have no intention of sticking around. And how come the NCAA jumps all over players for taking a dollar, but looks the other way at the mercenary concept of using a college as a tryout for the NBA?
Memphis coach John Calipari recruited Rose hard in high school, weaving through a family network in Rose's tough Chicago neighborhood. When the kid signed, it was a big day for Memphis basketball.
Now, after one season, Rose is done. All that work. All that coddling, those letters, phone calls, the behind-the-scenes maneuvering. You would think Calipari would feel a fool -- or at least used. But because Memphis went to the championship game, all you hear are hosannas.
"We are forever indebted to Derrick and his family for what they did not only for this basketball program," Calipari told reporters, "but also for the university and the city of Memphis."
Wow.
You'd have thought he endowed a chair.
Taking the step to riches
What did a kid like Rose "do" for his university? Get it on national TV? Convince other basketball phenoms to rent space there for a year? (In fact, another red-hot prep star, Tyreke Evans, has indeed committed to Memphis, now that Rose has vacated the penthouse.)
No wonder Mayo, by most reports, chose USC on his own. The word is he wanted a major media market so that he could enter the NBA as a brand. Hey. The kid's no dummy. Never mind that USC only tied for third place in the Pac-10 this season and was ousted in the first round of the NCAA tournament, a feat it might have accomplished without Mayo.
"Attending USC," Mayo said in a statement announcing his departure, "... has really helped prepare me for my next step in life."
Right. But not because of a single thing he learned in a classroom.
Which is the whole point. If you want to run a minor league, then say it's a minor league. Don't call it college. Don't play charades with words like "student" and "alum." Are the Loves and Beasleys of the world really alumni of a school? Do their pictures really belong in the hallways and in brochures?
They are the basketball version of in-transit passengers, the ones that go from one plane to another by walking through a special corridor. If you really attended college, you know its value. You learn to be a student, to live on your own, to make decisions about time, study, friends, to grow up.
You don't get that pulling on a uniform for a few months. Dick Vitale used to call these kids Diaper Dandies. Not anymore. Diapers don't have pockets. And stuffing pockets -- on both sides -- is all this charade is about.
0
Comments
College has never been about academics for over 90% of the people who attend. The fact that guys like OJ Mayo fit into this 90% is completely uninteresting.
<< <i>Tourney's over and he heads off the to pros. Sorry I think its a total joke. >>
NCAA has a monopoly on the basketball's minor league and they are prohibited from the NBA. They didn't have to accept the billion dollar TV deal, nor put so much pressure on the NBA to ban high school players from the draft. Any mockery was brought upon by themselves. . .
Memphis, as a good example is not exactly known for their high academic standards (one time they had the lowest graduation rate
(0%) over a five year period for their basketball program).
<< <i>VERY SIMPLE SOLUTION....make the minimum age 21 to be in the NBA...they have a minimum now, so its not such a stretch.... >>
But that would be racist. They would be further holding down a black man from making a living.
Not my words, but I do remember a couple players making comments to that effect when they made the requirement of 1 year of college ball.
The players have the qualifications to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. But they are not allowed to. Extending such complete and total exploitation another two or three years solves nothing other than taking money away from the players
One funny thing about this article that makes Album look extremely stupid is that if an 18-year-old has little academic motivation yet no job will hire him, it would be a great idea to perhaps take classes part time. And that is exactly what these players are doing. . .
<< <i>If the minimum age were raised, all it would mean is that the players would be making a joke of academics for three or four years, not one year
The players have the qualifications to earn hundreds of thousands of dollars. But they are not allowed to. Extending such complete and total exploitation another two or three years solves nothing other than taking money away from the players
One funny thing about this article that makes Album look extremely stupid is that if an 18-year-old has little academic motivation yet no job will hire him, it would be a great idea to perhaps take classes part time. And that is exactly what these players are doing. . . >>
What many of them are doing is going through the motions of getting an education while they are just waiting for the moment
before they can jump to the NBA.
David Stern says he would like a 20 year old starting age for the NBA which would give colleges a bunch of "two and dones" but it
has to be negotiated with the NFL players union.
<< <i>What many of them are doing is going through the motions of getting an education while they are just waiting for the moment
before they can jump to the NBA >>
That is only because the schools decided they would do everything possible to give them no other options
What else can these players do? Sit at home for a year and work out on their own. Maybe work for minimum wage somewhere. Maybe take a few classes at a local college. . .
<< <i>
<< <i>What many of them are doing is going through the motions of getting an education while they are just waiting for the moment
before they can jump to the NBA >>
That is only because the schools decided they would do everything possible to give them no other options
What else can these players do? Sit at home for a year and work out on their own. Maybe work for minimum wage somewhere. Maybe take a few classes at a local college. . . >>
Well, they could decide that they are actually interested in getting an education and act accordingly by putting their NBA dreams
four years into the future (don't count on that happening).
What about that "development league" that the NBA has? I thought that was for academic losers who had no interest in getting
an education in the first place but wanted a chance to make it to the NBA.
Ah... we all know the answer there.... the really good players want TV exposure that the colleges can provide to elevate their
draft status. The whole system is sick and broken.
If the NCAA has a problem with it, they should petition the NBA to change the rule, that would stop a lot of this from happening. Since a few years ago, they actually put pressure on the NBA to do the exact opposite, it seems clear they do not care. It is clear the only person who has a problem with it is Mitch Album
<< <i>The Development league is a possibility, but still pays less than 10% of what an equally qualified worker one year older would make. That would be insulting to anyone. It will take a few top level high school players to do that before anyone follows. It took a long time before high school players starting going straight to the NBA -- and that was for millions
If the NCAA has a problem with it, they should petition the NBA to change the rule, that would stop a lot of this from happening. Since a few years ago, they actually put pressure on the NBA to do the exact opposite, it seems clear they do not care. It is clear the only person who has a problem with it is Mitch Album >>
I saw a segment on ESPN a few weeks ago about this problem and they interviewed the head of the NCAA (Miles Brand I think is his name)
He said that they have talked to David Stern about the problem but Stern says any changes will have to be made through the collective
bargaining process with the NBA players union and that won't happen for a few years yet when the current contract expires.
In the meantime I guess we are just stuck with this system.