wkrq59
04-21-2008, 02:13 AM
The latest installment from one of Xavierhoops.com's feature writers:
One and Definitely Under-done
by wkrq59
Since the NCAA Final Four ended with Kansas' championship, a whole flock of collegiate one-and-dones joined Oden and the Departures—No, it's not a rock band or vocal group, but they will soon be making more money than their contemporaries and former classmates.
Being a faithful poster on Musketeer Madness, my friend and Xavier's, Muskieman, asked his breathern what one-and-dones do to a collegiate program and are they a good or bad?
Are O.J.Mayo, Bill Walker, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Kevin Love hurting college basketball?
I shout a loud YES ! I truly believe one-and-done will subvert the true purpose of a university, to educate.
Student athletes should be students first and athletes second. If the practice is allowed to continue thanks to a sorry NBA rule which requires a player to be age 19 before he can be eligible for the league's draft, it will eventually turn collegiate basketball programs at all but the Ivy League level or at schools which offer no athletic grants-in-aid, into even greater professional basketball farm clubs than they already are.
Eventually, even the universities which pride themselves as being academic institutions first and athletic competitors second if not much further down the chain, the Dukes, North Carolinas, Virginias, Xaviers and others of their ilk, will find themselves struggling to compete.
The NBA should either follow the lead of the NFL and require a player to be three years removed from his high school graduation class or drop the damn age 19 rule all together.
Right now the NBA, its Players' Association and the NCAA basketball programs are on a collision voyage of disaster. Each of those entities knows there is an iceberg out there but none of them seems able to steer the ship in the right direction.
Here's what rent-a-players can do to a program. Jim Boeheim's Syracuse team won an NCAA championship with Carmelo Anthony and hasn't had a sniff of the Final Four since. Thad Matta's Ohio State Buckeyes got—thanks to John Cahill—to the championship game two years ago and had to settle for the NIT title this season. Memphis without the artistry of Derrick Rose and upper-classmate Chris-Douglas Roberts will be in for some rough times.
Contrast them with David West, who graduated from Xavier with two degrees and this year was an NBA All-Star and he and the Hornets are in the playoffs for the first time in years. Analyze this: Xavier with Justin Doellman, Justin Cage and Will Caudlle took Greg Oden's Ohio State team to the wall as seniors. Stanley Burrell, Josh Duncan and Drew Lavender led a Xavier team to the Elite 8 and along the regular-season way beat Indiana and Kansas State, Virginia, Auburn and others. Each will receive his degree next month.
Those six Xavier graduates enjoyed their college basketball careers and wherever they may play pro ball, or if they never play that game, will be armed with the means for success in the business or professional world. In other words, they could be pros in something besides sports as the NCAA commercial goes.
During his recruiting, Massillon Perry High School basketball standout and Xavier freshman-to-be Kenny Frease, visited the campuses of Xavier University and University of Michigan. After he returned from those visits, he spoke of the discussions he had with coaches, teachers, students and others. He said the major topics of discussion between himself and those individuals he met during the visits were academics and academic programs. He termed the visits and discussions “outstanding.”
Incidentally, Kenny Frease, a 7-foot 245-pound center averaged 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds a game.
He was also an academic All-Ohio, academic gold certificate recipient this year, in addition to being a first team All-Ohio, first team and Co-Player of the Year N.E. Inland, Massillon Independent Player of the Year, first team All County, first team and Player of the Year Federal League, first team and Player of the Year District IV, finalist Gatorade Player of the Year, North South Ohio All Star Game player, Ohio Kentucky All Star Game player, and three-times All-Ohio and led his team to a state runner-up.
Many of the one-and-dones may have similar academic credentials in their vita and certainly carry like athletic achievements behind their names.
But, statistics have proved that players who come to the NBA with a degree after graduation have longer professional careers in the league and for the most part make more money. (See Tyrone Hill, Derek Strong, James Posey, Brian Grant, Aaron Williams and David West for proof).
The NBA's new age rule is only a couple of years old, so it's too soon to tell what harm it has wrought. But if you listen to Bob Knight, you'll hear a pretty accurate description of what the rule is doing to college basketball. Knight points out that a one-and-done player need only pass a few basket-weaving type classes
to stay eligible for the first semester or two quarters, then forget about classes, be eligible to play basketball the rest of the season and move to the pros.
What does that do to a program? For one thing, it robs the school that signs them of senior leadership or, hell, junior or sophomore leadership. But far worse, it subordinates the real purpose of a university—to educate and graduate. In essence it will tends to turn many if not all of the schools who embrace it into pro farm clubs.
But here's the rub. For every Kobie Bryant who went to the NBA straight from high school, there is a youngster—not so young any more—his age who failed to make the “league” and is wandering the streets of some town without any marketable skills or asking a customer, “You want fries with that?” For every Kevin Durant or Greg Oden there is a marginally talented player who listened to an agent, was drafted in the second round or not at all, and who has given up a $30,000-$40,000 a year educational opportunity for the next three years and is asking someone, “Can I super-size that?”
Oh, and another pitfall of the one-and-done is it tends to develop a “ME FIRST “ attitude and “the hell with my teammates” mentality. Contrast that to the achievements of the Xavier team this past season.
Now let's be realistic. If you are a coach of a Big 6 Conference college team and you have a chance to sign one or, if you're really fortunate, two or three one-and-done players with their enormous talents, what would you do?
You are well aware that if you don't win, you will probably—make that definitely—end up on the wrong horse on the coaching carousel. After all, you had a shot at winning the NCAA championship with Greg or Kevin or Derrick or Chris, or K-Love or whomever and you chose “student athletes.”
How can we justify your salary to our alumni—who've helped pay it—if you're not winning, not taking their team to the NCAA tournament every year or at least the NIT if you're rebuilding? The answer to the question, “Would you...?” is really rhetorical, isn't it?
I'd like to think not, though at the Dukes, the North Carolinas, the Virginias, and yes, the Xaviers, the question will not be rhetorical. And the graduation rates at one school anyway, will continue to be exemplary.:cool:
wkrq59 is a 1959 Xavier graduate and former Cincinnati Post sportswriter
One and Definitely Under-done
by wkrq59
Since the NCAA Final Four ended with Kansas' championship, a whole flock of collegiate one-and-dones joined Oden and the Departures—No, it's not a rock band or vocal group, but they will soon be making more money than their contemporaries and former classmates.
Being a faithful poster on Musketeer Madness, my friend and Xavier's, Muskieman, asked his breathern what one-and-dones do to a collegiate program and are they a good or bad?
Are O.J.Mayo, Bill Walker, Derrick Rose, Michael Beasley and Kevin Love hurting college basketball?
I shout a loud YES ! I truly believe one-and-done will subvert the true purpose of a university, to educate.
Student athletes should be students first and athletes second. If the practice is allowed to continue thanks to a sorry NBA rule which requires a player to be age 19 before he can be eligible for the league's draft, it will eventually turn collegiate basketball programs at all but the Ivy League level or at schools which offer no athletic grants-in-aid, into even greater professional basketball farm clubs than they already are.
Eventually, even the universities which pride themselves as being academic institutions first and athletic competitors second if not much further down the chain, the Dukes, North Carolinas, Virginias, Xaviers and others of their ilk, will find themselves struggling to compete.
The NBA should either follow the lead of the NFL and require a player to be three years removed from his high school graduation class or drop the damn age 19 rule all together.
Right now the NBA, its Players' Association and the NCAA basketball programs are on a collision voyage of disaster. Each of those entities knows there is an iceberg out there but none of them seems able to steer the ship in the right direction.
Here's what rent-a-players can do to a program. Jim Boeheim's Syracuse team won an NCAA championship with Carmelo Anthony and hasn't had a sniff of the Final Four since. Thad Matta's Ohio State Buckeyes got—thanks to John Cahill—to the championship game two years ago and had to settle for the NIT title this season. Memphis without the artistry of Derrick Rose and upper-classmate Chris-Douglas Roberts will be in for some rough times.
Contrast them with David West, who graduated from Xavier with two degrees and this year was an NBA All-Star and he and the Hornets are in the playoffs for the first time in years. Analyze this: Xavier with Justin Doellman, Justin Cage and Will Caudlle took Greg Oden's Ohio State team to the wall as seniors. Stanley Burrell, Josh Duncan and Drew Lavender led a Xavier team to the Elite 8 and along the regular-season way beat Indiana and Kansas State, Virginia, Auburn and others. Each will receive his degree next month.
Those six Xavier graduates enjoyed their college basketball careers and wherever they may play pro ball, or if they never play that game, will be armed with the means for success in the business or professional world. In other words, they could be pros in something besides sports as the NCAA commercial goes.
During his recruiting, Massillon Perry High School basketball standout and Xavier freshman-to-be Kenny Frease, visited the campuses of Xavier University and University of Michigan. After he returned from those visits, he spoke of the discussions he had with coaches, teachers, students and others. He said the major topics of discussion between himself and those individuals he met during the visits were academics and academic programs. He termed the visits and discussions “outstanding.”
Incidentally, Kenny Frease, a 7-foot 245-pound center averaged 20-plus points and 10-plus rebounds a game.
He was also an academic All-Ohio, academic gold certificate recipient this year, in addition to being a first team All-Ohio, first team and Co-Player of the Year N.E. Inland, Massillon Independent Player of the Year, first team All County, first team and Player of the Year Federal League, first team and Player of the Year District IV, finalist Gatorade Player of the Year, North South Ohio All Star Game player, Ohio Kentucky All Star Game player, and three-times All-Ohio and led his team to a state runner-up.
Many of the one-and-dones may have similar academic credentials in their vita and certainly carry like athletic achievements behind their names.
But, statistics have proved that players who come to the NBA with a degree after graduation have longer professional careers in the league and for the most part make more money. (See Tyrone Hill, Derek Strong, James Posey, Brian Grant, Aaron Williams and David West for proof).
The NBA's new age rule is only a couple of years old, so it's too soon to tell what harm it has wrought. But if you listen to Bob Knight, you'll hear a pretty accurate description of what the rule is doing to college basketball. Knight points out that a one-and-done player need only pass a few basket-weaving type classes
to stay eligible for the first semester or two quarters, then forget about classes, be eligible to play basketball the rest of the season and move to the pros.
What does that do to a program? For one thing, it robs the school that signs them of senior leadership or, hell, junior or sophomore leadership. But far worse, it subordinates the real purpose of a university—to educate and graduate. In essence it will tends to turn many if not all of the schools who embrace it into pro farm clubs.
But here's the rub. For every Kobie Bryant who went to the NBA straight from high school, there is a youngster—not so young any more—his age who failed to make the “league” and is wandering the streets of some town without any marketable skills or asking a customer, “You want fries with that?” For every Kevin Durant or Greg Oden there is a marginally talented player who listened to an agent, was drafted in the second round or not at all, and who has given up a $30,000-$40,000 a year educational opportunity for the next three years and is asking someone, “Can I super-size that?”
Oh, and another pitfall of the one-and-done is it tends to develop a “ME FIRST “ attitude and “the hell with my teammates” mentality. Contrast that to the achievements of the Xavier team this past season.
Now let's be realistic. If you are a coach of a Big 6 Conference college team and you have a chance to sign one or, if you're really fortunate, two or three one-and-done players with their enormous talents, what would you do?
You are well aware that if you don't win, you will probably—make that definitely—end up on the wrong horse on the coaching carousel. After all, you had a shot at winning the NCAA championship with Greg or Kevin or Derrick or Chris, or K-Love or whomever and you chose “student athletes.”
How can we justify your salary to our alumni—who've helped pay it—if you're not winning, not taking their team to the NCAA tournament every year or at least the NIT if you're rebuilding? The answer to the question, “Would you...?” is really rhetorical, isn't it?
I'd like to think not, though at the Dukes, the North Carolinas, the Virginias, and yes, the Xaviers, the question will not be rhetorical. And the graduation rates at one school anyway, will continue to be exemplary.:cool:
wkrq59 is a 1959 Xavier graduate and former Cincinnati Post sportswriter