TERRY MOSHER
I was listening as I usually do to sports shock jocks on the car radio the other day and one of the shock jocks was talking about the NBA draft and what happens when a kid comes out early from college and is not selected. The bottom line is that kid can’t go back to his college on scholarship because the NCAA says so.
I yelled BS to the car radio on that.
The NCAA rule is that if a college player declares for the NBA draft after April 10 or retains a sports agent, that player is no longer eligible as an amateur. So if a player so declares and is not drafted he cannot play college ball. There are other options for the player. He could play overseas or in the development league, but not college.
I think the rule is a terrible injustice to the player. Let all the players who want to declare for the draft come back to their college teams if not drafted. I don’t have my head in the sand and pretend a lot of kids who are talented enough to be a one-and-done type are in college to get an education.
Most likely they are not. They are only there because the NCAA and NBA agreement is that a player must attend one year of college or be at least 19 and removed one year from high school to be eligible for the draft.
The result of his rule is that kids will play one year of college ball or play for a team overseas or just sit out a year before declaring for the draft. Fine, if that is the way the game is to be played. But, if they aren’t drafted after all that, why restrict them from going back to their college team or playing for a college team? Let them play.
I will say that I don’t like the one-and-done player that has resulted from the NCAA rule. John Calipari at Kentucky has embraced this rule and signs top high school players with the idea of them just laying for one year and them jumping to the NBA.
That works for Calipari because there is no pretense that a kid he signs is going to Kentucky to get an education. He is going there to meet the NCAA rule and then jump ship to the NBA after the required one year.
But that makes a joke of the education process. I mean, I get it. If a professional team is willing to pay millions to a one-and-done player, he would be a fool not to sign with that team if drafted.
It rankles me, though, that this makes a joke of the college experience and the education one can get by sticking it out for four years. And for college coaches not named Calipari it’s tough to build a championship contender when your roster turns over every year.
And I can’t get over the fact most of these kids only take easy classes to remain eligible for the college basketball season and once the season ends, so does their college experience.
I don’t see a solution to what bothers me about this, except to let all college players be eligible for the NBA draft and if not drafted they can then come back to their college and continue their education, even if it still is a pretend experience and not the real thing. In my college experience, the longer you are in college the more comfortable you become and the more open you are to learn something
And that is not a bad thing.
This gets me around to Matt Calkins, the Seattle Times’ newest sports columnist, who rips (kind of ) Washington coach Lorenzo Romar for being an excellent recruiter that doesn’t get the excellent results one would expect.
It’s hard for me to argue with Calkins’ main point. In the just concluded NBA draft, Marquese Chriss was picked eighth overall and Dejounte Murray went 29th in the first round, yet the Huskies finished tied for sixth in the final Pac-10 standings with a 9-9 record and a 19-15 overall mark, and no NCAA Tournament appearance for the fifth straight season.
And the talent continues to flow to Washington through Romar. Markelle Fultz, a 6-4 point guard who some are already considering the possible first pick in next year’s NCA draft, will be with Romar and the Huskies for the coming basketball season.
I’m not suggesting Romar to be fired. He is one of the nicest men you will likely ever meet and is a good public face for Washington. But at some point talent should equal the NCAA Tournament and it’s only time before pressure builds to dump the nice guy.
So we will see.
Since we are talking nice guys, it’s good to see Craig Murray back with the Olympic College basketball program. Murray is Mr. Basketball in these parts. He is the owner and coach and trainer of the Total Package Basketball program and at one time was assistant basketball coach to Barry Janusch with the Rangers. Janusch, of course, is Olympic’s athletic director.
I’m starting to mist up so I better stop. I am listening to the “California Stars” song again and as I wrote earlier that song reminds me of the time 56 years ago when four young men from Portville, N.Y. left for the warm and sunny climate of Los Angeles. I’m the only one left from our foursome and it breaks my heart and brings me to tears when I hear that song because it reminds me of my amigos.
Be well pal.
Be careful out there.
Have a good day.
You are loved.