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June 1, 2004
High school athletes should go to college, not the pro level
In two separate sports, the controversy surrounding the allowing of high-school athletes to enter the pro-level has sparked major debate and strong opinions.
When U.S. District Judge Shira Schleiden declared Maurice Clarett eligible for the NFL draft in February, people around the league were skeptical. “I still believe a kid 18 years old is not ready to play in the NFL," said Gene Upshaw, president of the NFLPA. Players such as Ravens’ Ray Lewis and Redskins’ LaVar Arrington publicly voiced their intentions to “gun for Clarett." Although their deliveries varied, the underlying statement was the same: the kids were not ready for the NFL.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, likewise, has launched a campaign to lock out athletes 18 or younger from the league.
The NFL has the ability to allow the drafting of these kids. With a roster of 51 players along with a practice squad of five, the NFL can nurture athletes. However, the ability of these athletes to thrive in the NFL is highly questionable. For example, an NFL safety is generally around six feet tall and weighs around 220 pounds. Usually with around 10-15% bodily fat. High school athletes, if they were to be of that size, would have had to spend an inordinate amount of time in the weight room, or even worse, have had to take questionable supplements.
Another major aspect of is mental maturity, or lack thereof. This aspect of people is not quantifiable and is a problem for even college players. Professional scouts must attempt to decipher the maturity level of players, and for athletes in their teens, it is nearly impossible to figure out. It is possible that more Ryan Leafs will come out of high school athletes. Even for an athlete with an incredible amount of will and determination to succeed, it is difficult to imagine an 18-year old athlete withstanding the sledgehammer hits of 230 pound linebackers day-in day-out while running grueling training for almost twice the length of their usual high school routine, and, in the case of those that end up starting games, must cope with the incredible amount of pressure from the fans and media.
The problems associated with drafting youngsters become even more intensified in the NBA. Each team has a roster of 15, and basketball has no minor league system. This inevitably leads to slow maturing of players, with the most notable and famous being Darko Milicic of the Detroit Pistons. Recently turned 18, Milicic played a total of 158 minutes over his rookie season. That is less than the time Kevin Garnett plays in four games. However, players like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Darko Milicic, and LeBron James, whom have all skipped college in order to enter the NBA, are actually far from the norm. Five high schoolers entered the NBA draft last year. Their names are Ndudi Ebi, LeBron James, James Lang, Travis Outlaw, and Kendrick Persons. No doubt the name LeBron James rings a bell, after all he was a phenomenal rookie and likely will impact the game for a decade to come.
Again, maturity and a high physical level is necessary in the NBA. One example, although unfair, is 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett. While he has become one of the greatest all-around players in the history of basketball, one of the greatest knocks on Garnett has been his reluctance to post-up. This could, although admittedly unfairly, be attributed to his early entrance into the NBA. Skipping college, Garnett was not ready for the physical game of the NBA and struggled in his early years, and has since become a regular 20-point scorer by taking jump shots. Imagine if he had learned to post-up with his seven-foot body. Kwame Brown, a former first-overall pick, is the perfect example of a high schooler with not enough maturity. Brown has finally, in his third season, managed to show flashes of dominance, at last showing hustle and determination. Had it not been for his first-overall status, Brown could very well be out of the NBA by now, looking for a job outside of basketball. Not every high schooler will have the opportunity to be drafted early and have that leverage in being kept in the league to develop.
When U.S. District Judge Shira Schleiden declared Maurice Clarett eligible for the NFL draft in February, people around the league were skeptical. “I still believe a kid 18 years old is not ready to play in the NFL," said Gene Upshaw, president of the NFLPA. Players such as Ravens’ Ray Lewis and Redskins’ LaVar Arrington publicly voiced their intentions to “gun for Clarett." Although their deliveries varied, the underlying statement was the same: the kids were not ready for the NFL.
NBA Commissioner David Stern, likewise, has launched a campaign to lock out athletes 18 or younger from the league.
The NFL has the ability to allow the drafting of these kids. With a roster of 51 players along with a practice squad of five, the NFL can nurture athletes. However, the ability of these athletes to thrive in the NFL is highly questionable. For example, an NFL safety is generally around six feet tall and weighs around 220 pounds. Usually with around 10-15% bodily fat. High school athletes, if they were to be of that size, would have had to spend an inordinate amount of time in the weight room, or even worse, have had to take questionable supplements.
Another major aspect of is mental maturity, or lack thereof. This aspect of people is not quantifiable and is a problem for even college players. Professional scouts must attempt to decipher the maturity level of players, and for athletes in their teens, it is nearly impossible to figure out. It is possible that more Ryan Leafs will come out of high school athletes. Even for an athlete with an incredible amount of will and determination to succeed, it is difficult to imagine an 18-year old athlete withstanding the sledgehammer hits of 230 pound linebackers day-in day-out while running grueling training for almost twice the length of their usual high school routine, and, in the case of those that end up starting games, must cope with the incredible amount of pressure from the fans and media.
The problems associated with drafting youngsters become even more intensified in the NBA. Each team has a roster of 15, and basketball has no minor league system. This inevitably leads to slow maturing of players, with the most notable and famous being Darko Milicic of the Detroit Pistons. Recently turned 18, Milicic played a total of 158 minutes over his rookie season. That is less than the time Kevin Garnett plays in four games. However, players like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Darko Milicic, and LeBron James, whom have all skipped college in order to enter the NBA, are actually far from the norm. Five high schoolers entered the NBA draft last year. Their names are Ndudi Ebi, LeBron James, James Lang, Travis Outlaw, and Kendrick Persons. No doubt the name LeBron James rings a bell, after all he was a phenomenal rookie and likely will impact the game for a decade to come.
Again, maturity and a high physical level is necessary in the NBA. One example, although unfair, is 2004 MVP Kevin Garnett. While he has become one of the greatest all-around players in the history of basketball, one of the greatest knocks on Garnett has been his reluctance to post-up. This could, although admittedly unfairly, be attributed to his early entrance into the NBA. Skipping college, Garnett was not ready for the physical game of the NBA and struggled in his early years, and has since become a regular 20-point scorer by taking jump shots. Imagine if he had learned to post-up with his seven-foot body. Kwame Brown, a former first-overall pick, is the perfect example of a high schooler with not enough maturity. Brown has finally, in his third season, managed to show flashes of dominance, at last showing hustle and determination. Had it not been for his first-overall status, Brown could very well be out of the NBA by now, looking for a job outside of basketball. Not every high schooler will have the opportunity to be drafted early and have that leverage in being kept in the league to develop.
Discuss this Article
The NFL has the most thorough drug-testing system in professional sports, and star players like Daryll Gardner and Michael Westbrook have recieved multi-game suspensions for drug and steroid use.
"It is possible that more Ryan Leafs will come out of high school athletes."
Last I checked, Ryan Leaf played three seasons at Washington University.
"basketball has no minor league system."
The National Basketball Developmental League sent eight players to the NBA last year. It is a subsidiary league of the NBA, and works to graduate players to higher levels of professional basketball. Sounds like a minor league system to me.
"This inevitably leads to slow maturing of players, with the most notable and famous being Darko Milicic of the Detroit Pistons."
I think that Rasheed Wallace had more to do with Darko's miniscule playing time than his "slow maturing." Besides which, this was a learning year for Darko. He's a project player, and his true worth won't accuratly be known for several seasons.
About maturity, if a kid wants to do this that's his choice. And if the scouts want to take the risk of a high school star being another Ryan Leaf let them dig their own grave.
In basketball, you say that we only recognize one name, put it this way, if the rule was there couldn't be kids under 18 no matter what, he wouldn't be playing now.
You talk about Kevin Garnett not posting up. That's his problem and he may have to suffer the consequences of going up early, but he made the choice and they should be able to do that. They know the consequences.
Is it the best thing to go straight to pro from high school? Probably not. Is it our job to make a law against them doing that? No. In an age where people are allowed to screw up their own lives as much as they want, at least give them a chance to play pro sports. The worst thing that could happen? The kid isn't ready and has to pay the price for going pro early. He has to live with his own choice.
Its really not a minor league system, Armin. The NHL, NBA and NFL Europe systems all have the palyers affiliated with teams. THe D-League is a "minor league" but players are not connected to any team. Since players from the NBA cannot be demoted for seasoning a la AAA baseball or AHL hockey, its not a minor league system in the same sense at all.
Isamu, you cant make NFL comparisons for high school. But you can for the NBA. SirValiant Brown? Omar Cook? These guys saw $$$ and passed up major D-1 college educations and scholarships for a pipe dream that never happened.
Darko Milicic got no playing time regardless of Rasheed Wallace being there or not... maybe he got like 5 less minutes than he would have otherwise, but the Pistons had so many PF/C anyways that it really didn't matter. Either way, it proves my point. While in his case it may have been unique, as he was coming out of a league outside of the U.S., I think he would have learned a lot of actual play-time experience in Yugoslavia than he did here. Although admittedly the Pistons were able to teach him a lot... and the Pistons made it to the finals this year. In a sense, the Pistons had it pretty good this year. But can you say the same for the four other people who entered the draft early?
When I said a minor league system, I mean when a team can, by its own choice, send a player on its team down to the system, perhaps for a year or two or maybe even five, to develop and learn from a whole new set of coaches. The NBA does not have one, and the only reason you can claim the NFL has one is because of NFL Europe and the CFL. By the way, the fact that those two act as a minor league system is the only reason why the NFL owners are willing to shell out money to keep them up.
Yes, Ryan Leaf came out of college, I know that. I was actually meaning about the mental state of Ryan Leaf, but I guess I worded it wrong, sorry.
So stars were punished for drug use. Is that it? Has society gotten to the point where people go "Oh, who cares if [certain person here] does drugs, he'll get punished for it in the future, probably, anyways"? Regardless of whether the athlete will get punished for drug use in a decade or not, that athlete has already done irreparable damage to his or her body.
Going back to school is not the point. What is missing is the learning, about the sport, that players get in college. You learn from better coaches, a better system, learn from your seniors, and thus, when you enter the majors, you're that much more play-ready. Sure, you can make the argument that, hey, you can get 20 million dollars and just walk away from the sport. But is that the kind of players we want in the majors? What happened to the desire and drive that players used to have when dreaming about playing in the majors and succeeding and becoming a star? So let them learn in the majors? Unfortunately, once you enter the majors, you're under a rather strict time limit to do your thing, or else you're gone. Neither the coaches, the owners, nor the fans have the patience to tolerate some player taking five years to learn. You're expected to come in and contribute in one-three years. Of course, those who contribute from day one tend to reap the rewards. College experience allows athletes to gain skills that may let them make that contribution. This becomes even more true in the NFL, where the game is so fast and so tough and so complicated that even veterans have a hard time grasping concepts. If a 30 year old who has played in the league for 8 years has trouble, how can you expect an 18 year old to step in and contribute? Look at Larry Johnson, RB for the Chiefs last year. He came out of college, first running back drafted, and he was still criticized (a Dick Vermeil criticism, albeit) for his horrible pass blocking. I really, really doubt high school coaches, and this is no offense to them, teach blocking as well as college nor pros, they're just on a different level. Similarly, one cannot expect a high school coach to be able to teach a player to read opponent plays in a split second and take 5+ different actions depending on the play.
Part of the responsibility that ultimately rests on the majors is whether those they draft can succeed in the world that they are making responsible, educated decisions. Why else would coaches go through the annual rookie lectures about what you're not supposed to do and everything? If an 18 year old enters the NFL, knowing they are going to be ripped to shreds (aside from the very, very few magnificent outliers who can actually compete in the NFL out of high school, although those will probably only come once in a decade), the responsible thing would be to point him in the direction of college to become more prepared. Not only is that better for the sport, as the overall skill level of football is said to be going down (I forget when and whom, but multiple coaches were quoted as saying the athletes' skills were simply on a whole different low compared to two decades ago), but the teams do not have to have a burden (every player counts, just look at the Patriots). Sometimes the kids do not make the best of choices.
If there was a rule saying kids under 18 would not be playing, we would eliminate LeBron James. Oh my gosh, out of how many players? Please, really, who in NBA history has come out of high school and contributed since year 1 other than LeBron James? Noone. They probably could have done better learning in college by playing in 30 minutes every game than by playing in 5 minutes every game in the NBA.
Bob, you say we should give kids a choice to do what they want. Does that mean we should let everyone smoke crack if they want to, because, shoot, who cares, their choice. And if some idiots decide to go shoot up a school, hey, their choice? Something has to start straightening out people's lives, and at the least, the majors should be doing so. It may not seem like it, but while the majors are an entertainment industry, they also set examples for people world-wide as role models.
My point exactly. Darko should not be called a failure because virtue of the talent and coaching that he's surrounded by. The fact is that we simply do not know what kind of player Darko Milicic will be.
"Has society gotten to the point where people go "Oh, who cares if [certain person here] does drugs, he'll get punished for it in the future, probably, anyways"?"
I have no idea how you derived that from what I wrote, but in case there was some confusion, allow me to explain what I meant: the NFL requires drug testing for every rookie that enters the league, and the CBA allows for random drug testing after a player's initial season. As a result, there is no steroid problem in football, plain and simple. A player has to check their steroid or drug problem at the door if they want to play in the NFL.
You say CHANCE to make millions. There are very few high schoolers who make that cash. There are ten times that many who fail miserably and 30 years later, are sitting on a playground in the 'hood wondering where it all went wrong.
Education is the most important thing there is. The money will be there in two or three years, and most likely there will be more of it. Sometimes players in extreme poverty and guaranteed cash, like Sebastian Telfair and $15 mil from Adidas, should go pro. But TK, you make it seem like every player is like that, when in reality, most arent. In fact, most players who bypass college for the pros (because they are in the situation you discuss) wind up getting bad info from money hungry people around them and fail miserably.
It's not about playing these sports before, anyways, because very, very few even are in the situation where they can go pro out of high school. Hundreds of thousands of athletes played basketball last year in high school. How many made the NBA out of 12th grade? Less than 7, and thats being overly generous because i dont have the numbers in front of me.
Besides, college isnt always there, either. Most of these players (not to single out a race or sport, this is black or white, baseball or football or basketball) are not scholars. If someone gets into UNC or Texas on a hoops scholarship, they get a magnificent education for little $. Then, if their careers fail, tehy have a degree from a great university. That option goes away if they arent playing hoops or any other sport and have lousy grades.
What are you talking about? Did you read a word of what I wrote? Did I once say anything in opposition to high school athletes skipping college? No. In fact, I've written several things on this very message board in defense of Darko Milicic, who never played a single game of college basketball. I wrote that Ryan Leaf played college, that Darko needs time to develope, that the NFL doesn't have a drug problem, and that the NBDL is a de facto minor league. So before you start taking cheap shots, please do yourself a favor and READ.
Good job ar sophomore! I completely agree.
You see what Kiran and T.K. doesn’t see is T.K.'s total idiocy and lack of grammar knowledge! This means he is some random person who tried and failed and saw this forum and didn’t like it because it was just another example of his failure!
By the way I am a 17 year old motocross racer who opted to go to college instead of going pro.
Tyler Larson #11
Kiran, most fail. Life is not a risk thing, and Kwame Brown was a guaranteed Top 5 pick. There were over 75 early entrants into this years NBA draft, meaning high schoolers or college undergrads who are forgoing their shot at a degree. There are only 60 spots in the draft. Factor in college grads (Okafor, etc.) and thats dozens of kids throwing their life away altogether. They couldve had both a career in the NBA and a degree, now theyll have neither.
Darko's an exception. he's a foreigner, who played professionally in Europe before. He's not from the rough side of town.
For most of these kids, the ones from poor areas, they are the ones who often fail the most, and leave school early. They couldve gotten moer cash later, but now have nothing, and spend their life in the projects wondering what happened. Lenny Cooke, SirValiant Brown, et al. The list goes on, and on and on. Like I've said, for every KG and LeBron, tehre are ten Lenny Cookes. These kids must be responsible, take advantage of a great education, and then go pro. The NBA isnt gonna fold. If they are really NBA caliber, the money will still be there.
Poeple can go to community college, or institutes specializing in a specific field. They are way less expensive than traditional college. Hey, if they want to play pro, they will have to fight the battle to succeed, but i do believe that they are in a tight situation because they are in young adulthood.
Just because they get rejected from the nba and miss their chance at a big college doesn't always mean that their life is over. there are plenty of people from great colleges that have trouble finding jobs.
Sure, there are people who will get drafted. Make big money, go on, have fun. Yes, this may have been a nice way to go for those people.
On the other hand, there are students who will try out for basketball. There are COLLEGE people who try and cannot make the NBA. This is why the NCAA generally makes athletes get a degree anyways, in the likely case they do not make the Pros. For high schoolers, this becomes even easier. Not drafted? Sure, go ahead. They can just go to college and map out a new life. The trick? Well, they're no longer eligible for college sports. So at the ripe old age of college-time, they've already given up hope of playing in the Pros. No more draft. Maybe someone will pick you up in "free agency" of which you are immediately eligible for after the draft. But chances are, people aren't gonna remember high schoolers. You're screwed.
The problem also lies afterwards, even after an athlete is drafted. What if the athlete was actually in it for the game and not the money? What if an athlete genuinely wanted to become the next Kobe Bryant. This is no longer simply a matter of money. Someone could be a top 10 pick, guaranteed, out of high school. That's a lot of money. But they may not pan out in the NBA. With 15 people on the roster, and teams like the Pistons and the Spurs, with immensely deep benches going at it, even the 15th man may be draining resources (Darko). Fortunately, for Darko, he had many things going for him. First off, he landed on a brilliant team through a twist of fate. While he did not actually play, he learned from Big Ben and Rasheed Wallace. That's some good tutelage. But he probably wanted to play. And he's been rather public about it (not distracting, though, more like he's reminding everyone "I'm still here, and I'm hungry to play, so don't count me out" and generally as a retort to "we shoulda drafted Melo" by the fans). He also got big money. And his played professionally in Yugoslavia, so he learned as much as he probably would have in college. But college sports education is not enough, otherwise we would have college athletes turning stars left and right. In Darko's case, coming out of the European leagues, he lacked the general European lack of inside presence, despite his gifted weight (and he's still growing!) Had Darko been given consistant time, he could have learned a lot by now, a lot he would not have learned just by practicing. Now we will never know if sitting on the bench this long was good or not (I, for one, will actually say it was good, but who knows? Maybe he's an exceptional learner with exceptional drive to succeed, he could possibly even beaten out Lebron James for Rookie of the Year, again, we will never know). But chances are, losing out on play time may have slowed his progression and perhaps had a mental effect. Kinda like having a chip on his shoulder from day one. Of course, he did have that chip ever since he was drafted over Carmelo Anthony.
But what about other possible players? Maybe some player could come out of college, sign endorsements all over the place, genuinely want to become a star and lead his team to the championship... but end up a bust because he just did not develop fast enough? Perhaps the skill jump was just too much. At that point, yes, he has money. But that's it, the end of his dreams. It's easy to say he can go back to college and right his life out, but after brushing the NBA with such high hopes, would it really be that easy?
For the most part, I don't think the gamble is worth it enough to try grabbing the Pros by a hair. If the man's already a guaranteed top 10 pick, go to college, learn some, and go in to the Pros, become a guaranteed top 5 pick, or realize that maybe the Pros are not the course of action to take, and allow the teams to make a good stride towards victory and not disappoint the fanbase.
Take Rod Grizzard, a junior from Alabama who led the Crimson Tide to a #2 NCAA Tourney seed and the SEC West title in 2002. He coulda stayed for his senior year, and not only got a degree from a major state university, but likely gotten a higher draft spot.
Instead, he went pro early, got taken 40th in the draft, and couldnt even make the 15 man roster of the Washington Wizards. Now he's in teh NBDL or Europe or somewhere, but especially he's not in the NBA. Had he waited a year and not seen $$ that wasn't there, he would've had an Alabama degree, probably another SEC title ring on his finger, and a first round GUARANTEED contract. He would've been assured lots of money for at least 3 years and its safe to say he'd be in the NBA now.
Grizzard got selfish and threw a career away. It's a sad thing taht happens to way to many athletes like him.
Professional sports are tough,and rough, there is a lack thereof maturity, but If they prove the pstability both mentally, physically and maturely, I believe they then should be drafted. Owners should set them up in a situation, that will prove his or her maurity.
Iam big enoughto play quarter back for the nfl yeah yeah that is so true dude
This has helped me bunches onmy article.
Hope it helps you.
PLEASE I NEED TO WRITE A REPORT
on this topic. thanks
FOCKER OUT
How would this effect other people? These kids can always go back to college after they retire when they have enough money to pay for college.
---if you are good enough to go straight to the pros you wouldnt have to pay for college,any good college would give you a full athletic scholarship.
You can always go back to college and get your education.
wooooo
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