NBA's Increasing Lure Leads Game Down Unknown Path
SOMETHING DUKE coach Mike Krzyzewski
said last week makes you wonder what college
basketball will look like in 15 or 20 years.
The virtues of Shane Battier were being extolled,
concluding with the fact that he had stayed at Duke
for his senior year, serving to boost the overall
image of college basketball.
Krzyzewski sort of smiled after hearing the
rundown, and said, "You know, Shane really likes
going to college."
Stunning in its simplicity, the remark was a reminder
of how rapidly attitudes have changed in college
basketball, making it difficult to know where it's
headed.
The best players typically leave college after a year
or two, if they arrive at all, and some so-called
purists still claim they all do themselves a disservice
by leaving school early.
Kevin Garnett was a Dream Team player. Tracy
McGrady entered last night's games averaging 26.2
points, 7.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists for the Magic.
Dirk Nowitzki went into last night's action scoring
20.3 points a game with 8.3 boards for the
Mavericks. Kobe Bryant, 22, is being called the
best player in the world.
None of them played any college ball in
preparation, quieting the notion that going to the
NBA from high school was akin to basketball
suicide.
And, now, a basketball player's desire to come to
college or stay for long may be decreased further by
the NCAA's apparent crackdown on players who
received help paying their high school tuition. In a
month or two, a bunch of players may be
suspended. Players barely hanging on to the idea of
going to college may give up on it altogether.
TV commentators may talk about the sanctity and
joy of remaining in school to play college basketball,
but if you simply want to play in the pros for big
bucks and would rather not go to class, the
motivation to stay is dwindling.
It seems the division between top-flight players who
want the college experience and the top-flight
players who crave the NBA or need the money is
becoming wider and wider.
So where will this leave college basketball in the
year 2020?
Two types of programs should thrive. One is the
domain of the super- recruiter coach, like Florida's
Billy Donovan. He's able to bring in the very best
players, offering an exciting, running-pressing style
and plenty of playing time for everybody as they
dabble in the college game to see if they are
pro-ready. They may be gone in a year or two, but
there are more right behind. Donovan's incoming
class for next season may be the nation's best once
again.
DePaul coach Pat Kennedy signed six recruits in the
fall, one more than the limit. Apparently that's
because he expects one of his signees, Eddy Curry,
the top player in the country, to turn pro without
ever playing at DePaul. But it may be worth dealing
with the problems if Curry, who is academically
eligible for next season, ends up at DePaul for a
year or two.
The second category of success will be the
programs that attract players like Battier, stars who
actually want to go to college. It may not be mere
coincidence that respected academic institutions like
Stanford, Duke, Virginia and Wisconsin are
currently among the basketball elite. Players at
those schools may want to go to class and may be
more willing to stay there for reasons other than
basketball. The fact that Morris Peterson and
Mateen Cleaves were still at Michigan State as
seniors is a major reason the Spartans won the
national championship last season. So the schools
that keep their players for reasons other than
basketball may benefit.
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