ShareThisMichael Beasley, Kansas State -- one and done. Derrick Rose, Memphis -- one and done. O.J. Mayo, Southern Cal -- one and done. Eric Gordon, Indiana -- one and done. Jerryd Bayless, Arizona -- one and done. Anthony Randolph, LSU -- one and done. DeAndre Jordan, Texas A&M -- one and done. Kevin Love, UCLA -- one and done. All of them are freshmen. All of them are stars in the college game. All of them will be entering the NBA Draft after just one year in college. Beasley and Rose are expected to be the first two players drafted. Mayo is likely to be the third pick. Chances are good that all eight will be selected among top 12 -- perhaps even the top 10. So why wouldn't they leave college? If they've learned anything in their brief time in the halls of academe, it ought to be to take the money. That is, after all, what the colleges that make use of their services for a season are doing. Once upon a time, most college basketball players actually spent four years at their chosen institution of higher learning. They may not have graduated, but at least they bore some resemblance, however remote in some cases, to student-athletes. Not anymore. These days, the top young players in college basketball are athletes first, and students a distant second. They are in college only because they are banned from being drafted by the NBA until they are 19 years old. They have to do something for a year after graduating from high school, so why not play a little college ball? Here's why not, related in a conversation I'd love to hear, but never will:-- Highly recruited high school basketball player: I'd like to play ball for you. -- University president: That's great. We'd love to have you. -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: You understand it'll only be for one year. -- University president: One year? Why's that? -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: After that I'll be going to the League. -- University president: The League? -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: Yeah, you know ... the Association. -- University president: The Association? -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: The National Basketball Association. The NBA. -- University president: Oh, yes, the NBA. Many of our graduates have gone on to play in the, uh, Association. -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: I have no intention of graduating. As soon as I'm eligible for the draft, and can pocket those guaranteed millions, I'm gone. -- University president: Can't say as I blame you. Too bad you don't want to stay longer, because it appears you might have a future in economics. -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: I don't know about that, but I've got a lot of people telling me I have a future in the NBA, so, after one year here, I'm history. -- University president: About the one year... -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: Yes, sir -- what about it? -- University president: Forget about it. -- Highly recruited high school basketball player: What are you talking about? I'm talking about helping you make big bucks in the NCAA Tournament. And, OK, hopefully adding a few more big bucks to my contract after the NBA scouts see what I can do. This is a win-win situation for both of us. -- University president: I hate to lose you, son. And I truly do wish you all the best in your future career. But here's the thing. This is a respected institution of higher learning. Education is our business, not basketball. We don't exist to be a farm system for the NBA. And that's what we'd look like if we allowed you to enroll for a year, just to play basketball, without any intention of ever graduating. The NCAA is always talking about its "student-athletes." If you've ever heard a post-game press conference at one of the tournament sites, you'll never hear the participants called "players." The NCAA insists they be referred to as student-athletes. Well, we have standards to uphold, as well a reputation for academic -- and athletic -- integrity. We really do want to have athletes who also are students. It would be a mockery of those standards to have you spend a semester-and-a-half here devoted primarily to improving your basketball skills and, by extension, your marketability. So, while you're interest is greatly appreciated, and I really do hope you are a huge success in the, um, Association, we are not interested in having you enroll.(Contact Jim Donaldson at jdonalds@projo.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)
One-and-done latest woe for college game
Submitted by SHNS on Fri, 04/18/2008 - 18:19
Paying taxes unites us. It also divides us. People can pay five and even six times more in state and local taxes than other folks in similar circumstances making similar incomes.
Who's got your number?
In one of the fastest-growing forms of identity theft, crooks are stealing tax refunds by swiping personal information and using it to trick the Internal Revenue Service.
Coaches, too?
-- Prospective coach: I spent 1 year coaching at that mid-major school, won lots of awards, and did a great job getting my team, which I dearly love, into the big dance. I am now ready to move up.
-- University president: Well, we have standards to uphold, as well a reputation for academic -- and athletic -- integrity. If we used our money to steal you away from that other school, it would be because we are more interested in winning than in educating student-athletes. The fact that you are here so soon shows us that you are more interested in bettering yourself than the student-athletes you say you love so much. Good luck in your climb to the top, but we don't like one-and-done coaches any more than one-and-done players. A coach who reaches too quickly for the almighty dollar only teaches his student-athletes to do the same thing.