Can Colleges Keep Players in School and Out of the NBA?

A scary trend is arising in the National Basketball Association (NBA). 18-year-old high school kids are skipping college and going straight to the professional NBA.

Can a high school student, who likely has to scrape together money for his prom tuxedo, make the transition from allowance money to $11.9 million? Clearly not. 18 year olds are not ready to be millionaires or NBA Players. They need four years of college to prepare them for these things. To fix the problem of high school students skipping college to play professional basketball, colleges need to pay their basketball players a salary.

Why are these basketball players skipping college to go the NBA? An All-American basketball player suggests, "College basketball is so awesome. I would hate to turn it into a business and money issue. But at the same time, it already is. I'm not from a rich background. And I'm not saying, 'I want money.' But it would help to have just a little bit." Money, $11.9 million of it, convinces players to skip college and join the NBA.

Some are not concerned that players are skipping college. In his article "Ignore Stern; Teenagers Should Play," Ira Berkow points out players like Isiah Thomas, Julius Erving, and Shaquille O'Neal who left college to join the NBA, but later earned their college degrees. However, for each of these players mature enough to handle the NBA and go back to earn their degrees, there is a player who hasn't. It is important to note that none of these players skipped college completely; they all attended college for at least a year. This trend of players skipping college is relatively new. These players may attend college still, but it is very unlikely. None of these players have showed interest in attaining their college degrees. But why is this a problem?

NBA Commissioner David Stern wants high school players to attend college because they lack the physical and emotional maturity to play in the NBA (Tellem). Since recent high school graduates cannot possibly be ready to handle their new lifestyles of colossal bankrolls and publicity, they tend to rely on 'advisers,' specifically "agents, lawyers, family members and acquaintances -rather than themselves," says college basketball Coach John Thompson in his article "Value of Education Must Be Considered." If they attend college and have a small salary to work with, their new lifestyle will not be so monumental. College will socially and emotionally prepare players for the NBA.

Players also have trouble holding onto their money. Of the millions of dollars that persuade players to join the NBA from high school, Coach Thompson notes, "Few [players] receive those figures and [...] fewer keep them" (McGurn). A college degree would be very helpful in their later years since NBA money does not last forever.

While some have been successful in their transitions from high school to the NBA, others like Suntino Young have been less successful. Young entered the NBA draft straight from high school. His team's management questioned his work ethic and he was cut after one season (Fatsis). Fatsis tells how "Mr. Young['s story can be viewed] as a cautionary tale: the pampered prep star who believed [he was ready for the NBA], dreamed of the dunks and the millions and the bling-bling, and, in the parlance of our culture, went for it - and failed." Young thought he was ready, but was not.

If Young had spent some time developing in college, he may have succeeded in the NBA. Sports commentator Dick Vitale points out that, athletically, players "mature as players and develop a total game by staying in school for four years." If he had spent four years in college, Young would have been more physically prepared for the NBA.

Raef LaFrentz, on the other hand, took a different route to the NBA. He magnanimously decided that a final year in college would be more valuable than the money he could earn by leaving early to play in the NBA. In that final year, LaFrentz broke his hand and spent most of the season watching from the bench (Wieberg). Despite this injury, LaFrentz is now playing in the NBA. However, because of this sacrifice, he has a college degree. If faced with a career ending injury, LaFrentz will be able to have another career. Players who skip college are not prepared for major injury.

In that case, what can be done to fix this problem? Players need to attend college to prepare physically, emotionally, and socially for the NBA. It would be wrong to expect NBA coaches and owners, who are simply trying to build the best team possible, to offer less money to high school basketball players. Instead of making the NBA less valuable to players, colleges need to make themselves more valuable to players. More high school players would attend college if they were offered salaries to play college basketball.

"Pay college athletes money? Are you crazy?" That is what many, including Matt Hayes in his article "Despite NCAA concessions, pay for play is wrong way." Lately, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has been attempting to make college sports more appealing to high school stars. He dislikes this because "we've strayed from what college [sports are] all about." He argues that college is not a "minor league" for the professional level, but is "passion and pageantry and everything [pro sports are] not." Mr. Hayes is forgetting the top college players end up playing professionally, which means that college essentially is a "minor league" for them.

People who follow the Matt Hayes school of thought also argue that colleges should not pay their athletes because they do not need to attend college. They argue that "college-ain't-for-everyone" and that most basketball stars do not attend college for the classes (Fatsis). These people are probably correct; most college basketball stars are not in college to learn. However, they forget the dangers that Commissioner Stern and Coach Thompson spoke of. Even if the players do not attend college to learn, they still gain physical, emotional, and social preparation for the NBA.

Those who disagree with Mr. Hayes tend to realize how valuable this preparation is. Dick Vitale praises players who spend 4 years in college and criticizes those who leave early. He says, "No money can buy four years of life as a genuine student-athlete at a first-class college environment." It is difficult to concretely say how college is so valuable. Somewhere in the college, students mature from teenagers to adults. This maturation is separate from the information that students learn; hence the old saying, "Half of the learning takes place outside the classroom." Unfortunately it cannot be qualified or quantified, but college is a place for teenagers to mature and become adults. This is one of the reasons companies prefer to hire college graduates.

Coach Thompson also says how "education [...] proved more valuable than any dollar amount" to him. Because college is such a valuable preparation tool for the NBA, Thompson calls for a rule that would prevent anyone under the age of 20 to join the NBA. Although Thompson has good intentions, this rule will cause basketball players to attend college, then join the NBA when they are 20. Thompson's plan would help, but a salary is needed to keep players in college for four years.

Finally, Rick Reilly, in his article "The NCAA Has Done a Job on Itself," points out that college basketball players "mak[e] their colleges millions and get bupkus in return." As Reilly suggests, colleges make huge sums of money from college athletes. In fact, just from a television contract with CBS, the NCAA will make a minimum of $6 billion over 11 years (Wieberg). Colleges could afford to pay players with these huge revenues. Also, because players are earning so much money for their colleges, they deserve a salary.

Players will be more successful if they prepare in college before entering the NBA, offering salaries to college basketball players will entice more high school stars to attend college, and colleges, through the NCAA, have the means to pay these salaries with their billions of dollars. For these reasons, college basketball players must be paid salaries to protect high school players from the dangers of joining the NBA too early. We can continue to have 18-year-olds skip college and take the millions of dollars. Some will be good enough to play, some will not. Some will be emotionally and socially prepared, and others will not. With college salaries, more of these players will follow Raef LaFrentz, finishing up four years of college, being prepared in every way for the NBA, and having a back up plan incase of injury. We need more Raef LaFrentzes and less Suntino Youngs.

Works Cited

Berkow, Ira. "Ignore Stern; Teenagers Should Play." New York Times 17 May 2001

Fatsis, Stefan. "On Sports: NBA Draft: Kid Stuff." Wall Street Journal 22 June 2001

Hayes, Matt. "Despite NCAA concessions, pay for play is wrong way." Sporting News 14 May. 2001

McGurn, William. "Is the NBA 'Robbing the Cradle'?" Wall Street Journal 2 Jul. 2001

Reilly, Rick. "The NCAA Has Done a Job on Itself." Sports Illustrated 4 May 1998: 92

Shenolikar, Sachin. "NBA 101." Sports Illustrated for Kids Oct. 2001

Tellem, Arn. "Proposed Age Limit Is Hollow Altruism." New York Times 13 May 2001

Thompson, John. "Value of Education Must Be Considered." New York Times 13 May 2001

Vitale, Dick. "Basketball's best should set aim for earning diplomas Fan's dream for N.C.'s Jamison, Carter, Kansas' Pierce: Let NBA wait; stay in school." USA Today 18 Feb. 1998

Wieberg, Steve. "Injuries plague ranks of nation's top-flight players." USA Today 15 Jan. 1998