When should you leave?

There has been a lot of discussion lately concerning the one and done rule in college basketball.

A lot of folks are unhappy that certain schools can get top notch talent, coach them up, have success, go to a final four, maybe even win it all, and then watch these studs take off for the NBA after less than one year of college under their thinking caps.

I’ve had several different ideas about this subject but you must remember I was around in the dark ages when freshman were not allowed to play on the college varsity team.

These freshmen were able to adapt to the college life, play other freshmen teams as well as junior colleges and when they were sophomores it was off to the varsity.

For you Cougar fans I’m sure you remember the Coubabes!

In those days a player also had to wait until after their senior year of play to go pro.

Then there were the lawsuits declaring that some players were hardship cases and needed to play professionally in order to support an extended family. So many players began to declare hardship after their sophomore year and then left school.

A few years later kids coming out of high school declared that they too were in a hardship situation and players like Moses Malone, Darryl Dawkins, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, and LeBron James to name a few made that jump from the high school to the pros.

For most of these players things have worked out quite well and making the kind of money they are making wouldn’t have improved by playing a year or two of college ball.

Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan made a few remarks about the one and done kids or as he said it the ‘rent a player’ type athlete.

What Ryan neglected to mention is that he hopes those Duke kids go pro so that they don’t turn around and win four national championships instead of the one they took from the Badgers.

There are many rules and regulations that schools, coaches and alumni need to follow. It seems to me that coaches get in less trouble when athletes declare early.

Too many players that were in their second or third year of college got a bit too chummy with alumni with big pockets and ended up taking money and/or cars from them because the alums were so appreciative of the young talented athletes success.

And, of course, they didn’t want these kids to leave school early for the big time.

That doesn’t seem to be as much of a problem now because the kids are declaring after their freshman or sophomore years and the recruiting trail is full of great talent that can fill the shoes of those that left.

Also, a couple of thousand dollars or a car isn’t quite as impressive as it once was.

If I was a college coach, just saying, and I had a young player who wanted to declare for the NBA draft I would not get in their way but I would certainly get the kid some guidance.

I would get as many former players from the NBA as possible to talk about the pros and cons of the NBA game. I would also track down past stars that didn’t make an NBA roster and played overseas to get a perspective of what it is/was like to play in Europe, South America or Asia because not everyone can make it in the NBA.

I’ve changed my tune about declaring early because so many young athletes have prepared well for the next level and besides it should be their decision.

They are the ones that have the dream and have put in the work and you know what?

College isn’t for everybody.

Bill Gates (Harvard) and Paul Allen (Washington State University) both left college early and would eventually start a little company called Microsoft. I doubt they ever thought about going back to school to get their degree.

They’ve given away millions for education so I’m sure they’ve earned every honorary degree that they’ve received.

The problem that I have is that these guys are considered dropouts.

We need to change this thought process because anyone that has had success without a college degree should not be talked about negatively.

I think that anyone, no matter if they are ball players or regular college students that leave school early should wear a different moniker.

One and done, two and through, three and flee or out the door in four are all pretty good ones, but please don’t call a billionaire a dropout!

I personally would like to see my teams’ athletes stay for four years because I like to see them develop and grow and because I’m a fan.

But hey, if a bunch of great athletes show up and a final four is a result, I could probably bid adieu after one season while saying thank you very much!