So, it appears as if Derrick Rose might have cheated in order to make himself eligible to play for Memphis a couple of years ago. He allegedly had someone take the SAT for him. It also looks like one of his grades from high school was fudged so that the Tigers could benefit from what he could do on the basketball court.
And, it looks like the people at Memphis - an institution of higher learning - knew about all of this a year ago and basically sat on it, hoping no one would find out. They wanted to keep their 38 win season and Final Four appearance intact. I guess wins are really more important than academic success. I guess the term 'student athlete' really is a joke.
And I ask you, are you really surprised by all of this?
If you say yes, well, you just haven't been paying attention.
No, this is not going to turn into a John Calipari bash-fest. Even the NCAA isn't convinced that Calipari knew about the SAT episode. Cal isn't named in the allegation by the NCAA. He does have a checkered past, though. Just ask the people at UMASS.
Again, this isn't going to be a 'pile on Cal' rant. I'm not saying he's not part of the problem. I'm saying he isn't the problem.
The problem goes much higher than Calipari or the NCAA. It's in the NBA.
You see, the NBA instituted a minimum age a few years ago. The idea behind it was to make sure that players were mature enough to handle being a professional athlete. The league was almost universally praised when they took this step by people who had short-sighted views of the situation. There were a lot of people applauding David Stern for taking a stand and forcing kids to grow up before being handed guaranteed million dollar contracts. Almost no one was looking at the big picture. Well, almost no one.
There were college coaches who completely disagreed with what the NBA was doing, and as a result, they refused to recruit 'one and done' kids like Rose, Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, and O.J. Mayo. Those coaches feared that the 'one and done' players might wind up causing more problems for their programs than they were worth.
Those coaches might have been right. USC has been accused of violating NCAA rules as far as Mayo is concerned. There were plenty of eyebrows raised when Beasley chose Kansas State. We know about the Rose situation. And even though Ohio State hasn't been accused of doing anything wrong where it concerns Oden and former teammate Mike Conley Jr. (another 'one and done' player), it's not like the Buckeyes have never been in hot water with the NCAA before.
Schools that had seen their basketball programs fall to the point that they were irrelevant (and USC, KSU would qualify - as would OSU in the pre-Oden years) were willing to do almost anything - literally sell their souls -to get these 'one and done' players to come to their campus.
Had the NBA not enacted the rule requiring players to attend college for at least a year, it would probably be a different story.
And the rule is what the real problem is. This age requirement never should have been put into place by Stern & Company.
Forget about the argument that at the age of eighteen, kids can be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to (possibly) die, but they can't play in the NBA. It's been used over and over again. There's nothing new with that argument, and it has never convinced anyone who believes in the NBA minimum age rule to change their minds. There are better arguments to choose from.
The best argument of them all is simply this. Kids like Rose never wanted to go to college in the first place.
Think about it for a few minutes. Put yourself in the shoes of some of these kids. What would you rather do, play in the NBA for a million dollars and help your family get out of the poverty they reside in or go to school and take courses you are almost certain never to use in your professional life? I think most of you would choose the money and the NBA. I know I would.
The NBA will tell you they out the rule into place because they tired of players like Korleone Young, Leon Smith, Kwame Brown, and Sebastian Telfair declaring themselves eligible for the draft, and flaming out for any number of reasons (most of them having to do with maturity issues). What they don't tell you is that there are plenty of high school players who have made the jump without problems (Kobe, Lebron, KG, Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Jermain O'Neal come to mind). What they don't tell you is that there are plenty of players who went to college who come into the league with those very same maturity problems. One year of college isn't going to make someone grow up. Heck, how many of us really are 'grown up' at the age of nineteen? Most of us don't really mature until we get into our twenties.
What the NBA isn't telling you is the real reason they have this minimum age requirement. The real reason is money. They don't want their teams wasting money on players who don't go to college and may never develop into NBA stars. They don't want their teams putting money into developing these young men only to watch them go to another team a few years later and realizing their potential with that new team. The league is trying to protect the teams from themselves, though there are plenty of players who go to college and still fail to develop into NBA stars.
Here's what the league has created. It's created a group of players who are now forced to go to school. They don't want to be there. The legendary Bob Knight once explained that these players get to school, know they are only there for a year, and then do the minimum required academically to keep themselves eligible. That means going to class for their first semester. After that, a lot of these players never step inside of a classroom, lecture hall, or library. They are there for one reason and one reason only. To play basketball and pass the time until the NBA welcomes them with open arms.
Of course, not every young man takes the 'one and done' route. Take Brandon Jennings for example. This kid's heart was never in the books. It was in basketball. Arizona wanted him badly, but he couldn't make himself academically eligible. So, instead of going to school and picking his grades up, Jennings turned pro in Europe. He was ripped to shreds by people who thought it was a bad idea.
Now, Jennings didn't exactly tear it up in Europe. In fact, he struggled. But, the NBA obviously doesn't care, because he is projected to be a top ten pick in the draft, which takes place later this month. NBA talent evaluators are falling all over themselves to draft this kid. They would have done the same thing had Jennings been able to make the jump to the NBA directly from high school, trust me.
Jennings was the first player to use Europe as a way to get to the NBA without having to spend a year in college disguising himself as a 'student athlete.' I guarantee you he won't be the last.
So, when you and your friends hit the bar and talk about the Memphis/Derrick Rose situation, it might be a good thing to take a step back and stop yourself from ripping the school, the coach or the player. You'd be better off placing the blame where it belongs.
On the NBA.
Click here to listen to today's podcast!
And, it looks like the people at Memphis - an institution of higher learning - knew about all of this a year ago and basically sat on it, hoping no one would find out. They wanted to keep their 38 win season and Final Four appearance intact. I guess wins are really more important than academic success. I guess the term 'student athlete' really is a joke.
And I ask you, are you really surprised by all of this?
If you say yes, well, you just haven't been paying attention.
No, this is not going to turn into a John Calipari bash-fest. Even the NCAA isn't convinced that Calipari knew about the SAT episode. Cal isn't named in the allegation by the NCAA. He does have a checkered past, though. Just ask the people at UMASS.
Again, this isn't going to be a 'pile on Cal' rant. I'm not saying he's not part of the problem. I'm saying he isn't the problem.
The problem goes much higher than Calipari or the NCAA. It's in the NBA.
You see, the NBA instituted a minimum age a few years ago. The idea behind it was to make sure that players were mature enough to handle being a professional athlete. The league was almost universally praised when they took this step by people who had short-sighted views of the situation. There were a lot of people applauding David Stern for taking a stand and forcing kids to grow up before being handed guaranteed million dollar contracts. Almost no one was looking at the big picture. Well, almost no one.
There were college coaches who completely disagreed with what the NBA was doing, and as a result, they refused to recruit 'one and done' kids like Rose, Greg Oden, Michael Beasley, and O.J. Mayo. Those coaches feared that the 'one and done' players might wind up causing more problems for their programs than they were worth.
Those coaches might have been right. USC has been accused of violating NCAA rules as far as Mayo is concerned. There were plenty of eyebrows raised when Beasley chose Kansas State. We know about the Rose situation. And even though Ohio State hasn't been accused of doing anything wrong where it concerns Oden and former teammate Mike Conley Jr. (another 'one and done' player), it's not like the Buckeyes have never been in hot water with the NCAA before.
Schools that had seen their basketball programs fall to the point that they were irrelevant (and USC, KSU would qualify - as would OSU in the pre-Oden years) were willing to do almost anything - literally sell their souls -to get these 'one and done' players to come to their campus.
Had the NBA not enacted the rule requiring players to attend college for at least a year, it would probably be a different story.
And the rule is what the real problem is. This age requirement never should have been put into place by Stern & Company.
Forget about the argument that at the age of eighteen, kids can be sent to Iraq and Afghanistan to (possibly) die, but they can't play in the NBA. It's been used over and over again. There's nothing new with that argument, and it has never convinced anyone who believes in the NBA minimum age rule to change their minds. There are better arguments to choose from.
The best argument of them all is simply this. Kids like Rose never wanted to go to college in the first place.
Think about it for a few minutes. Put yourself in the shoes of some of these kids. What would you rather do, play in the NBA for a million dollars and help your family get out of the poverty they reside in or go to school and take courses you are almost certain never to use in your professional life? I think most of you would choose the money and the NBA. I know I would.
The NBA will tell you they out the rule into place because they tired of players like Korleone Young, Leon Smith, Kwame Brown, and Sebastian Telfair declaring themselves eligible for the draft, and flaming out for any number of reasons (most of them having to do with maturity issues). What they don't tell you is that there are plenty of high school players who have made the jump without problems (Kobe, Lebron, KG, Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Jermain O'Neal come to mind). What they don't tell you is that there are plenty of players who went to college who come into the league with those very same maturity problems. One year of college isn't going to make someone grow up. Heck, how many of us really are 'grown up' at the age of nineteen? Most of us don't really mature until we get into our twenties.
What the NBA isn't telling you is the real reason they have this minimum age requirement. The real reason is money. They don't want their teams wasting money on players who don't go to college and may never develop into NBA stars. They don't want their teams putting money into developing these young men only to watch them go to another team a few years later and realizing their potential with that new team. The league is trying to protect the teams from themselves, though there are plenty of players who go to college and still fail to develop into NBA stars.
Here's what the league has created. It's created a group of players who are now forced to go to school. They don't want to be there. The legendary Bob Knight once explained that these players get to school, know they are only there for a year, and then do the minimum required academically to keep themselves eligible. That means going to class for their first semester. After that, a lot of these players never step inside of a classroom, lecture hall, or library. They are there for one reason and one reason only. To play basketball and pass the time until the NBA welcomes them with open arms.
Of course, not every young man takes the 'one and done' route. Take Brandon Jennings for example. This kid's heart was never in the books. It was in basketball. Arizona wanted him badly, but he couldn't make himself academically eligible. So, instead of going to school and picking his grades up, Jennings turned pro in Europe. He was ripped to shreds by people who thought it was a bad idea.
Now, Jennings didn't exactly tear it up in Europe. In fact, he struggled. But, the NBA obviously doesn't care, because he is projected to be a top ten pick in the draft, which takes place later this month. NBA talent evaluators are falling all over themselves to draft this kid. They would have done the same thing had Jennings been able to make the jump to the NBA directly from high school, trust me.
Jennings was the first player to use Europe as a way to get to the NBA without having to spend a year in college disguising himself as a 'student athlete.' I guarantee you he won't be the last.
So, when you and your friends hit the bar and talk about the Memphis/Derrick Rose situation, it might be a good thing to take a step back and stop yourself from ripping the school, the coach or the player. You'd be better off placing the blame where it belongs.
On the NBA.
Click here to listen to today's podcast!
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