Having lived the life of a University of Texas student the last few years, I've noticed that even a school perceived as "squeaky clean" by the general public outside of the fun arrest run the past year for football has plenty that put Texas within the realm of every other major college. It seems the main problem is that nobody really cares who provides "benefits" as long as they don't get caught. Those you get caught like Rhett Bomar at Oklahoma is really one of many who do it, I'm sure there's some at Texas who get paid well for crap jobs where they do little, but other items like Adrian Peterson's $30,000 Lexus he drove throughout college raised some eyebrows, though was never reported.
OJ Mayo had a very similar run, and it seems as long as they are not coming within the college and by "random" outsiders, then no one really cares. When in high school, athletes are scouted essentially by people involved in the sneaker wars as much as agents. Kevin Durant spent his entire college gear decked in Jordan Brand clothing, always matched, and always something different. I'd be surprised if they didn't come from his brand-laden AAU team that handed out tons of free outfits with the (assumption) idea he'd sign with the Jordan Brand and Nike when he turned pro, which he did. This concept has not been questioned, and was done in high school, thus not dealing with the NCAA at all. Who turns down free clothes anyway?
Guys like Tim Floyd and Bill Duffy (the coach and agent, respectively, for the Mayo issue) make it a point not to be aware of what happens in a spoken fashion, so when they are asked, though I'm sure they are aware what probably is going on, but can say "I have no knowledge of it" since no one actually told them. Floyd (and probably Pete Carroll with the Bush situation) could easily tell players not to tell them about anything they may receive, so they don't have to be responsible for it. This is undoubtedly the same for most major schools. At Texas, though I have no experience with players getting paid by coaches and agents, I know that boosters has their typical influence in big-money handshakes and random deposits to bank accounts. That happens everywhere. If no one "knows" about it within the organization, then they'll do nothing about it. With Duffy, he can easily give a guy like Guillory $200,000 and say "do whatever, but I want you to help with Mayo," and that can be phrased so that he's not involved with the money issuing, and the one that is like Guillory than he can get a job elsewhere and Duffy's not affected.
I don't know how anyone can control boosters, and it's hard to tell a lot of athletes, especially the poorer ones, to not accept anything free, cause a lot of them could use it for beneficial purposes, like helping to support their family. The agent business to me is very flawed to begin with, because, as mentioned by David Falk when talking to TrueHoop blogger Henry Abbott, the free early benefits pull in enough 'wet-behind-the-ears' kids to be worth it. I think the agents have to start taking down themselves, and regulate themselves more. More NCAA coaches should be proactive in getting agents out of their kids' ear, often convincing them of bad decisions. Example: Jamaal Charles, entered early, under the assumption he was going to for sure be a second-round pick, the NFL legitimate draft committee said 2nd or 3rd, but his family was convinced (undoubtedly by agents and/or people who want money now) he was going round 2, and opted in. Mack Brown thought round 3, and though often that would seem like a coach looking for an excuse to get a player back, Charles went in round 3. Whether that was a bad decision or not, we'll see. He has the right to earn a living, so he is, he'll probably make $750k or so next year, so not sure how much you can complain. Still, it's interesting how easily some people can be persuaded by people waving cash.
The European style for dealing with the NBA is kind of different, since they stick athletes in pro leagues early, though they often sit on the bench and wait. In America, that might help some, but I think it is to the benefit of the athlete to be in something as organized as the NCAA for a bit before upgrading. I would say a year at Texas was much better for Kevin Durant than going to the NBDL for a year. He would not have averaged 20 a game at age 19 if he went straight to the pros out of high school or spent a year in the NBDL. I feel confident in that, especially since no other high school player went in the late lottery (where he was projected to go had he been eligible) and scored 20 a game by their 2nd year.
My big point of why college is helpful for the NBA is no NBA Champion was led by a high school entrant (since KG brought it back in 95) or an non-NCAA international player (unless you want to make the reach of Tony Parker as the 2007 NBA Finals MVP over Tim Duncan).
Since 1991:
91-93: Chicago - Jordan - UNC 3 yrs
94-95: Houston - Olajuwon - U of Houston 3 yrs
96-98: Chicago - Jordan - UNC 3 yrs
99, 03, 05, 07: Spurs - Duncan - Wake Forest 4 yrs
00-02: LA Lakers - Shaq - LSU 3 yrs
04: Detroit - pick 'em: Chauncey- 2 yrs, Sheed- 2 yrs, Ben Wallace - 4 yrs, Rip Hamilton - 3 yrs
06: Miami - Wade - Marquette 3 yrs (1 academically ineligible)
There's a chance that this year will end that run, with Boston (led by KG), Cleveland (with Bron) or the Lakers (led by Kobe) in the mix, though if Utah, Detroit, or NO wins, it'll continue, and with SA it'll be who you side with Duncan and the Int'ls of Manu and Tony.
I think that argument is as good as any as an excuse for people to go to college. So the age limit rule argument loses a bit of flavor, though not much. Though you can also mention the fact no one on this list has been in for 1 year and left and won.
For paying collegiates, I think they deserve a stipend of some sort, and they do get per diem, but not much else. However, going to college, especially for people like Kevin Durant, gains a lot of exposure that they wouldn't get if leaving from high school (LeBron - notable exception). In a way, the $2 mil that Durant gets more for going #2 then, say, #10 might be the way for him to get paid. The other 10 scholarship players that will not get past Europe or the NBDL, however, get much less out of it, outside of a free education. Not sure how to deal with that question. I just know Nebraska really wants to pay its football players. Seems like it'd be difficult to regulate which sports get paid, and which don't, or if just certain, and what about walk-ons, etc.
Overall, I wouldn't blame college as a limited use, since the year here with Kevin Durant was an adventure, and brought up as much discussion as anything in the last five years outside of the 2005 football champion team on campus. That kind of excitement does seem worth a lot of the headaches, even some of the runners, but obviously it's a problem that needs to be looked at.
comments (0) write a comment »
write a new comment
This article has no comments.