Victim Of Its Own Success: Star Athletes Running Straight Out Of Austin Early

The Longhorn basketball team has been shredded by players leaving after one or two years to declare themselves for the NBA draft. Every player except Tucker has gone in the first round, and each year Rick Barnes does it again by reloading with some of the best talent in the nation.

Last year it was the previously mentioned Kevin Durant who bolted for the NBA after one season. If it weren’t for the newly nineteen year-old restriction rule in the NBA Durant would have not even have stepped foot in Austin.

Its a growing trend, have one good season, go pro. Do it while you’re hot on the market.  Durant and T.J. Ford both won National Player of the Year Awards the same season they made the jump.  Augustin and Tucker were both All-Americans.

But as Gibson, Aldridge were, Abrams were all good players but none were the kind of player that could take over the game whenever they wanted and will their team to victory.  They were all drafted on potential and so far Gibson and Aldridge have been better than anticipated with their respected teams.  

Abrams is in luck, in a league that is becoming more guard oriented because of a lack of dominant big men, pure shooters are at a premium in the NBA.  A guy that can step in and hit a jump-shot from nearly anywhere on the floor will be an asset to any team. He might never be a star but hey, Michael Jordan had his Steve Kerr, Larry Bird had his Danny Ainge, LeBron has his Daniel "Boobie" Gibson and soon some star in the league will have his A.J. Abrams.

As for the Longhorn Football Team, after what seemed to be a one man job by then Red-shirt Junior, Vince Young as electrified the country, beating the mighty USC Trojans (who themselves looked like an NFL squad) in the 2006 Rose Bowl National Championship Game, Mack Brown is now having to address the same problem Rick Barnes has been dealing with since 2003 when T.J. Ford became the first to leave early bouncing from the program as a sophomore.

This season alone he’s watched his best offensive threat and his next superstar launch themselves into the NFL Draft.  Junior, running back Jamaal Charles had the season of a lifetime rushing for more than 1,500 yards, majority of those coming in the later half of the season and Red-shirt Sophomore, Jermichael Finley leave for what seems to be no apparent reason. They both were drafted in the third round.  A reasonable position for Finely considering he's being drafted on potential and not his output from 2007. 

Both Finley and Charles might have been wise to stay one more seaosn and be a lottery.  This years draft was littered with quality halfbacks which watered down Charles' true value. 

Finely who has the size and the speed to be a home run threat once he has a little more on field experience also could have benefited from one more season in a Longhorn offense that has sent its last two starting tight ends to the NFL, Bo Scaife, a starter in Tennessee and David Thomas (whose waiting his turn behind Tony Gonzales in Kansas City.)