Kentucky's John Calipari Facilitates One-and-Done Players' NBA Dreams

In 2005, the NBA Players' Union reached a new collective bargaining agreement. The new rule stated that players must be at least one year removed from high school, placing a minimum age of 19 on athletes' entry, which then put the nix on prep-stars jumping directly into the league.

The enigma of the college "one-and-done" player was then born.

Instead of going overseas to gain playing time and experience, the ultra-talented high-school hoopsters have the choice of going to play ball at a major college basketball program like Kentucky for a season; and then diving head first into the land of mega paychecks.

The Kentucky Wildcats' head coach John Calipari knows all too well when it comes to this subject.

Calipari just had four freshmen sensations; John Wall, Eric Bledsoe, Daniel Orton and DeMarcus Cousins opt for the league as opposed to staying in school.

It's perfectly legal, and there's no rule against it. Wall, Bledsoe, Orton and Cousins will likely be first-round draft picks in the Association's June 24 youth-spree lovingly known as "The Draft," with Wall awaiting to be the first chosen of the four (No. 1 overall is probable).

College basketball is a sport that excites millions. The nation's best recruits go to the biggest institutions, like Kentucky, in order to compete for national prominence and recognition.

They might even stick around to win a conference or national championship. But many don't.

In Calipari's case, bringing in the top-notch, cream-of-the-crop kids from the country's premier high school set ups has done nothing for him—or Wildcat basketball.

He had enough talent to fill two Div. I rosters, but yet; he still couldn't get past the West Virginia Mountaineers in the Elite 8.

After the 73-66 loss to Bob Huggins' group, the writing was on the "Wall." Calipari's players were going to move on to greener pastures.

He knew it.

They knew it.

Wall has had agents in his ear for close to two years now, and despite saying that he wanted to be the first "one-and-doner" to get a college degree, in no shape or form did he ensue that he wanted to remain a Wildcat.

NBA players can take college courses, and that's what Wall will have to do should he choose to pursue his education between autograph sessions and the media melee that is going to erupt upon his entry to the NBA.

Calipari isn't the only head-man to practice the "one year and you're out" mode of operation. But he has been widely recognized as the poster-boy, rather coach, of the pro-youth movement.

Instead of building a program that will compete for years to come, he farms future millionaires, and is known as an "NBA-friendly" coach.

National titles aren't won that way.

Being paid a hefty sum of $400,000 a year (base pay) and receiving kick-backs from endorsements which pile up to nearly $3.5 million annually, Calipari is touting the moniker of "college's highest paid recruiter."

He's a recruiter that just happens to coach one of the most storied establishments in the history of college hoops (Adolph Rupp and Tubby Smith's Wildcats).

The sooner schools can see the floodgates open, the better. The fundamental basis of college sports is that of competition—solid, consistent competition. It's not just about being the hottest team in America for a year and then sliding into mediocrity the next (post-Cal Memphis).

In a day and age of television ratings and endorsements, media deals and money; universities owe it to themselves to make sure that the hot-shot athletes coming to play on their courts are there to stay.

But unfortunately for teams like Kentucky, Calipari-led programs are nothing but a springboard for some of his championship-caliber performers.