Every day you read about this college athlete getting into trouble and that coach with the big contract, but today I would like to give you a story that needs to be told. Ron Hunter at IUPUI has made putting shoes on the feet of the children of Africa his humanitarian cause. Take a look at the attached article and you will see a coach who understands that is not just about wins and losses. Now if we can get some college administrators and the money people to understand the same thing.
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Last year, they changed the NBA draft rule to force young men to go to college for one year before putting their name in the draft. A player can get drafted into the Army, but he can’t play his trade in the NBA without a year of college. Who are you kidding? David Stern is so self serving. And for what 12 players? That’s how many freshman put their name in the draft this year. This rule brings on a whole new set of problems for guys who don’t really want to be in college. Ian O Connor wrote a great article on the potential problems. Reports have surfaced that O.J. Mayo took $30, 000 from a friend who was paid by an agent to deliver him. Fox Sports is reporting that agent Louis Johnson told “Outside the Lines” that the money was given during Mayo’s freshman year. Tim Floyd knew exactly what he was getting himself into when he signed Mayo. He even knew the runner, Guillory. Doesn’t seem like a new occurrence at USC when you factor in that Reggie Bush was given housing for him and his family by an agent while he was there. Should Floyd have signed him? Why not? He is trying to win games and I am sure that Mayo didn’t tell him about the money. The big question is what will the NCAA do to USC now? AD Mike Garrett has an athletic program that is winning in its two major sports, but at what cost? Besides, both Floyd and Carroll worked in the pros where the players get paid. Has anybody asked them about paying college athletes? It should be an interesting summer for the Men of Troy. Lute Olsen is back in charge at Arizona and has cleaned house to prove it. Besides losing Buddinger and Bayless to the pros he has also dismissed his entire staff. Kevin O Neill, who was supposed to get the job when and if Olsen ever retires, was pushed aside and reassigned within the department. That won’t last. O’Neill didn’t come to Arizona to be an administrator. Miles Simon, who helped Olsen get a championship ring was pushed out the door as well. Olsen showed a lot of gratitude there. Now word has it that Josh Pastner and all of his father’s connections – his father runs a Houston AAU team and a couple big time tounaments each year – are leaving for Memphis. This might not be a big loss for Arizona since Pastner really didn’t deliver as many players as he was supposed to. But at Memphis, I guarantee Coach Cal will benefit from the paternal ties. It looks like Mike Dunlap will fill his shoes. The former NBA coach realizes that won’t get a head coaching job in the NBA and needs to get back to the college level to strengthen his chances of getting a head coaching job in college. The big question is – how long will it take before Olsen gets tired of Dunlap and his ideas? It didn’t take him long to tire of O’Neill. Mark my words – Arizona will not have the success it had in the past until Olsen calls it quits. Check out Bowden’s and Paterno’s recent record in football. It’s a young man’s game. The following is a list of early entries into the NBA Draft. Obviously, some won’t keep their name in, but I am sure there are enough kids on this list who will listen the wrong advice and stay in. Testing the waters is a good thing, but if you aren’t getting guaranteed money by being a first round pick then go back to school. I have got to admit some of these guys I have never heard of. If I haven’t heard of them then I doubt the NBA will think they are good enough. I just hope these guys are still doing their school work. On the basis of letters received prior to midnight April 27, 2008, the following basketball players from the listed U.S. colleges and post-graduate institutions have applied as “early entry” players to be eligible for selection in the 2008 NBA Draft: A.J. Abrams, Texas David Stern and Myles Brand have no idea what a high school basketball player, who is trying to make a name for himself, needs to get noticed. Nor do they care. They only care about the best of the best, making money and protecting their turf. That is how I interpret the new proposal just passed that will go into effect August 1. The proposal prohibits college coaches from viewing events that are not sponsored by state high school associations, prep school or junior college associations or the National Federation of High Schools. It means that all of the high exposure AAU events will not be seen by college coaches. Stern and Brand did this to try and eliminate the AAU coach, but the events will still go on because players want to play. Brand said that it was important that all the key stakeholders be involved. What about the players themselves? I am not talking about the top level players who this is targeted for, but rather the guys who are still on the rise. Now they won’t be seen. I am surprised that more mid-level and low-level coaches haven’t shown their outrage. Eliminating this valuable time means missing out on potential recruits and spending extra money that they may not have in the budget. Sonny Vaccarro said it best, “who says they have the wisdom to make this decision? Suddenly the NCAA will pick and choose who to invite to camps and entities like the AAU won’t have a say at all.” This is similar the the NCAA Clearinghouse that was set up a few years ago. It was set up to take the burden off each individual’s admissions department and make academic guidelines consistent across the board. This in itself is a fallacy. Each school has it’s own mission. If a school like St. Francis College in New York has a mission to accept students from families that are first-timers in college, how can you make that the same as North Carolina that has a completely different mission? Fast forward a few years and you see a huge money making bureaucracy built by the NCAA and sustained by kids and their families. The same will happen with recruiting camps and tournaments. Look for the NCAA to get more involved and dig into people’s pockets more. (Already, event organizers have to pay to have a coach certified as well as the event certified. Tell me why it should cost money.) As a former coach who never coached at the highest level I can tell you that most rules are made for the top 5% by the top 5%. It’s the old golden rule, whoever has the gold makes the rules. In the end the ones who will be hurt the most are the kids – players looking for a scholarship that won’t get seen. Also, it means that coaches will make decision based on less information. That is not a good thing, either. I believe there should be one dead month a year. August. Let all the other times be open to recruiting. Just like the old days. Note: If the NBA is going to continue to use the NCAA as a farm system then the owners should pay to support it, just like they do in Major League Baseball. As reported here last week Kelvin Sampson has signed on to be an assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks under new head coach Scott Skiles. Follwing his dismissal from Indiana he was hired by Greg Popovich and the San Antonio Spurs. Sampson is a tremdous coach and someone who can really relate to players. Look for him to be a head coach in the NBA in a very short time. Now he doesn’t have to worry about how many times he calls a player…. Speaking of Indiana: The list of defections just keep getting longer. Today Eli Holman told Tom Crean that he was transfering. Holman did not play much last year, but the 6’9 forward would have seen a dramatic increase in playing time following the departure of Mike White and DJ White. Also, Tom Crean has upheld the suspensions of JeMarcus Ellis and Armon Bassett. Both players will not be returning to the Hoosiers next season. Crean also announced that DeAndre Thomas has left the team. These departures will help Tom Crean in the long run. They may struggle next season due to lack of talent, but after a couple of recruiting classes Crean will have totally remade the team in his image. Better to bite the bullet now and reap the benefits later. The only question is will the Indiana faithful accept this thinking. It looks like Ohio State seven-footer Kostos Koufos is going to sign with an agent and stay in the NBA draft. He is projected to go in the middle of the first round. Even if he doesn’t sign with the NBA his Greek passport will enable him to get over a $1 million in Europe. This is bad news for the Buckeyes since the quarter had already started and they will get hit by the APR. Once again, a rule that penalizes a coach and his program when he has no power over a player’s decision. If Myles Brand could sign for a couple of million I think he would leave school as well. I still remember seeing pictures of President Bill Clinton in the Arkansas cheering section when they won the national championship, but Barack Obama has gone one better. He got to play in a pick up game against some of the North Carolina players. Check out the video - even Bill Clinton couldn’t do that. It’s too bad that the first basketball playing president could be Obama when it should have been Bill Bradley a couple of years ago. Are you kidding me? Who’s next for the NBA draft? I hear there is a back up guard at New Jersey Tech who is putting his name in the draft. Not really, but that’s how cheap the list of underclassmen entering the draft has become. The NBA needs to do something to fix this before it becomes even more of a joke. Take for example the fact the Tyler Hansborough, the collegiate player of the year, is coming back for his senior year. However, three of his teammates have put their name into the draft. I can’t blame the players. They don’t listen to their coaches anyway. And most coaches just say go ahead. It gives them a little publicity for their program. Why shouldn’t the players get free trips to work out for teams all across the country. It’s just like being recruited again. David Stern you need to either step in and close the loop hole or better yet. Allow players to jump to the NBA right out of high school. LeBron James has done pretty well for himself. Even Darius Miles, whose playing career has been a bust, still banked more money than most people can only dream about. Here’s my suggestion. Let the players put their name in after their junior year. Make it closer to the baseball rule. You can be drafted out of high school, but once you are in college you can’t look at the NBA until after your third year in college. Forget about age. A lot of kids go to prep school and are 19 or 20 by the time they get to college. Close the loophole and give acedemics more than just lip service. Speaking of Tyler Hansborough: His little brother Ben has tranferred from Missisippi State to Notre Dame. Ben averaged, 10 points a game for the Tigers last year. Give Rick Stansbury credit he was the only one who thought he was good enought to play at that level coming out of high school. And this is how Ben repays him. |
