One and done should be done

The growing debate over whether or not NCAA players should be required to put more time in before entering draft

One+and+done+should+be+done

The National Basketball Association (NBA) is not what it used to be. The days of going to college for all four years, getting a degree, and coming out at the age of at least 23 are over.

The NBA requires players to be 19 years old or have completed one year of college before becoming eligible for the NBA Draft.

The rule was instituted in 2007, ultimately because of players like LeBron James, who skipped college completely and went straight from high school to the pros in 2003.

While LeBron James is a househould name, a name that may not be familiar to some is Ellis Richardson.

Richardson declared for the 1998 NBA Draft after his senior year at Sun Valley Poly High School in Southern California. Although Richardson felt he was capable of making the leap to the NBA at such a young age, NBA scouts did not agree. Richardson fell completely out of the draft.

Shortly after the draft, Richardson got involved with the wrong people. He served eight months in prison after being convicted of a San Fernando Valley robbery.

This is just one example of an “early entry” gone wrong, but it was stories like these that led to the current rule requiring at least some college.

I believe that staying in college gives players a plan B. If the NBA does not work out, like in Richardson’s case, players will have a degree to use for another career.

Recent results show that players could use another year or so before coming out.

I mean it would not hurt. Players receive another year of education, they have another full season to mature as both a person and an athlete, and they have one more season to work with the same coach with many other young, vibrant players.

It has become a common trend over the last 10 years that players dominate in college, leave after a year, and tend to not live up to the hype.

Examples that most NBA critics look at today as the biggest NBA draft busts are two players who both played less than one full year in college.

Kwame Brown declared directly after high school and Greg Oden declared after suffering an injury at The Ohio State University.

Brown was the No. 1 pick of the 2001 NBA Draft by the Washington Wizards. He played 12 seasons averaging 6.6 points per game and only 5.5 rebounds per game. It is safe to say that Brown did not live up to his No. 1 pick of the draft expectations.

Oden was the No. 1 pick of the NBA Draft in 2007 by the Portland Trailblazers, a team that has had a history of picking players that did not live up to expectations.

The Trailblazers picked Sam Bowie in 1984 with the No. 2 pick of the draft. They selected him over the likes of Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley and John Stockton

In five seasons Oden has played 82 total games. That is the total number of games in full season in the NBA.
At the age of 19, you should not be able to go to college for one year, try a little, and then leave and grab your $5 million pay check.

There have been recent success of players who went to college for four years and made great careers in the NBA.
Dejuan Blair of the Dallas Mavericks, Draymond Green of the Golden State Warriors, Matt Barnes of the Los Angeles Clippers, and Shane Battier of the 2-Time defending champion Miami Heat are all players who went to school for 4 years and were key players on playoff teams this year.

It is not fair to the university and their fan base, or to the professional team that drafts these teenagers, for a player who is not ready to be drafted to possibly be run out of the league within a couple of seasons.

The NBA recently tabled the topic of raising the age requirement to two years out of high school, which would parallel Major League Baseball’s (MLB) policy.

Currently the MLB has the policy that a player has the decision to come out directly after high school. However when they come out they have to play two full seasons in the Minor Leagues before entering the pros.

The NBA has discussed making a similar policy in which they would establish a better Minor League development program which right now stands as the NBA D-League.

Something needs to be done, whether it is to end the policy or fix the D-League, because I personally feel that the “one and done” system is destroying the game that I love.