Le Basketbawl

Jennings could end up being a trend setter by playing in the Euro-League. The Association and the NBAPA in their last collective bargaining agreement stopped players from going directly from high school to the NBA. What has resulted in many cases, are players who just go to college for one year, and then go into the NBA Draft. Jennings with his unprecedented move is a pioneer, the question now becomes how many other players will follow his lead starting next year? Will the new rallying cry for basketball players be “Go East Young Man, Go East?”

NCAA President Myles Brand is hoping that what Jennings is doing will prove to be the exception, not the rule. Brand said “I don’t know what’s going to happen in terms of other people. But I would hope and expect that most would want to go to college, not just to play basketball but to get an education.”

President Brand is either extremely naive, or just engaging in spin. The truth is that most collegiate players will never be paid for playing hoops. These young men are our future accountants, dentists, and leaders of industry. But the players that do have the skills to play professionally in most cases, are there for the exposure that playing in the NCAA will give them. If you are “one and done” in other words just going to college for the required one year, an education is not your priority.

The cynical side of me (which seems to come out more often the older I get) says Brand just does not want to see an end to the revenue that the NCAA gets from having future NBA stars even for just a year. College basketball is a huge revenue stream for the NCAA, they don’t want any changes from the status quo.

Stern was the driving force behind raising the age requirement to play in the Association. It turns out he has no qualms about high school players going directly to playing professionally. He just does not want them in the NBA. Stern said “I actually think it’s a pretty cool thing for a kid to do what he’s doing! There’s a big world out there. If you want to play for Rome as opposed to Arizona, go ahead and do what you think is best. It’s a positive development for kids and for the NBA scouts.”

I am sure the NBA Commissioner’s statements did not make Brand feel all warm and fuzzy inside. The NCAA has always been the feeding pool for the NBA, now there is competition for those athletes. And now it basically has the Association’s seal of approval.

Jennings believes he is just the first of many young men from the USA that will make this choice. The Compton, California native said “I think it’s going to change the game a lot. If they don’t change the rule, I think you’re going to see more kids test the waters and try to make a name for themselves overseas.”