College Basketball Is Bad For The NBA | The Odyssey Online
Start writing a post
Sports

College Basketball Is Bad For The NBA, No Matter How Fun March Madness Is

In order to keep growing, the NBA needs to stop pretending like the NCAA is the perfect talent pipeline.

67
College Basketball Is Bad For The NBA, No Matter How Fun March Madness Is

I have just as many great things to say about college basketball as I do complaints. College basketball is only second to college football — there's no denying that college hoops dominate the month of March. There's so much mystique, history, and pride that comes with college basketball. But at times, I feel like that nostalgia is clouding our vision and preventing us from seeing it for what it's become: a bonafide money grab.

Before I lay into college hoops I think it's important for me to note that I think the NBA has the best commissioner in all of sports and there's really not a close second. Adam Silver has done so much to grow the league and continued on the momentum of David Stern to turn the NBA into a powerhouse league. That being said, I realized that a majority of my issues with NCAA basketball is their eligibility rules and the one-and-done, which will hopefully be eliminated soon.

The modern NBA was built around the one-and-done rule and so I think it's hard for many people to imagine a world where it doesn't exist. Those same people have a great deal of concern that abolishing the one-and-done rule would somehow lessen the quality of play in the NBA and increase the amount of "busts" entering the league. The one-and-done rule was established in 2006, which means that the NBA had existed for 60 years (1946) without one-and-done. What many consider as the "Golden Age" of the NBA with the Showtime Lakers and the Boston Celtics happened in lieu of the one-and-done rule.

High schools players have become busts, and high school players have gone on to become legends. One-and-done players have become busts, and one-and-done players have become legends. Four-year college vets have become busts, and four-year college vets have become legends.

The number of years you play for a college program is rarely ever a direct correlation to your success in the NBA.

A lot of sports debates, especially ones about the NCAA come in waves and are often predicated by yet another moment in which the NCAA is exposed as the corrupt, inept and ass-backward organizations known to man. So when I read that RJ Hampton, a highly-touted 5-star PG recruit, signed with the New Zealand Breakers instead of playing for a college team, all this came to the surface for me.

Personally, I love this move. In many of the pressers, Hampton did after he made his announcement he was completely honest with his intentions on the signing. He wants to focus on only basketball, nothing else. At one point, he makes a point in saying that he doesn't want to try and balance books with basketball and his ultimate goal has been to play in the NBA, not for a college team. Overseas leagues are structured to resemble the NBA, so Hampton's conditioning himself to play a full season instead of the small sample size that comes with playing in the NCAA.

I'd like to see more college basketball players weighing the benefits of playing for an NCAA team and it probably should be a more open discussion among the public as a whole. We don't live in the dark ages of media anymore, so it's not as if Hampton playing in New Zealand is suddenly going to wipe him off everyone's radar.

For everything there is to love about college basketball, I can definitely envision a world in which more blue-chip athletes opt for the overseas professional route, or the G-League if the NBA ever decides to seriously invest in it, as opposed to the half-baked, money-grab of a season the NCAA has turned itself into.

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Thoughts While Studying For Finals
StableDiffusion


That time of the semester has arrived once again, finals. The worst week ever. Who thought it was a good idea for all your classes to have exams all in the same week? Definitely not me. Here's 20 thoughts you may have studying for finals.

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

Disney magic for New Year!

The "Happiest Place on Earth" has a lot of characters with some pretty great advice.

5610
Disney magic kingdom castle on new years
StableDiffusion

Disney movies are well known and very popular in today's world. Although many people appreciate the plot and the storyline, not many people appreciate the wisdom these characters possess. Every Disney movie has unique advice that can be applied to everyday life. Here are 11 Disney quotes to help start your New Year off right:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

40 Gift Ideas for the Indecisive

It's a time of love, family, memory-making, and gift-giving. But also a time of stressing over the perfect gift.

119785
Christmas gifts around a tree
StableDiffusion

It's officially December. There is less than a month of 2024, and I still feel like yesterday was summer. Now comes the merriest time of the year, the Christmas season.

Everyone has been waiting for this time of year since mid-October (which is way too early, in my opinion) or before. It's a time of love, family, memory-making, and gift-giving. A lot of times when I ask friends and family what they want, I get a lot of "I don't know" or "I don't care."

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Bucket List To Live In The Now

Find excitement in your life and start exploring wherever you are right here, right now.

1483
mu bucket list

I was sitting at my cubicle, now that I am an adult, looking at the rain pouring down on the windowsill, bumming on life, wishing for the rain to just stop for a full day.

There are moments where we count down the hours until work is over and how many more days till the weekend, and this many weeks until something exciting. Or something like that? Well, I was bumming because my next day off from work is not until Memorial Day weekend, which is not until the end of May. And since this is my first year out of college being a “real person,” I am totally missing the winter, spring and summer breaks. I am sure all of us have felt this way even if just for a hot minute…

Keep Reading...Show less
Entertainment

11 Ways To Survive Finals As Told By Leslie Knope

Because you know you're going to be stressed out, and Leslie knows exactly how to survive.

1069
Everything hurts and I'm dying

So finals are on their way. That's right everybody, finals are about to start.

But hey, don't panic. Start getting your affairs in order and prepare for a week of hell. Here's a few things Leslie Knope wants you to do to make your finals week just a little bit less stressful:

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments