Our fellow classmates did a presentation on the issues facing the NBA's rule that a kid has to be 19 or have one year of college experience in order to enter the NBA draft. They had both sides of the issue covered very well with positives and negatives. I am kind am both sides of the argument on this particular topic. I can make so many reasons why it is a good thing, but then i have just as many for why it is bad. To start of on why I think it is a good idea is it allows players to develop more as a player and a person. At age 18 there are only a handful of kids that might be able to handle all the fame and fortune coming their way on draft day i.e. Lebron James. All that money leads to bad decisions because it is tempting to let loose from the social norms. A player feels powerful and has a sense of invincibility about them. Reality is when it comes to the law there is no safe haven. I think players learn a lot about discipline in the college game from coaches which will help them once they are in the NBA.
I like the fact that even though most of the players are one and done players, it has opened up a more even playing field and better teams. Some of these one and done players go to smaller schools where they can dominate and bring a team to the NCAA tournament. That looks really good when NBA teams are looking at who they want to draft. If that particular player happens to make it to the tournament and win the National Championship then he has nothing more to play for other than winning multiple ones, so you cant blame them for leaving after one year if they have accomplished the goal they intended to reach.
The bad side of this is that players are starting to head overseas to play for one year instead of playing in college. Brandon Jennings is the first to do it and with the success he is having right now in the NBA, we could see more following suit. I think this issue has to be monitored closely because it could hurt the college game if more and more players decide to head overseas to play. I would say this is one of the more important issues in my mind of why the rule needs to be changed. So to wrap up I would like to say that it is a good idea to have players play one year of college hoops but we should monitor the movement of high school players to make sure the overseas play will not get out of hand.
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While I cannot argue with the fact that Lebron James was clearly ready for the NBA out of High School, I do not believe the majority of High School players are ready. Personally, I think the biggest argument against "one-and-done" is the effect it has on college programs. I would not want to be a coach who has to recruit players who will only be there a year--or maybe only a semester. That is ridiculous.
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