| "School daze..." (April 8, 1998)
With the basketball world winding down and the football world starting up, it's kind of a dull week. The Raptors suck. Now that is out of the way, I can start. It's about that time, the time of the year, when I say to all college players, stay in school. It's your best move. Every year, I think staying the full four years is the best thing you can do.
There is a great article in ESPNET about Dontonio Wingfield. If no one remembers him, it's ok. I'll give you the history. Wingfield was a great high school player, he was a top 5 high school senior. If anyone used to get Dick Vitale's college basketball preview, then you know what I'm talking about. Speaking of which, do they still make that? It was great when they had pro and college hoops in one oversized magazine. Ok, I digress. Wingfield signed with the University of Cincinnati and Bob Huggins. Huggins had put Nick Van Exel and Corie Blount in the pros and he plays an exciting brand of basketball that the street youths really dig. Wingfield signed and went Prop 48. I know I'm dating myself here, but Prop 48 was a proposition stating a player had to get a minimum of 700 on his SATs to get into college and play college sports.
The black college coaches said the SATs were culturally biased (so they added the ACT scores as well). The point to the SATs is, if you can't get 700 you're really unintelligent or you don't apply yourself. It's easy. I'm Canadian, so I never took an official one, but I did try take a couple of practice tests that you can buy. Without cracking a book or studying or taking any courses I knocked off a 1250 and a 1340 (or something like that). Culturally biased? I'm Canadian, and I got way over 700, so when anyone says it's culturally biased, the just don't do the work and they don't study.
Back to Wingfield, he went Prop 48 and was redshirted his first year. During his second year, he showed all the skills and promise that he had flashed in high school. Man, he was good. But we're talking about playing the old Metro conference, so the opposition wasn't that great. He did put up impressive numbers. After the season, he declared his intentions to turn pro. He was drafted in the second round by Seattle and sat on the bench. According to Bob Whitsitt, the former GM of Seattle, he hoped to let him grow and mold him, like Shawn Kemp a few year earlier, who was drafted without playing a single college basketball game (even though he enrolled at Kentucky and went to Trinity Junior College for a semester). Wingfield was selected by the Raptors in the expansion draft and was declared a free agent, since he was a restricted free agent. Wingfield turned down the offer to play with the Raptors, which was his worst move, because he signed with Portland. There, he sat on the bench for 3 years and never played, since he was behind players like Rasheed Wallace, Otis Thorpe, Brian Grant, Clifford Robinson, Stacey Augmon, Jermaine O'Neal, and a cast of other talented forwards. Wingfield was asked to be waived and is now playing in Europe, with his potential unfulfilled. He probably would have been better served playing with the Raptors way back when. And now, he probably should have gone to the CBA to hone is skills instead of making the bigger money in Europe, if his goal is to make it back to the NBA. The point is, even the most talented players can't always make it by turning pro early.
Now I know there are always exceptions to the rule, I mean, look at Kevin Garnett, Stephon Marbury or Shareef Abdur-Rahim. The truly exception talents will always have a place in the NBA. On the other hand, five year seniors like Ed O'Bannon is now sitting at home, so there's no particular rhyme or reason for this. I think it's more about the individual than anything else. But in this year's draft, the best two players are Tim Duncan and Keith Van Horne. Two exceptional talents who stayed in school for the full four years and are showing their maturity. They are becoming team leaders and potential stars in this league. Although the specific individual is the determining factors, I think staying in school not only increases their draft value, hones their skills and makes them a better player. School is four years of your life which is unforgettable. As well, getting your degree is important after basketball, which is why I give props to players who have gone back to school to get their degree after turning pro like Michael Jordan and Juwan Howard. I think that's cool. Did you know that a stipulation of Clyde Drexler's job is that he has to finished out his degree and get his remaining credits. How is that for dedication?
Some players, like Jeff Sheppard and Michael Doleac have played themselves into the top half of the first round. So I think that senior year in college is very important. Usually, the player becomes the team leader, the go to guy and is deferred to in crunch time. I know the lure of cash is huge, but on the other hand, if the player is taken 20th overall as junior, he makes about $1 million a season according to the rookie cap. If he's taken top 10, all of a sudden he's making over $2 million and maybe three in the top 5. So it's a cost benefit thing.
As well, the pre-draft camps are a big deal. Players can really make a move there. If a player shows exception skill and talent there, he might turn himself into a first round pick instead of a possible CBA player. Of course, the talent level there is similar to any college game, so it's truly hard to gauge a player's ability. Case in point. The former Olivier St. Jean played himself into a high pick with Sacramento by playing well in the pre-draft camps. No one was really impressed with his stats at San Jose State. He barely played in Sacramento. Of course, he if anyone remembers, he didn't do to well at Michigan and that's why he transferred. So it's say a lot that he couldn't compete in the Big 10 but did well for San Jose State in their conference, and did well in the pre-draft camps. I think the daily grind of the Big 10 is harder then the camps.
After all this, where do I stand? Stay the full four. If you need to turn pro, do it. But be prepared for failure. The best players in college become solid pros in the NBA. It's the secondary players in college who turn pro before they can become solid college players, they become marginal pro basketball players. I think young men should give school a chance. The work load is hard, I know, but it builds character and gives a person an education. I know a degree isn't important if you're making $3 million a season, but having knowledge is important. Some smart people don't have degrees, but basketball players generally don't really strike me as the people who go out of their way to read and better themselves. I can't see a young buck turn pro after two years, making $2.5 million a season, go to the library and take out "The Fountainhead" by Ayn Rand or read "The Economist" weekly so see how the world is doing. In the words of Dennis Miller, "that's just my opinion, I may be wrong."
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