Forty collegiate underclassmen, as well as high school seniors, declared
themselves eligible for the NBA Draft in 1997. Four of the first seven
picks of the 1997 NFL Draft were collegiate underclassmen.
With many of these underclassmen declaring themselves eligible for professional
sports, colleges and universities around the country find themselves inching
closer and closer to a recruiting war with professional leagues in the
next couple of years.
ãThe NBA is extremely attractive to these players because of the
money they have to offer,ä said University of Alabama head basketball
coach David Hobbs. ãThese high-talent players are comparing the
advantages of going to college and the advantages of going to the NBA and
finding out that the money they will earn by far outweighs the benefits
of a college education."
ãWe canât compete with the NBA as far as money goes,'' he
said.
The same trend is happening in football. Fear enters the heart of every
coach of a collegiate All-American each year. The money and the fame the
NFL can offer is attractive to collegiate football players, especially
underclassmen.
ãThe lure of the NFL is in the money,ä said University of Alabama
head football coach Mike DuBose. ãWe canât compete with that.ä
Last year, DuBose personally experienced how the promise of fame and fortune
can lead a student athlete off the college gridiron. Dwayne Rudd, a then-junior,
had an All-American season and led his team to a number 11 ranking in the
final polls before announcing in the off season he was leaving Alabama
to play professional ball.
Rudd was drafted with the 20th pick of the first round in the ensuing NFL
Draft by the Minnesota Vikings. Thirty-four underclassmen declared themselves
eligible for the 1997 NFL Draft. Six of the first seven picks came from
that total.
ãHe was a big loss for the team,ä DuBose said. ãYou
canât replace a player like that.ä
The same happened in the NBA. Forty players, four of which were under the
age of 20, entered the NBA Draft in 1997 ÷ an 11 percent increase
from the total who declared themselves eligible in 1996.
There are a couple of differences between the two professional leaguesâ
eligibilities, however. When a collegiate player announces his intentions
to make himself eligible for the NFL Draft, he is no longer eligible to
play collegiate sports. On the flip side, basketball players can renounce
their intentions to make themselves eligible for the NBA Draft after they
have already announced their intentions to enter.
ãIt puts a coach on edge when a player decided to leave and then
comes back,ä Hobbs said. ãWhen a player decided to make himself
eligible for the draft, coaches have to immediately recruit a replacement
player. But, when the player changes his mind, the program has just wasted
a scholarship because that position did not need to be filled right away."
ãIn the long run, it may hurt the program," he said. "But,
in the short run, it relieves the coach that the All-American is returning.ä
The players are realizing their potential earlier in life, Hobbs said.
Players are realizing their potential in the professional leagues as well.
Players who are currently 23 and under are getting multi-million dollar
deals that outweigh the contracts given to players 10 years their elder.
Kevin Garnett, a 1996 NBA Draft pick out of high school, has made himself
into one of the Minnesota Timberwolvesâ top players. He knows it,
too. Entering the off season, Garnett was listed as one of the NBAâs
top free agents. He turned down a reported 6-year, $108 million contract
offer in July. In August, he signed a deal that paid him $20 million a
year for six years.
ãThe players know what they are worth,ä DuBose said. ãThey
know this because agents, as well as fans, get it into their head that
they are worth a certain amount.ä
Sports agents know it is worth their time to pursue underclassmen as well.
Illegal contacts with collegiate athletes are not uncommon. DuBose recently
dealt with this situation with All-American defensive end Michael Myers.
Ironically, just a few months earlier, Myers had decided to stay for his
senior season at Alabama. But University of Alabama officials learned he
had accepted money from a sports agent. This contact made him ineligible
to play collegiate sports.
ãThere is no doubt that the NFL has a lot more value to offer a
player than we do,ä DuBose said.
And, there is always the chance that many more underclassmen will leave
within the next few years. One of them, Alabama junior cornerback Fernando
Bryant, says the situation will have to be just right for him to leave.
ãPeople joke around with me a lot and say ÎFernando, are you
coming back?â I love college football right now and pro football
is a dream,ä Bryant said. ãIf I had the opportunity, I would
go."
ãI wouldnât mind going right now, but the situations would
have to be right. If I had the opportunity to go in the first round like
Dwayne did, I would probably go. It took a lot of guts for him to leave
because he took a lot of criticism for what he did," Bryant said.
"But, itâs all about what he had to do.ä
Just a junior in college football eligibility, Bryant said he would feel
guiltless should the chance arise to enter the NFL after this season.
"Dwayne did the best thing for him," Bryant said. ãIf
the best thing for me to do was leave, I would leave."