The one-and-done rule in college basketball shouldn’t exist
It’s the 2015 NBA Draft.
Jahlil Okafor and Karl Anthony Towns wait anxiously as NBA Commissioner Adam Silver is about to announce the next 19-year-old star basketball player.
Towns and Okafor are two likely candidates to emerge as college basketball freshman phenoms in the 2014-15 season.
Both play under coaches who are known for developing young, raw talent in Kentucky’s John Calipari and Duke’s Mike Krzyzewski.
It has become commonplace in college basketball to see freshmen starting on the floor, exhibiting their talents, and leading a team deep into March Madness.
The best example of that is the 2012 National Champion, Kentucky. Starting three freshmen, Kentucky rolled to a 38-win season to break the record for the most wins in NCAA men’s Division I history. After the season ended, first-year players Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and Marquis Teague decided to leave for the NBA.
All three players were selected in the first round, with Davis selected as the No. 1 pick and Kidd-Gilchrist as No. 2.
This early, college-exit cycle may be beneficial for a sports program that wants a successful year and some national recognition, but is it a process that should be continually utilized as a stepping stone to a professional basketball career?
It’s important to understand that these high profile recruits are taking away scholarships from other hard working student athletes that are seeking a degree to complement a memorable, collegiate playing career.
If a player knows he is going to the NBA and doesn’t value his education, he can easily take his talents overseas or to the NBA Developmental League and bypass school altogether.
NBA aficionados also view the one-and-done rule as a requirement that should be revised.
“The NFL and NBA have been irresponsible in not providing other legitimate opportunities for kids that really don't want to go to college,” Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby said.
It would be much easier if NBA recruits would either take a player right out of high school, or simply wait for the player to finish school and develop their game.
Even Calipari has said every player he recruits not to plan on coming to school for just one year.
For many players, the early leap to the NBA could be detrimental to their success. Simply put, they may not be physically and psychologically ready for the league, or can make a mistake off the court detrimental to his future.
Calipari said he’s against the rule, however, he still continues to give scholarships to players that will clearly leave for the NBA. If he really was against the one-and-done rule and his players were leaving after their freshman year, Calipari wouldn’t model his team around such a “ship’em out, ship‘em in” philosophy.
If this one-and-done situation is going to be eliminated, it’s going to take a joint effort from college basketball and the NBA.
Big-time college basketball coaches also will need to speak out against the early jump and make sure if they recruit a player, he’s a student athlete, and there to stay.
Nick Kairys is a freshman studying journalism and a sports writer for The Post. What do you think about the one-and-done rule? Let him know @NKairys or nk596613@ohio.edu.
