Because of the way it’s currently set up, the NBA has it made. It’s the subject for tonight’s “On the Mark”.
Draft the greatest players right out of high school, utilize the college system as a minor league, and then hold tryouts to determine who doesn’t need their old college team anymore.
College basketball coaches are told they’ve caught a break when one of their best players suffers a knee injury and is forced to return. Minus eight players from its national championship team, you will definitely need a game program to recognize who the Jayhawks are next season. Of the two squads who lined up for the national title last season, only a single player from either starting five will be returning.
Two questions emerge here.
Are there really enough jobs in the pros for all these underclassman? And two, are the consequences of having a championship caliber program worth the frustration of losing its pieces? If college basketball were still old school, then Kansas State would return Walker and Beasley.
Kansas would suit up Arthur, Chalmers, and Rush. I'm sorry we're going to miss that when the Cats and Hawks tip it up next season.
Of course, college coaches can’t complain publicly about today’s reality because the best recruits want to go pro early.
But I wonder when one of them will admit that the most rewarding thrill in coaching is when a young person stays the course and becomes what is almost extinct in the college game today… an NBA caliber … Senior. That’s “On the Mark”