What's Wrong With: The NBA Early Entry Rule

So it's been awhile since I could find something wrong with something in sports but the reason is two-fold. First, I really was enjoying every moment in sports from the Super Bowl to the Blue Jackets being in a playoff hunt. The second thing was that people like A-Rod and Phelps were such big stories that I got side-tracked on whether or not to do a blog post on them. That still may come but for now, back to what's wrong with sports.

This week's isn't much of a surprise. I've never been a fan of the NBA early entry rule. In case you live under a rock, the way it works is that a player must be one year removed from high school before entering the NBA draft. The rule was changed two years ago to prevent high schoolers from jumping straight into the NBA, despite the success of numerous players such as Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and Lebron James.

Now initially, I was a huge fan of the move because I've always felt that the college experience is something everyone should have and that no 18 year-old man is ready intellectually to be given tens of millions of dollars, play basketball, and stay out of trouble. Sorry, just not gonna happen. But after about a month of thinking about the rule, it dawned on me. This is just dumb.

According to dictionary.com, college is defined as "an institution of higher learning, esp. one providing a general or liberal arts education rather than technical or professional training." But because of this rule, college is pretty much now just a Rent-A-Center. That's because high school kids who already have NBA talent are now just spending a year in college just to buy the time. So instead of coaches recruiting to build a program, they are now recruiting to build one good year.

Case in point: 2006-07 Ohio State Buckeyes. That season, OSU hailed by far the best recruiting seen to man. Greg Oden, Mike Conley Jr, Daequan Cook and David Lighty. Plus, junior college transfer Othello Hunter. Needless to say, this team had the making of making a run at the title in their freshman year. Well, despite a slow start, the team gained momentum at the right time, advancing all the way to the NCAA Championship before finally falling to the defending champion Florida Gators.

Now as an OSU fan, I enjoyed the run but in reality, I knew it would be one and done. And that feeling sucked. To this day, I do not claim Oden, Conley or Cook as Buckeyes. Why should I? They simply came to OSU because they were forced to go somewhere. Then, they stayed for the exact minimum amount and left for "greener" pastures. Don't get me wrong, I appreciate what they did in their time but they were enrolled at OSU for less than a year. That's a joke.

So it's time for a change. What should it be? Well, some think we should go back to the old rule. In some ways, I believe that because basketball is one of those sports where an 18 year old can compete against those with 10 years experience. But the change I really support is changing the NBA rule to the NFL rule. That means one must be 3 years removed from high school before being eligible for the draft.

So what will that do? Well first off, it allows coaches to build programs once again. And with the talent gap shrinking between the major conferences and mid-majors, it would really show what coaches are great recruiters and great teachers of the game. Also, it might persuade kids to actually graduate from college. Just think. Instead of a player like O.J. Mayo not going to classes for a year because he knows he's not staying, he has to stay 3 years. That means attending classes, maybe learning something. And who knows, maybe after 3 years, he thinks about staying for a 4th to get his degree. Or if he doesn't stay, he at least is just one year away and can go back after his NBA career like David Wesley and finish.

Maybe it's far-fetched of me to think that future NBA stars of tomorrow will stay and earn their college degree. But at least with 3 years of college, these guys will mature a bit. They will develop relationships. They will make connections. And again, they may learn something in a class or two. Of course, they will also have great times at an establishment and have hookups galore but those can happen at the professional level. So yeah,

All I'm saying is 3 years. 3 years to play under some of the game's best such as Coach K, Roy Williams, Jim Boeheim and Jim Calhoun. 3 years to mature as a man physically, socially and intellectually. 3 years to get an education in whatever they choose and not even pay for it. 3 years to enjoy what many call the best time of their lives. And hey, you can even make it 4. Is that too much to ask?