Tuesday, May 14, 1996
Is the lure of big bucks leading college athletes astray? NBA
tempts with the glory of expansion teams.Superagent Lee Steinberg
glances at his watch … Gasp!! It’s twelve o’clock already, recess
time at the local elementary school! He pulls up to the Montessori
just in time to see the towering 4-foot-8-inch figure of Mikie
Schwartz rise up above the awestruck lunchtime crowd and
impressively lay the ball in the hoop. Fighting his way through the
pool of frenzied reporters, Steinberg nears the future star and
asks, "Son, how would you like to play in the NBA?"
Sound like a fantasy? Well the way the NBA is going right now,
it just might become reality, with players getting younger each
year. Cal basketball star Shereef Abdur-Rahim’s early exit from
college for the NBA (after merely a year as a Golden Bear) has
highlighted a frightening trend in the world of college hoopla: The
tendency of the college athlete to ditch his collegiate years in
search of the fortune and glory of the pros.
What has caused this new trend? The NBA, no doubt. With new
expansion teams arriving in droves each season, the league has
undergone an unprecedented dilution of talent. The number of
quality players remains constant, and the need for unqualified crap
skyrockets. Ergo, the NBA has looked to lesser-qualified college,
and even high school, players to fill up the space.
The NBA is now a distinct hierarchy of teams, with the regal
Bulls and Magic on the throne, and teams like the Vancouver
Grizzlies and the Toronto Brontosauruses (or whatever their
Jurassic name is) composing the NBA’s welfare recipients.
However, a stratified NBA is the least harmful of the
consequences brought about by the new trend. More serious effects
include the eventual destruction of college basketball and the
horrible effect on America’s youth.
On a superficial level, this pattern is destroying collegiate
athletics. What was once an exotic showcase of superb athleticism
and gravity-defying dunks is now a mere segue between the barely
pubescent world of high school and the NBA, the realm of such
hallowed greats as Michael Jordan and Geert Hammink (just wait and
see).
College basketball used to be an essential phase in a
professional athlete’s arduous maturation process. One could count
on coaching legends such as Dean Smith and Jim Harrick (???) to
sculpt the scrawny, immature high school athletes into responsible
professionals. Not only were they educated in the fine arts of
basketball, but coaches instilled a sense of discipline, respect
and morality within their players. This solid foundation remained
with the athletes well into their future, and helped them cope
better with the tempestuous world of the NBA.
However, with athletes using college as a mere stepping stone,
this foundation is lost, and we have athletes still sopping wet
behind the ears catapulted into a cruel adult world. Can you image
what kind of godforsaken monster Dennis Rodman would have become if
he hadn’t had four years of college coaching under his belt? Just
think … Mrs. Madonna Rodman and family … Yikes!!
Another horrendous example is high school senior Jermaine O’Neal
who is skipping college and going to the NBA. For many athletes,
the SAT is a huge obstacle towards college ball. However, simply
finding the SAT site was a problem for O’Neal. This klutz went to
the wrong school on the wrong day to take the SAT (So hArd To
find). As a result, he is going to the NBA. Imagine how this
intellectual monster will handle the millions of dollars awaiting
him in the NBA. Either he will spend it all and go bankrupt, or he
will be exploited by his agent for every cent he’s worth.
Also, this trend has changed the face of recruitment and
coaching. In the past, coaches could rely on a good recruiting
class to last them for at least three years. Now, unless a coach
can capture the nation’s top athletes each year, the coach and the
basketball program are doomed. Gone also are the great dynasties
such as Duke and UNLV, whose success came as a result of maturity
and experience under their respective coach’s systems.
Not to mention the fans’ disillusionment. It’s difficult to
develop and maintain a consistent fan base if players come and go
within a year. Traditionally, teams and players develop a following
by virtue of continuity, improvement and expectation. When athletes
leave after a year or two, expectations are ruined, and the athlete
gets stuck with the label of being disloyal and ungrateful.
A more important consequence of this new trend is the effect on
America’s youth. While it may be easy for athletes to hide behind
Charles Barkley’s idiotic declaration, Â "I am not a role
model" Â the reality is that many children do idolize and
mimic their favorite athletes. These athletes embody everything
many children wish to become and therefore, have enormous control
over the actions of these children. The fact that these athletes
make millions each year advertising products targeted at kids is
testimony to this fact.
When an athlete chooses money over education, this is a value
judgment which many kids are likely to mimic. With high school
dropout rates and teenage crime rates still very high, the last
thing that teenagers need is to see their role model ignoring
education in favor of pro-basketball. The value of a good education
is put below athletics. For the vast majority, a career in
athletics is impossible and therefore, the only message they retain
is that a good education is unimportant.
To my argument, one could retort: "Education, schmeducation,
Josh. If you had a $30 million contract and a life of stardom
dangling in front of your collegiate nose, there is no way that you
would choose another year of Bruindom over such a lofty offer.
Sure, your argument sounds very apropos in a Viewpoint column, but
it has little practical application, for you have never tasted true
fame or fortune."
Granted, the powers of selfishness are great, and they have
existed far longer than the sport itself. However, the issue should
be the integrity of the system rather than enrichment of the self.
There must come a time when self-interest subordinates itself to a
higher authority  namely, social responsibility, care for
America’s youth and respect for the college system. While this
statement is certainly a bold one, it is a reality that athletes
must face.
White is a first-year political science/French student. His
column appears on alternate Tuesdays.
Daily Bruin File Photo, Photo illustration by Siouxsan Choi/
DAILY BRUIN
Cal’s Shereef Abdur-Rahim is one of at least 13 college athletes
who have opted to turn pro before graduating from college.