Time for the "One and Done" to be Done (And a few shots at John Calipari)

As I was watched the NBA draft last week I really began to question the "One and Done" Rule in College Basketball. If you're a sports fan you know that this isn't a new rule, but after seeing the reaction of Kentucky Coach John Calipari having 5 of his players being drafted (4 of them Freshman); I really began to question the current and potential impacts of this rule on College Basketball.

In 2005, NBA Commissioner David Stern added an age limit that required players entering the draft to be at least 19 years old or have completed their Freshman year of college. On the surface this was a great idea; players will have a year of college to develop and mature and will be more ready when they make the leap to the next level. Another benefit is that college fans would have the opportunity to see players in college that otherwise would jump straight to the League from High School. There have been plenty of success stories with this rule, most notably Kevin Durant, Kevin Love, Darren Williams, Derrick Rose - oh wait maybe that last one didn't quite work out; at least for the college program that was left behind. Remember how I mentioned Coach Cal earlier? Well let's just say he personifies all that is wrong with College Basketball today. Let me add the disclaimer that I am a complete Tennessee Volunteer homer and while I absolutely despise Kentucky basketball and their coach, I think my argument has some validity.

In several instances (not just John Calipari), college coaches today have lost their purpose on the job. Remember when it was a coach's job to teach the game and help develop young men in life? Trust me it seems like it was back in the good old days. Over the last 5 years we have seen the coaching profession of leading young men transform into a narcisstic, self-promotional ego contest, with the reward being insane amounts of money. In fact, do you know who the highest paid employee is in most states around the country? The governor? A senator? No, the basketball or football coach of the state's charter school. Now to their credit, for all the money that these guys make, they do bring in revenues for their university and state that are exponentially higher than their salaries. The problem is the players who chose to go to school in alot of cases are paying for those revenues and not in cash, but in a way that is detrimental to their futures away from the field of play. And worst of all, the athletic directors of these programs are asleep at the wheel because these hires make them look like geniuses. All a part of the viscious ego cycle.

Back to the draft; I think the most interesting nugget of the night was that the first Senior taken was not until the 23rd pick. That means (in most cases) 22 underproven, untested and undeveloped underclassmen were taken before Trevor Booker of Clemson. Think about that for a minute; can you imagine 10 years ago not having Juniors or Seniors being the stars of draft night? Of course not, and the answer is simple; 10 years ago there was no "One and Done" rule and NBA caliber players were setting up camp in the NBA directly from High School. Now for the best soundbite of the evening; in reference to what he thought about draft night John Calipari described it as "A two-hour infomercial for our league and the University of Kentucky and will speak volumes for the next five years, maybe longer". I have two problems with that statement, first it wasn 't about the SEC or UK, it was about a coach taking advantage of young kids and using them for his own shameless self-promotion. And then the last part about five years-I look at that as a foreshadowing of what's to come; in five years I wouldn't be surprised if Cal has bolted for the next big thing and left behind a wake of turmoil in the Bluegrass state. After all it wouldn't be the first time that's happened and we all know history has a tendency to repeat itself.

I think the Derrick Rose experiment I alluded to earlier is a perfect example of this darker side of college athletics and I don't think it was a coindidence that it was under Coach Calipari's watch. As many of you know, after Derrick Rose was taken #1 in 2008 NBA draft, a story came to light about a possible SAT cheating scandal involving an unknown player at the University of Memphis. Many believe that unknown player to be Derrick Rose. What is the lesson here, cheat to get ahead? One of Calipari's best selling tools in recruiting is that he's the best at getting guys to the NBA, a point that was proven in this year's draft. But often times when that is the focus of a coach there is a chain reaction of debris left behind. I swear if he worked at the local Ford dealership, he would be a perinnial top salesman for the company; because that's what he is, just a salesman. Not to mention, what it's teaching the kids that are being recruited. Let me paraphrase his line, "Hey, come to my school, I'll hype you up, make you think that you're a basketball god, you'll only have to go to class for 2 semesters if that, and in one year you will be making 20 million dollars playing basketball." Let me know of any 18 year old kid with talent in anything that would say No to that. If someone would have given me 20 million dollars when I was 18, I think it's safe to say that my life would probably not be very succesful today. I probably would have blown through the money and would be lucky not to be in jail or worse right now. The missing piece here is the teaching of responsibility and humility. These kids are missing out on this by not learning those life lessons that come with maturity through tenure in college. All I can say is be careful what you wish for Kentucky fans.

Now don't get me wrong, I'm not saying that every kid that makes the jump to the NBA is going to be a menace to society, but the potential for that is heightened under the current College Basketball landscape. And while there have been plenty of success stories of young players in the NBA, there are just as many stories of scandal and dissapointment around past players and universities. So if I'm the NBA, get rid of this stupid rule, stop trying to act like you care about the maturity of the kids and just let them make their own decisions. If they have the talent to make the jump, let them. Don't ruin college basketball in the process and continue to make a mockery of college coaching. As AC/DC once sang, "C'mon, C'mon Listen to the money talk"; I think it's safe to say that the money has alot to say about the present and future of college athletics.