Players' motivation comes into question

[greasywheels121]

http://www.indystar.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti.../507100391/1057

 

Players' motivation comes into question

Many coaches won't be eager to recruit stars who have little use for college.

By Jeff Rabjohns

 

TEANECK, N.J. -- With players who just graduated high school no longer eligible for the NBA draft, college coaches have a recruiting dilemma.

 

What to do with players who have no real interest in college but decide to go for a year? Recruit them? Or go with players who likely will be around for several years?

 

Speculation abounds that Lawrence North star center Greg Oden will be in college only one year. Oden has said he's in no rush to reach the NBA and that he's not necessarily a one-and-done player.

 

There are others, though, who clearly are looking more toward the pros.

 

Cincinnati star O.J. Mayo, the top-ranked player in the Class of 2007, has said he might go to the National Basketball Development League for a year and then jump to the NBA.

 

Among college coaches, there seems to be no consensus about what to do with players who clearly see one of year of college as only a stop before the NBA.

 

"I don't want people with that mind-set," Louisville coach Rick Pitino said. "If they say . . . 'Let me get an education, play college basketball, help my team win, and if I become a pro along the way, so be it,' then that's fine.

 

"If it's the other way, if it's 'I'm going to college for a year; I'm not going to pay attention to my academics; I'm just in college for a year to circumvent the rule,' then we're not interested."

 

Since Kevin Garnett made the jump from a Chicago high school to the NBA in 1995, top college programs have been at risk of losing recruits to the pros.

 

Now, colleges don't face that risk, but they may be recruiting players who have little or no interest in college.

 

Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who won a national title with one-season star Carmelo Anthony, said the NBA's eligibility rules change nothing for him.

 

"You still recruit good players. At least this way, you know the kid will be there one year. So if you're recruiting a kid hard, he's not going to say, 'I'm not going to come at all,' " Boeheim said.

 

"With some kids, I think they'll learn that one year is not enough, so that's good for kids."

 

Kansas coach Bill Self is like many coaches at tradition-rich programs. They have passionate fans who expect the program to bring in top players.

 

"Any coach will tell you, they have to get the best guys at their particular level," Self said. "But you have to be real cautious recruiting guys who come to school for the wrong reasons. If they come to school to utilize the school as a vehicle to get where they want to go, it's all wrong.

 

"It could make it awfully hard to coach sophomores, juniors and seniors who have paid their dues."

 

Bruce Pearl, who coached Wisconsin-Milwaukee to the NCAA Tournament Sweet Sixteen before taking over this spring at Tennessee, said coaches are almost forced to take the best players.

 

"It does affect recruiting, but you plan accordingly," said Pearl, who had one-year players at Southern Indiana when he won a Division II national title.

 

"You have to start telling prospects as they're looking at your roster, 'This is how we're built. This is who is going to be here. This is who is leaving.' You have to adjust to the times."

 

Players who have little interest in college could hurt the school's program under rules of the NCAA's new Academic Progress Report. If a player enrolls for one year but doesn't finish his second semester, it could end up costing a program scholarships.

 

"On the positive side, it does make you look much harder at who can graduate and who can't," Pearl said. "That's the best part of it.

 

"The second thing, with the way it's done, it handicaps me as far as handing out discipline. The last resort is to take away the basketball, take away playing time. . . . Sometimes players leave you no choice. Then if you take away playing time, what happens? They're going to leave. And if they leave, you get penalized for really doing the right thing."

[SoxFan562004]

The real sad thing with this is that the NBA just keeps pouring money into the WNBA. I think they should shut down the WNBA and take that money and set up a legitimate minor league system. The NBDL is a good start, but not good enough IMO.

[crash]

The real sad thing with this is that the NBA just keeps pouring money into the WNBA.  I think they should shut down the WNBA and take that money and set up a legitimate minor league system.  The NBDL is a good start, but not good enough IMO.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

If the WNBA was shut down, they'd complain about Title IX voilations.

[Rex Hudler]

If the WNBA was shut down, they'd complain about Title IX voilations.

 

What does the WNBA have to do with Title IX??????

[crash]

What does the WNBA have to do with Title IX??????

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

It's a woman's league, and Title IX is about a bunch of crap involving equality in sports. B/c of that s*** program, Illinois Urbana-Champaign doesn't have a men's swim team.

Edited July 12, 2005 by crash

[southsider2k5]

It's a woman's league, and Title IX is about a bunch of crap involving equality in sports. B/c of that s*** program, Illinois Urbana-Champaign doesn't have a men's swim team.

 

BTW, Title 9 deals with college sports.