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Due to a revision in the NBA’s 2005 Collective Bargaining Agreement, players must be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year of the NBA draft and at least one year removed from high school in order to be eligible for the NBA.
Brandon Jennings signed a letter of intent to play for the University of Arizona, but is contemplating a professional career in Europe if he falls short of the necessary SAT score. Opting for a pro career overseas would fly in the face of conventional wisdom. But wisdom has nothing to do with the NBA’s age limit that prohibited Brandon from entering the 2008 draft.
A few months ago, I wrote an article for RealGM that broke down the success rate of players drafted into the NBA straight out of high school. From 1975 to 2005, 41 high school players were drafted into the NBA. Of the 41 players drafted out of high school, only 10 of those players failed to make it in the league. A large number of those players went on to become superstars. Four-fifths of this year’s All-NBA 1st team was drafted straight out of high school.
No, the NBA’s age limit has nothing to do with the welfare of the young men who dream of playing in the NBA. It has everything to do with the NBA and NCAA’s best interests.
So why shouldn’t Jennings do what’s best for him?
A one-year professional contract in Europe will net him a six-figure salary. As the first high school player to make the jump from the States to the Euroleague, his every move will be documented. Companies will line up to sign him to endorsements. The competition will be greater and the fundamentals focused Euro game will help Jennings fine-tune his skills before declaring for the 2009 draft.
In 1975, Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby became the NBA’s first two high school draft picks. Dawkins was drafted 5th by the Philadelphia 76ers. Willoughby was the first pick of the second round (19th overall). Both players enjoyed long NBA careers.
Despite their success, it would be another thirty years before another high school player was drafted. That kid’s name was Kevin Garnett. From 1995 to 2005, thirty-eight players followed KG’s path.
How many players will follow Jennings if he opts for one-year contract in Europe?
Whether Jennings chooses to play in Europe or not, it’s only a matter of time before players begin to sidestep the NBA’s age limit rule. Jennings’ situation reminds me of a blog that Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban wrote in 2006 titled ‘Making Money in Basketball….‘. Cuban wrote on the subject of minor league basketball in the United States and how a new league could flourish if they “copied the player development and contractual relationships of foreign leagues.”
That means signing teenaged phenoms to professional contracts with the intent of developing them and collecting on their buyouts when the NBA or Euroleague comes calling. The Euroleague has thrived upon this business model for years. Tony Parker (2007 Finals MVP) and Dirk Nowitzki (2007 regular season MVP) were professional players long before they turned 18.
I don’t think a minor league (like the one Cuban suggested) that creates the majority of their revenue through ticket sales can thrive in the United States. And I don’t think a minor league is the best option to truly develop young players. The NBA’s development league, the NBADL has been moderately successful, but it’s little more than a testing ground for the NBA. The CBA folded seven years ago.
But I like Cuban’s idea of a system that signs players to professional contracts before they turn 18 and develops them as players AND people. If built properly, the system would pay dividends to the angel investors and/or venture capitalist who choose to fund the program while succeeding in preparing young men for the rigors of a life in and out of professional basketball.
I’ll admit, this could be a public relations nightmare. But is it worse than how the NCAA and AAU currently operate? Programs like the AAU (Amateur Athletic Union) claim to operate under amateur status, but have become entrenched in big money college basketball recruitment and athletic apparel endorsements. Two months ago, Kentucky Coach Billy Gillispie signed 15-year-old Michael Avery, a 6-foot-4 eighth-grader to a basketball scholarship.
Like Cuban wrote, the key would be signing players at a young age and providing them with year round basketball, scholastic education, and life skills training. In recent years, basketball ‘purists’ have decried the lack of fundamentals in today’s game. Players have become bigger, stonger, and faster. But fundamentals like shooting, passing, and dribbling have declined. Teaching the fundamentals and shielding players from the me-first mentality that has permeated professional sports would be priority number one.
Developing the infrastructure would be complicated but could be shortcut if combined with an established company like Better Basketball. Correspondence schools or personal tutors could be contracted to ensure that players receive an education that is equal to, or greater than that of a public or private school’s high school diploma.
Unsavory characters like free agent “runners” and duplicitous AAU coaches could be kept at an arm’s length.
Players and their families would be taken care of until the moment they sign with their first professional franchise. The amount of investment would vary. And the investment would carry risk. But what investment doesn’t? Repayment — with interest — would come when/if a player signs their first professional contract. Repayment could also be negotiated through a percentage of the money made throughout a player’s career.
David Stern felt that an age limit was in the NBA’s best interests. Brandon Jennings is going to do what’s best for him. My proposal would benefit everyone.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 pm
Great article. Fully agree.
I do think this will be the beginning of a new era. I think MANY kids will opt to play overseas. Brandon Jennings will closely watched and documented…if he enjoys a successful season, makes some good money, AND gets drafted high in the NBA Lottery, I think all hell may break loose for many prep stars.
hahaa…sucks to be Arizona.
July 2nd, 2008 at 8:35 pm
great picture, too…by the way. I hadn’t seen that one before…
July 3rd, 2008 at 3:37 am
[…] Brandon Jennings and the NBAs age limit […]
July 3rd, 2008 at 6:53 pm
Good post.
I will just add that I think people are kind of missing the big picture when they just focus on kids coming out of high school. It’s not JUST about that. It’s about people coming out early. Period.
Hoff–you said only ten of forty-one players out of high school haven’t stuck in the league. You should expand on that and do it by age.
How many players, age 19 or younger, have thrown themselves into the draft hat and have failed to make it? I bet your percentage goes down the drain.
Or, how many players have with only two years of college experience have entered the draft and failed to make it? Again, the percentages are no good.
The ones who came out of high school were elite talents, so it’s no surprise they’ve made it. But what about all of those guys who did one year and left (see Omar Cook)?
Stern wants to force the kids to go to a college campus for one year so they can mature a little more as people. It isn’t so much that youngsters are ruining the game on the court (they have, however) as much as it’s what these cats are doing off the court. Before an NBA team gives a kid from high school, right out of the hood, a few million dollars, Stern wants that kid to at least leave the hood for a year and be on his own. Let him go to a suburban campus somewhere and be with kids from different walks of life, etc. It’s about bringing more mature youngsters into the league.
Brandon Jennings has every right to do what he wants. If he’s good enough to make it, he should be allowed to play. But I understand where Stern is coming from. And whether these kids go to school for a year or overseas, it’s the same thing. Stern wants these kids to taste life outside of their circles a little bit. I applaud him for that.
July 3rd, 2008 at 7:03 pm
“I like Cuban’s idea of a system that signs players to professional contracts before they turn 18 and develops them as players AND people. If built properly, the system would pay dividends to the angel investors and/or venture capitalist who choose to fund the program while succeeding in preparing young men for the rigors of a life in and out of professional basketball.”
I don’t like this. Good in theory, but not in practice. We’d essentially create basketball factories, and kids would want to go work in these factories at a very young age. Instead of kids missing college, we’d have kids dropping out of high school to pursue basketball.
I think the rule should be minimum one year of college or pro ball overseas.
July 4th, 2008 at 10:53 am
A-Train,
“Hoff–you said only ten of forty-one players out of high school haven’t stuck in the league. You should expand on that and do it by age.
How many players, age 19 or younger, have thrown themselves into the draft hat and have failed to make it? I bet your percentage goes down the drain.”
What do you mean? Are you suggesting I include college players who were 19 or younger too? I could do that but it would take some time. Want to corroborate on the project?
You said, “Stern wants to force the kids to go to a college campus for one year so they can mature a little more as people.”
I’m sure that crossed his mind but I think the primary reason he instituted this rule was so kids could be marketed by the NCAA for free. Durant signed a big shoe contract before his rookie season, he wouldn’t have received enough exposure for something like that if he had come straight out of high school. Before last season, OJ Mayo was the best player in his class. Look at the attention that was payed to Rose and Beasley in college. And I’m really not convinced that either one of those guys is really better than Mayo.
You said, “I don’t like this. Good in theory, but not in practice. We’d essentially create basketball factories, and kids would want to go work in these factories at a very young age. Instead of kids missing college, we’d have kids dropping out of high school to pursue basketball.”
Not if it was put together properly. There are plenty of kids who receive homeschool educations. Ivy-league schools accept homeschool students. So it’s not beyond reason to think that kids in a program like the one I’m suggesting would receive a quality education.
July 4th, 2008 at 12:25 pm
Sigh. I’m always the odd one out here.
I just read this. Let me preface my response by saying I’m in a jovial, smack-talking, mood (must be the holiday), so I’m going to dramatically depart from my usual, conservative writing style. I give you that head’s up to ensure there are no misunderstandings… I’d hate to hurt someone’s feelings when I’m just funnin’, but….
Mark me down as a RABID supporter of the NBA age limit, and as vehemently, ferociously, suicidally, homicidally, and hetrocidally opposed to development contracts for promising young minors.
In fact, I’d rather suck the sweat from the socks of every person who has ever had athlete’s foot, than see minors with NBA contracts. In fact, I would rather see Shaquille O’Neal dressed in a pink tutu, whispering sweet nothings into Kobe Bryant’s ear as they sit together in a hot tub full of putrid spider milk before I’d want to see kids taking money and perks from VULTURE capitalists.
In fact, Hoffman, not only are you not in my 5 anymore, I’ve just removed you from my will as well, and am now leaving those millions to my dog, Addie.
This isn’t just a bad idea, it makes Yahoo’s purchase of Broadcast.com for $5.7 billion look brilliant. Oh yeah, you liked that idea too, didn’t you? [wink]
Prepaying promising players because of their potential rather than their performance is the ultimate “me-first” mentality. It’s like telling your fireplace, “Give me some heat, THEN I’ll put some wood in you!”
And who would make such an investment anyway? “Angel” investors?! Venture capitalists? Nope, only vultures capitalists, and this program would be the biggest windfall for organized crime since prohibition. Future NBA players for sale: fix your games and place your bets!
Besides, how would these investors get a return for their investment? Either they’ve loaned the money to the players, and would get it back in full plus interest over time, or they’ve bought stock in the player, which means they have the right to dividends… in other words they get part of the player’s profits over the course of their holding stock in that player’s career.
Yeah, right.
LeBron James is number 16 on Forbes Magazine’s “Celebrity 100″ list. If you filter the list for professional athletes, he is #3 (behind Tiger Woods and David Beckham). LeBron gets by on just $38 million a year, but he just renewed his contract with Coca Cola, and landed a new deal with State Farm, so that number is going up.
Everyone who think LeBron wants to give a piece of that action to his angel investors, raise your hand.
It’s not that young players don’t need guidance, it’s just that this is not the way to get it for them.
Speaking of LeBron James, let’s take a closer look at NIke, the original NBA angel investor.
High school player LeBron James had never played a minute in the NBA when he signed a contract with Nike which paid him $90 million over the next 7 years.
Did that investment pay off?
No one can deny that LeBron is huge. He was in the NBA Finals last year, and is an MVP candidate every year… yet his Nike shoes and apparel don’t even come close to outselling those of a player who retired years ago: Michael Jordan. What kind of return has Nike got for their investment so far?
Ah, but the best is yet to come you say? Well, let’s take a look at that too.
LeBron’s Nike contract is up in 2010. You think Nike will resign LeBron? Well, they can’t hardly let him sign with Reebok, but then again, if you offer a high school kid $90 million, what kind of money do you have to offer a perpetual NBA MVP candidate?
Nike’s angel investing has dug them into a hole… approximately 6 feet deep.
And the thing is, LeBron James is the ultimate best case scenario. It won’t get any better than LeBron. Even the great Kobe Bryant was no where near the marketing beast when he came into the league that LeBron was.
So, from an investors’ viewpoint, I really think this idea is DOA. Mark Cuban’s version of it is much better, but more on that later.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:16 pm
My last comment focused on the investors’ view point, but what about the basketball aspects of the idea?
First, let players follow Jennings overseas. Who cares?
Who loses out by high school players like Jennings playing a year or two in Europe? Not the University of Arizona Wildcats, Jennings couldn’t play for them anyway with those SAT scores. Not the NBA, it will get Jennings anyway, improved and more schooled in fundamentals than he was out of high school.
It’s not like having top drawer American talent acquiring FIBA-based basketball experience hurts these youngsters, their families, the NBA, or for that matter, TeamUSA down the road. Plus, young American players spending a year oversees will broaden the NBA’s international fan base as fans follow players’ careers from their leagues to David Stern’s.
Now don’t misunderstand, I’d rather see Jennings and those who follow get good grades and test scores and play college ball. WAY too many youngsters treat basketball like a lottery ticket. Hey, if it doesn’t hit for you, you’re going to need some skills to help you in the real world, so by all means, have college in your sights.
But it doesn’t harm future NBA players to play a year of international basketball before draft day. They’ll certainly miss out on some of the stuff they would (and should) get in college, but as players, they will still develop more in FIBA competition than they would have in the NBA.
But seriously, how is spending at least a year in college or oversees hurting players, their families, college basketball, international basketball or the NBA? I don’t see it.
By the way, it would be HARD to come up with a less relevant measure of the success of high school players in the NBA than selection to the All-NBA First Team.
Had those four players gone to college, they STILL would have been All-NBA 1st teamers. In fact, it is likely that they would be even better players today.
Take a look at the game’s best.
What if Michael Jordan went to the NBA straight from college? Eventually, he may have become the Michael Jordan we know today, but probably not.
Jordan wore his North Carolina shorts under his NBA shorts his entire career. That experience in college meant that much to him. Who here can see Jordan wearing his Bulls shorts under his Wizards shorts, had Jordan skipped college? Not me.
Michael Jordan would not have been Michael Jordan were it not for Dean Smith and the discipline he was required to learn and assimilate in order to rise to the top of the system at the University of North Carolina. There are important things people learn playing college basketball that they do not get in the NBA, and in addition to what they learn on court, off court their lives are encouraged to be disciplined as well. They live by curfews and strict rules.
They LIVE with team mates for crying out loud!
They become conditioned to respect the coach in part because they aren’t getting paid 50 times more than him and can get him fired by complaining about him (like in the NBA), and because the players have to conform to a system regardless their personal opinion about it.
Players learn the value of contributing to a team in college much more readily than they could in professional sports.
And for all the money there is in college basketball, and there is a lot, NONE of it is the players’. That is SO important. The coaches may be coaching for the big bucks, but the players have to play to win, or at the very least to distinguish themselves as potential winners. That is a very different mindset than professional basketball.
College makes players think like winners, not superstars.
Had Kobe Bryant gone to college and lived with his team mates, maybe he’d have though twice before trashing them to a video camera. Had Kobe been forced to respect authority at Duke in order to rise to the top of their system, maybe he wouldn’t have been so quick to throw Lakers’ management under a bus. Had Kobe learned to conform to Mike Krzyzewski’s strict systems, maybe he would have found it easier to know when he should be a scorer and when he should assist others to score.
Attending college takes nothing away from the careers of these soon-to-be NBA stars. It really doesn’t.
The only reason to rush them into the NBA is greed — whether that’s kids wanting their millions now, or teams wanting the young talent now, or fans wanting to see if the hyped high schooler gives their teams the edge.
I feel for David Stern on this issue.
David Stern will never be able to make the strong case for the age limit. He’s limited by his position. Anything he might say would instantly be turned into direct attacks and criticisms of existing and former NBA players. That’s not a can of worms he wants to open.
Arguing that most high-school-to-NBA players do fine misses the point.
The point isn’t about the percentage of high school players who go on to do big things, because they’ll go on to do big things anyway.
The point is there are better ways to know if a player will sink or swim than just throwing them into the deep end of the pool.
What about those players whose maturity hasn’t developed as much as their bodies and skills?
If another LeBron James comes along, he’ll still be an NBA star after a year of NCAA or FIBA basketball, so quit worrying about these players. Worry about the next Kwame Brown whose career and personal life even would benefit unpredictably from another season of swimming lessons in the shallow end.
July 4th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Ahem. You have to be VEEWY careful before clicking the “Submit Comment” button, because you cannot go back and edit.
I meant to write, “What if Michael Jordan went to the NBA straight from HIGH SCHOOL?”, not straight from college.
July 4th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
Other random and sometimes weird thoughts sparked by this article:
— It is so common it has become a proverb now in the NBA. Players play best when they are on the verge of getting a new contract. And very often, player performance dips after they get their guaranteed pay days. Doesn’t the idea of giving kids contracts before they reach the NBA work against human nature?
— I like Better Basketball a lot, but there is no way in the WORLD Better Basketball could manage a program of players. Better Basketball is a business leveraging the wisdom of a player-development oriented high school basketball coach. It’s expertise is in video production, not basketball, all the basketball expertise is in one guy, and he’s not a business executive.
— Playing overseas isn’t “sidestepping” the NBA age limit rules, they’re still not in the NBA until they are of age.
— The NBADL is doing fine, and would be doing even better if people who should know better weren’t preoccupied with looking down on it. Mark Cuban certainly believes in a development league, that should carry weight with those who think a lot of him.
July 4th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
I’ll put my last comments in the forum area so we can discuss them easier.
In a nutshell, what if EVERY player with aspirations to play in the NBA had to play in the NBADL first, and what if ALL drafting happened only from the NBADL?
This isn’t as wild an idea as your knee-jerk reaction may have told you it was. Please bring an open mind to the forums and check it out.
July 5th, 2008 at 1:26 am
This is a classic case of “damned if you do…damned if you dont”
should players as talented as Kobe, LeBron, Amare, McGrady, etc. be able to skip college? Of course. It is a sham to make them go for one year.
But there is no way to filter out the slimy agents that will tell EVERY HIGH SCHOOL KID WITH THE SLIGHTEST BIT OF TALENT that he is the next LeBron. And of course he will eat it up - he’s just a kid!! Telfair, anyone??
In the last two years of NCAA National Title games (the two years the age-limit was involved) the games were very similar in several aspects:
2007: Florida vs. Ohio State. Teamwork and dedication, lots of Juniors vs. some freshmen wonders.
2008: Kansas vs. Memphis. Teamwork and dedication, lots of Juniors vs. a freshman wonder and some role players.
in both cases, teamwork and maturity prevailed, and the freshman phenoms were left a buck short and a day late. However, the losing freshman star on each squad subsequently became the #1 pick in the NBA Draft (Oden, Rose).
what does it mean? I have no idea…but its worth pondering…
July 5th, 2008 at 8:24 am
Agreed with Basketballogy on all counts.
Who cares where these cats go from the time they leave high school and the reach the NBA? The point is they go SOMEWHERE (college, overseas–hey, how about to WORK; a job at 7-11 should be motivating) where they can learn *some* life skills. Where they can get better perspective on life, ball, etc.
I know one year won’t change everything, but that one year is huge.
I grew up in an area where kids didn’t go on to college. There was “the corner”. Fortunately for me, I got a taste of “the other world” when I went to a private high school. Also when I went to a summer camp. Then I went out of state for college so I could be away from all that I knew at the time. Those experiences help to shape a person. I can talk to people in the hood, and I can talk to CEO-level execs. Had I just stayed in the hood, I would have only been able to do one–not both.
We’re so protected in high school. It’s like our own little world. For a kid to go straight from high school to the NBA is nuts. That kid doesn’t grow on the way. Bam, he’s just thrust into the real world. He’s forced to grow as someone’s investment.
I’m all in favor of the age limit. Force these kids to see the world–even if just for a year–outside of their own little world.
Hoff, I’ll do that project with you. We can look at all players in the past 15 years who have ever entered the NBA at the age of 19 or younger. How many of them have stuck, in comparison to the older guys?
I bet the guys who stuck around college longer (at least two years) or played overseas end up sticking at a better percentage. It’s not so much they’re better athletes, just more mature.
July 6th, 2008 at 4:51 pm
Basketballogy,
Lol. Well, your comments were certainly a change of pace from your norm.
I should have gotten more in-depth with this blog but I think your opinion is being influenced by a perception that young men who might be signed to contracts (before they turn 18) would instantly become “rich.” That’s not the case. Contracts would be enough to get by. Most of the kids who come into the NBA lived far below the poverty line before they signed their first professional contract.
How about a yearly salary of the United States’ medium income? Which last time I checked, was $40,000. So you sign a kid at 14 years old. Pay him and his family $40,000 a year until he turns 18 or 19.
Like I said, most of these kids and their families are stuggling to get by as it is.
And why are you paying him? You’re paying him to agree to be trained and educated by a staff of your choosing. You put together a few coaches to drill him daily. You hire a tutor or a correspondence school to ensure that he learns to read well, speak well, write well, and handle his finances once he becomes an adult.
For your investment, let’s say you want a 100% return. Hell, let’s make it 200%. How many players would JUMP at a deal like that? How many individuals would jump at an opportunity to be involved in a player like LeBron James’ development?
You said LBJ is the best case scenario. There will be another LeBron James. There will be 5 more LeBrons before you and I are gone.
Tom, you claimed that college teaches kids life lessons?
That may be true, but it may not. Each University is different. And not all of the top prospects are going to respectable programs.
You mentioned all of the lessons you believe MJ learned at UNC. I agree, North Carolina aided in his development. Why can’t my system aid in players development? At an earlier age too.
What do you think about AAU basketball and the amateur system that is currently in place? Don’t kid yourself my friend, the big money system that teaches a “me-first” attitude that you see in today’s NBA has permeated the amateur ranks too.
A system — like the one I propose in this blog — would help shield players from that type of nonsense. Obviously, there are a lot of “ifs.” But it could be done.
July 6th, 2008 at 4:56 pm
A-Train,
I’m open to your project idea. Where do you want to start? Do you want to separate it into halves?
Both you and Tom are focused on kids learning life lessons in college. I agree w/ both of you to a certain extent.
Why are these kids learning these lessons in college as opposed to learning them at home? I’m sure that part of it has to do with them being of age to truly apply the lessons. But I think some it extends to their upbringing. A system that educates them on the court AND off could help accelerate their development on both fronts.
You guys are focusing on the “professional contract” aspect of my plan and you’re not paying enough attention to the true development part.
I think a program like this — if designed properly — would be to each individual players benefit.
July 6th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Your program would be good for the NBA, good for basketball in general, good for all individuals who benefit from it financially–players and their families included, but lastly, it would be God-awful for society.
This is the United States of America. This isn’t Brazil. Our poor here have it better than the poor anywhere else in the world. Our poor here have access to so much; they have all of the tools to get ahead. In Brazil–I use Brazil as an example because it is a soccer factory–those who are poor don’t matter; they’ll never get ahead. And what do clubs do? They go into the slums and grab the promising young talents and sign them into the system. Those who don’t make it–oh well, who cares? They weren’t going to make it anyhow.
But in the U.S., it’s not like that. There aren’t large pockets of society the masses–government included–don’t care about. People can say what they want–Katrina’s mishandling might come to mind–but we don’t treat the poor here like they’re lepers. They have food, cars, computers, cable TV, etc.
Are there poor kids who don’t have anything? Sure. But most of those kids don’t amount to anything–period. But the kids who do make it to the NBA usually aren’t in that category. They’re working poor, or working class, or middle class–mostly. Most of these kids go to private high schools and prep programs. They aren’t public school kids from Trailer City, Mississippi, who can’t read or write, etc (those are the football and baseball guys from the South, mostly).
So to come up with a system that gives preteens and teenagers the option of kicking school to the wayside in exchange for the opportunity to focus solely on training for the NBA is crazy. Before you know it, you will have not only poor kids, but rich kids, all kids, trying to become pro athletes. And then what? What happens when only 10% of them make it to the league? Do the other 90% percent get to go back to high school?
I mean, they have stuff like what you’re talking about, but it’s to a lesser extent and more “under the covers.” It’s called AAU. But those games happen when school is out. Kids join teams in camps, local rec centers, etc. Nobody is told to abandon school although the best players I’m sure get the message to focus on becoming a baller instead of a doctor.
But to flat-out institute a youth program like those in other countries, like Brazil, where kids can get paid young for becoming the property of clubs, is nuts. It could never happen. What you’re talking about is like legalizing pot. You’re saying we’ll legalize it, and it’s Ok, because it only applies to potheads. Nah man… it will create potheads. Kids will be getting high left and right. Same with this basketball program. Kids will say, F school, and focus on sports. All kids will do it.
You can’t dangle options like that out there. Just can’t.
If you want to do things on the weekends and summers, sure. Keep kids off the streets. Sure. But to flat-out have this “other” option aside from school just sends the wrong message. School MUST be the most important thing to kids. Period. Once they’re 18, 19, etc. then they can decide on college. But they must do high school. All of them.
With all of that said, somebody somewhere at some point will devise some plan to get a kid who has yet to graduate high school signed to a pro sports contract. It’s coming. Somebody (a shoe company?) will sign a 15-year-old sophomore to a deal.
We’ll deal with it then.
Then again, who knows? The way the world is going, I wouldn’t be surprised if “Soul Seller” popped up on Monster.com as an occupation. People have lost their damn minds.
July 7th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
A-Train,
With all due respect, nowhere in the blog did I say the kids who were signed to contracts could “kick school to the wayside.” There are thousands of kids who are educated at home or through correspondence courses. Ivy league schools accept homeschool educations.
A program like the one I suggest would combine a sound basketball program with an established set of tutors or partner with a distance learning program.
July 8th, 2008 at 11:36 am
[…] in the face of conventional wisdom. But wisdom has nothing to do with the NBA??s age limit that phttp://ballerblogger.com/2008/07/02/brandon-jennings-and-the-nba-age-limit/Jen-XThis is my last post to Jen-X. globaljen.com is now ‘live’ - finishing touches … I might just […]