HS Baseball Phenom leaves after Sophomore year... Thoughts

[Jellybeans]

The guy is very impressive!

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by mikejet

It's going to be interesting this year for the NBA Draft because there will be a guy who went straight to Europe after HS and then will be in this years draft. There's a lot of differing opinions on how it will be handled.

Yeah, Brandon Jennings who played in Italy. Jennings will be definitely be a lottery pick and could even possibly go top 5 and made over $3.5 million in salary and endorsements for his one year in Italy. However, he didn't play well and spoke about being unhappy in Italy. He complained that sometimes he didn't get paid on time. If he had been draft eligible last year out of high school he would have been a top 5 pick for sure. I think a lot of people would rather get paid under the table rather than going overseas. This could get more difficult now that Tim Floyd isn't at USC anymore and therefore can't pay players. If the NBA changes the age limit to 20 like David Stern wants you could see more people going to Europe.

[hc666]

Originally Posted by Rob71

He's also been given the Sports Illustrated "Cover Of Death".

lol yeah we will never see him again!

[toef]

I may be in the minority, but I think forcing athletes to go to college is a dumb idea.

Let's not kid ourselves. The only reason normal people go to college is so that they can get a better job (read: higher paying job). So almost everyone goes to college for the money, and there are a handful of people who genuinely just go to learn.

If people have the chance to make a nice living doing something else, let them go do it. It's annoying to see basketball players forced to go to college for a year, without any intention of ever staying past that, and then leave.

I respect a coach like Roy Williams at UNC, who at least seems to try to recruit players that plan on staying. I think in his time at UNC, so far, only one person has left after 1 year, and I don't think Roy would ever actively recruit someone that he knew was only going to college because he was forced to.

But there are plenty of other coaches/schools that do everything they can to lure those players in for the one year they plan on playing, and I think it ruins the game.

Anyhow, I think Harper should finish high school before going pro. He's not even old enough to sign a contract for himself, and is barely old enough to drive himself to practice.

[b0bby]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I think a lot of people would rather get paid under the table rather than going overseas.

i don't know man. tim floyd gave someone a grand to give to mayo under the table. jennings is getting millions of euros legitimately. i know what you are saying but these under the table rule violation payments are just in the thousands and playing overseas turns you into an instant millionaire. id pull a jennings if i were an up and coming high school star. its all about money and instant gratification after all aint it

[Dr.Zoidberg]

How many "phenoms" never make it to the bigs....too many to count....not saying that he will or will not make it just stating that this guy may be another "what could have been" in 5 years...

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by b0bby

i don't know man. tim floyd gave someone a grand to give to mayo under the table. jennings is getting millions of euros legitimately. i know what you are saying but these under the table rule violation payments are just in the thousands and playing overseas turns you into an instant millionaire. id pull a jennings if i were an up and coming high school star. its all about money and instant gratification after all aint it

I agree, but to get those millions of dollars they have to move to a country where they don't know anyone or speak the language. There's a lot more money being paid than is known. Reggie Bush's parents lived in a house owned by an agent. A Michigan booster gave Chris Webber $280,000, and paid for an apartment lived in by Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock, as well as paying for numerous players cars. Often an associate for an agent will pay the player in hopes he will sign with them.
Like I said, I agree it'd be nice to get the money legitimately but if you can spend 9 months on campus pretending to be a student and then go to the NBA it could be more appealing to an 18 year old than Italy, Greece, or Israel.

[Chordata]

I hate that kids are bypassing high school or college to play professional sports, but what can you do -- what's worth more to you, money or education?

(Money obviously - an education can't put BDs on the table.)

[mikejet]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I agree, but to get those millions of dollars they have to move to a country where they don't know anyone or speak the language. There's a lot more money being paid than is known. Reggie Bush's parents lived in a house owned by an agent. A Michigan booster gave Chris Webber $280,000, and paid for an apartment lived in by Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock, as well as paying for numerous players cars. Often an associate for an agent will pay the player in hopes he will sign with them.
Like I said, I agree it'd be nice to get the money legitimately but if you can spend 9 months on campus pretending to be a student and then go to the NBA it could be more appealing to an 18 year old than Italy, Greece, or Israel.

Yeah there's a lot of truth in the movie "He Got Game". It's a shame too.

Sometimes it's more exciting to watch sports at the local park than on TV.

[dialog_gvf]

The problem I do have with it, though, is that there are no doubt thousands of delusional parents who will see this news and think that maybe it's a viable path for their nowhere-near-as-talented sons and daughters.

I would have thought MLB had a minimum age requirement. He wouldn't be 18 in 2010, would he?

Gary

[fatediesel]

Originally Posted by dialog_gvf

I would have thought MLB had a minimum age requirement. He wouldn't be 18 in 2010, would he?

Gary

No minimum age requirement, just a high school graduate. It's not uncommon for a foregin player to be signed when they are 16 or 17. The irony is that a lot of the time the player forged paperwork and are actually 19 or 20, but teams want to get players as young as possible.

[b0bby]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

I agree, but to get those millions of dollars they have to move to a country where they don't know anyone or speak the language. There's a lot more money being paid than is known. Reggie Bush's parents lived in a house owned by an agent. A Michigan booster gave Chris Webber $280,000, and paid for an apartment lived in by Robert Traylor and Louis Bullock, as well as paying for numerous players cars. Often an associate for an agent will pay the player in hopes he will sign with them.
Like I said, I agree it'd be nice to get the money legitimately but if you can spend 9 months on campus pretending to be a student and then go to the NBA it could be more appealing to an 18 year old than Italy, Greece, or Israel.

i have no problems going to italy/greece/spain/wherever for 9 months making millions and banging local hotties. no problems at all. jennings should be looking at it as a 9 month vacation while playing a game he loves instead of complaining. plus i won't live with the bad reputation of being too stupid to pass the SAT's to get into college legitimately.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by toefer

I may be in the minority, but I think forcing athletes to go to college is a dumb idea.

Let's not kid ourselves. The only reason normal people go to college is so that they can get a better job (read: higher paying job). So almost everyone goes to college for the money, and there are a handful of people who genuinely just go to learn.

If people have the chance to make a nice living doing something else, let them go do it. It's annoying to see basketball players forced to go to college for a year, without any intention of ever staying past that, and then leave.

I respect a coach like Roy Williams at UNC, who at least seems to try to recruit players that plan on staying. I think in his time at UNC, so far, only one person has left after 1 year, and I don't think Roy would ever actively recruit someone that he knew was only going to college because he was forced to.

But there are plenty of other coaches/schools that do everything they can to lure those players in for the one year they plan on playing, and I think it ruins the game.

Anyhow, I think Harper should finish high school before going pro. He's not even old enough to sign a contract for himself, and is barely old enough to drive himself to practice.

I agree in the select cases(lebron exc. guys who would make SO much a degree wouldn't really matter). If he doesn't make over 1-10 million he's so young he could blow that so quick, lose his skills and be nowhere by 32 thats why I think your much better off getting a degree and then playing and getting the $$$. Especially if You aren't going to be a top guy you are much better having that degree to fall back on.

[Grumpz]

Originally Posted by Rob71

Exactly. Where are his parents? Probably picking out the furniture for the new house.

Someone needs to set this kid aside and talk to him, he's one injury away from a career at McDonald's.

Just like the Lindros family! For sure they've got there greedy little hands in this.

[toef]

Originally Posted by supersix4

I agree in the select cases(lebron exc. guys who would make SO much a degree wouldn't really matter). If he doesn't make over 1-10 million he's so young he could blow that so quick, lose his skills and be nowhere by 32 thats why I think your much better off getting a degree and then playing and getting the $$$. Especially if You aren't going to be a top guy you are much better having that degree to fall back on.

True. But college will always be around. If he fails at baseball, what's stopping him from going to college when he's 25, or 45? Nothing really.

The reason I hate college players being forced to go to college is that most of the ones you see coming out of college probably couldn't really cut in in college anyway. I remember when Carmelo Anthony was at SU, after his freshman year there was a bit of a debate about whether he'd stay or go to the NBA. The local news circulating around campus (what I heard from friends) was that he was definitely leaving, because he wasn't even passing his classes. There'd be no way he could make it through 3 more years of school, without a lot of help (and by help, I mean giving him passing grades).

But he's a great basketball player, so I figure why not just let him go do what he's good at in life.

College is what you make of it. You can't force someone to go to class and expect them to get smarter. You have to want to learn, and study, and learn some more. So if these players don't care about being in college, putting them through 1 year or 4 years of school isn't going to make them any smarter. Might as well let them go to the NBA if they want to, or set up some sort of developmental league for 18-20 year olds, so they can play around there before making bigger money at the NBA level.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by toefer

True. But college will always be around. If he fails at baseball, what's stopping him from going to college when he's 25, or 45? Nothing really.

The reason I hate college players being forced to go to college is that most of the ones you see coming out of college probably couldn't really cut in in college anyway. I remember when Carmelo Anthony was at SU, after his freshman year there was a bit of a debate about whether he'd stay or go to the NBA. The local news circulating around campus (what I heard from friends) was that he was definitely leaving, because he wasn't even passing his classes. There'd be no way he could make it through 3 more years of school, without a lot of help (and by help, I mean giving him passing grades).

But he's a great basketball player, so I figure why not just let him go do what he's good at in life.

College is what you make of it. You can't force someone to go to class and expect them to get smarter. You have to want to learn, and study, and learn some more. So if these players don't care about being in college, putting them through 1 year or 4 years of school isn't going to make them any smarter. Might as well let them go to the NBA if they want to, or set up some sort of developmental league for 18-20 year olds, so they can play around there before making bigger money at the NBA level.

well if you blew all your money your back having to pay for college instead of getting a free ride + the money you'd make entering later

And I think melo would fall into the best of the best players. How many players that aren't top picks don't get that shot. But might have been able to use their skills to get a degree. Thats my only grip about it it's one thing if you are a top player its another to be good enough to play college ball and get a free ride and and not be able to make ends meet playing the sport professionally or staying in the minors or d-league or making the practice squad in football.

[mikejet]

Well, the other reason I push for the mandatory college requirement is that you learn a lot more playing college sports than just HS alone. There's a lot of training you can get with those extra years in college that you won't pickup coming straight out of HS.

Also, it's a great proving ground for players to show they can handle it. The best example would be the Obannon brothers from UCLA. They looked great going in and performed in college but now they own a used car lot in Las Vegas.

[fatediesel]

The only reason I'm even somewhat in favor of forcing college is to try and get these guys some life experience before they get their money. There was a study last year that showed 60% of NBA players are broke within 5 years of leaving the league. If they went to college and took some finance classes and actually had a budget this might not happen. These guys don't realize that they won't be making their current salary for more than a couple years and after that they won't be making near as much money. In addition with basketball and baseball there's women in every city trying to seduce players with the hopes of getting pregnant and making 6 figures off child support. The NBA and NFL have rookie programs that try to teach their guys about this but you still hear stories about players with multiple children with multiple women. Examples include Travis Henry (NFL), who has 11 children with 10 woman and is currently in jail for drugs and Shawn Kemp (NBA), who has at least 7 children.

[supersix4]

Originally Posted by fatediesel

The only reason I'm even somewhat in favor of forcing college is to try and get these guys some life experience before they get their money. There was a study last year that showed 60% of NBA players are broke within 5 years of leaving the league. If they went to college and took some finance classes and actually had a budget this might not happen. These guys don't realize that they won't be making their current salary for more than a couple years and after that they won't be making near as much money. In addition with basketball and baseball there's women in every city trying to seduce players with the hopes of getting pregnant and making 6 figures off child support. The NBA and NFL have rookie programs that try to teach their guys about this but you still hear stories about players with multiple children with multiple women. Examples include Travis Henry (NFL), who has 11 children with 10 woman and is currently in jail for drugs and Shawn Kemp (NBA), who has at least 7 children.

yeah I'd be for even that kind of limited training but I'd be more concerned with the guys who aren't messing up but just didn't realize that by 30 most of the average players are doing something else thats still 20+ years of working and to not have a degree and blowing through your money your back where you were as a kid coming out of High school.

[toef]

Originally Posted by supersix4

well if you blew all your money your back having to pay for college instead of getting a free ride + the money you'd make entering later

And I think melo would fall into the best of the best players. How many players that aren't top picks don't get that shot. But might have been able to use their skills to get a degree. Thats my only grip about it it's one thing if you are a top player its another to be good enough to play college ball and get a free ride and and not be able to make ends meet playing the sport professionally or staying in the minors or d-league or making the practice squad in football.

I agree. If you're the best of the best, fine. I just hope that people don't think they're better than they are, and chase after an unattainable dream, and kind of ruin their life in the long run.

There are always going to be certain scenarios to support each side. For every "broke his back, had to retire from sports, and go back to school, but pay for his college instead of getting a free ride" there's the "went to college, broke his back, and now will never make any money".

I think a lot of it also comes down to the parents, and the environment people are raised in. If you look at someone like Tyler Hansbrough... he probably has no shot at an NBA career, so he did the smart thing and stayed in school. His decision might've also been influenced by his parents. His dad's a surgeon, and I'm sure is making a comfortable living. If you have that stereotypical story of a guy who was raised by a single mom, in a poor neighborhood, maybe the appeal of quickly signing a professional deal is too much to turn down, because he can finally get his family out of the ghetto.

In most cases, yes, go to school, because there are far more talented basketball players in the world than NBA roster spots. The same goes for just about any sport. In baseball you can spend your entire career in the minors, because the amount of talent around the world is so high, and teams are recruiting outside of the US more than ever.

But while we're at it, and since I hate soccer... why don't we bring soccer into the conversation? In Europe, don't they start recruiting players at insanely young ages? And aren't soccer players some of the least educated athletes in the world?