Ditching Class: Prospect leaving high school for Euro league
Written by Heegos, Thursday April 23 2009
The NBA needs to change its age restrictions now, for the sake of our country's youth.
Jeremy Tyler, a 17-year old from San Diego, is planning to drop out of high school before his senior season to play professional ball in Europe. He's ready to forgo his senior year and a high school diploma, as well as a chance to play for Rick Pitino at the University of Louisville, because David Stern and the rest of the NBA front office goons have their heads up their asses.
And no, the age limit does not need to be dropped back down to 18; it needs to be raised.
A player cannot declare himself eligible for the NFL Draft until three years after he has, or should have, graduated from high school. The NBA needs to follow suit with either a similar rule, or by raising its age limit to 20 years old.
Tyler says he will still get his GED, but this leaves him with very limited options after basketball. Though the 6-11, 260-pounder has scouts touting him for the top-overall spot in the 2011 draft, there are no guarantees in professional sports. Tyler's father has signed off on this scheme and plans on being with his son every step of the way. So this is not only a terrible idea, it's also bad parenting. There's no way my mom would have let me drop out of high school, even with millions of dollars potentially on the line.
Now, there's no way you can force the kid to go to college, but the NBA has to step in and prevent this from happening again. We can't let kids jettison off to Europe in search of an alternate route to the pros. The Brandon Jennings Experiment is on shaky ground, and Jennings actually finished high school. Both Jennings and Tyler had their deals brokered by famed scumbag basketball pimp marketing guru Sonny Vaccaro.
It is an interesting way to challenge both the NBA and NCAA models. Both are in need of a little (OK, a lot of) revamping, but quitting high school isn't the way to do it.
Raising the age limit will boost both the pro and college games. Players will get to spend more time developing their games in college, as well as receiving the other benefits of being a "student-athlete." NBA teams will get more time to evaluate young players and have a more polished product once a player is drafted.
The main argument against age restrictions is the possibility of losing out on guaranteed money due to injury. This is something football players face as well, but the NFL is not rushing out to change its age restrictions to fix the problem. Injuries happen. It is just part of the process. Who's to say a kid won't get injured in high school, or even off the basketball court?
Commissioner Stern cannot stand idly by and let kids leave high school with hopes of the NBA in their eyes. He has to step up and stop this before some kid with a shoe rep in his ear and dollar signs in his eyes decides to skip high school all together.
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Dicky V., who I'm not usually a fan of, actually had a pretty good idea regarding this. He suggested the NBA allow high school seniors eligible for the draft, but if they don't get picked up or decide to go to college, they can't declare until, like with the NFL, they spend three years in school. This way the LBJs and Kobes can shine right away and the college programs don't get Greg Oden-ed for only a season. bAbel.