Watching the NBA draft and how many players get drafted after their freshman years is amazing. The first 3 picks in this year’s draft came from the Southeastern Conference and all were freshman. I was happy to see my gator Bradley Beal selected 3rd overall to the Washington Wizards. You also had Anthony Davis the monster big man from NCAA College Basketball National Champion Kentucky go number 1 overall and sensational lockdown defender and teammate Michael Kidd-Gilchrest going number 2. Since the NBA mandated that players must play at least one year in college before entering the draft so many of these young athletes doesn’t even think about staying past their freshman year. Coaches have to hope they get these kids to gel with the team immediately to reap the benefits of their one and done.
I love college basketball as I have shared in previous posts, but I have to say when I saw Bradley Beal going 3rd overall my first reaction was man it would have been nice to have him in Gainesville a little longer. Florida was a whisker from making the final four and they return a lot of players for next year. The run they could have made would have been fun to watch from a fans perspective. I don’t blame these kids because they can command the big bucks and you never know when you are going to come down on an ankle or land funny and tear up a knee. I would rather them be able to head straight to the NBA and bypass college like before or implement the rule in football where you have to be in college for 3 years before entering the draft. That way these players would have to be on a team playing for at least 2 years if they had a redshirt and more than likely these studs would play right away and fans would get to see them develop for three years.
The NCAA basketball tournament is one of the most exciting post season events we have in sport. It would be enriched if these players stayed longer and grew with their teams. I don’t know the best solution. I just know that once they get on campus, I wish they had to stay a couple more years. The selfish fan in me that wants to see my team win championships and make some noise in March would enjoy it a whole bunch more.
I agree with you Josh I wish they would stick around longer for the sake of the game. It would be so nice to see Anthony Davis a few more seasons at Kentucky.
It’s all about the money. But heck I guess I can’t blame them too much. Why stick around in college and risk injury when you can go pro and make millions.