Grades aren’t the only indication of brains.
June 28th, 2008 | by The Prowler |Grades are certainly important for student athletes. Most of them aren’t going to be professional athletes, so taking advantage of a free education, especially at a quality university like Pitt, is a smart thing to do. Having that degree opens up doors that aren’t there otherwise.
Grades are also important to student athletes because of the grade point average requirements to remain eligible for NCAA athletics. Of course, grades aren’t the only thing that affect your eligibility. They aren’t even the only thing regarding intelligence/brains that affect eligibility.
Being smart enough to not enter the NBA (or NFL or MLB etc) draft early when you aren’t a lock as a first rounder is arguably as important as maintaining good grades, being increasingly more important the fewer years of eligibility you have used. Consider that if you are on a team and get bad grades, you are only ineligible for a set period of time, pending the grades being raised. On the other hand, if you enter the draft after your freshmen season and don’t get drafted, your career is over, your eligibility is gone, and you don’t have a degree or scholarship.
In this regard, Sam Young is a rocket scientist. He knew he wasn’t a lock for the first round. He probably knew that it was possible he wouldn’t get drafted at all. While he could have a bad year next year and lower his draft stock a la Carl Krauser, at least he would end up with a degree if he didn’t get drafted. If he entered the draft this year and either didn’t get taken, or got taken in the second round, getting no guaranteed contract, he would be without a degree and quite possibly without a career.
Andy Katz has a blog on espn.com about this topic. He talks extensively about the disappointing night underclassmen had at the draft, despite the record number of freshmen getting taken in the first round. Just ask junior Jamont Gordon and freshmen Davon Jefferson if they wished they had stayed in college another season. While both assumed they were a hot commodity (I never heard of either of them frankly), neither got drafted.
What about Mario Chalmers (picked 34th) and Chris Douglas-Roberts (40th)? These are two guys that seemed like super studs in college. Who would have guessed they wouldn’t even be close to the first round? If these two guys weren’t first round picks, there is no way Sam Young was going to be. They did get picked, and will both have a real shot as NBA players because of their talent. But, as Katz said (about Texas A&M’s DeAndre Jordan), do you think Chalmers and CDR left college, especially teams that could compete again for a national title, in order to be drafted in the second round?
Leaving school early for the draft is a gamble unless you are a super stud that is being talked about as a top ten pick. In football, a player can be drafted in the seventh round and end up on the team. In basketball, there are only two rounds, and second rounders have much less of a shot. After all, they are competing for a limited number of roster spots.
All of this points back to the fact that grades aren’t the only indication of how smart a person is. Decision making is a vital part of intelligence. Leaving school early and losing all of your collegiate eligibility isn’t a smart choice if you aren’t certain you will make it in the pros. Sam Young understood this and made a brilliant decision. He certainly has athletic ability. He is fun to watch and could well be a solid NBA player. But he, like many of us, realized that this year wasn’t the best year for him to try. There is always next year. And if he makes the improvements between this year and next that he made between the last two seasons, then his brilliance will shine even brighter when he is truly a potential (albeit lower) lottery pick.
2 Responses to “Grades aren’t the only indication of brains.”
By dickgroatfan on Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
Another advantage of staying around and graduating is that former athletes whether hoops or football have a distinct advantage in the Pgh business world. Look at John Pelusi. he has made millions ans a Mortgage Banker (not broker) trading off his name as a member of the 1976 championship team. The same goes for Jason matthews and Curtis Aiken. Successful business men who have used their Pitt ties to help them in business.
By The Prowler on Jul 2, 2008 | Reply
That is a great point, and it gets to the heart of the issue. The only time it is smart to leave early is if you know you are getting guaranteed money. I am not opposed to people taking a chance, but that doesn’t make the decision smart. If you aren’t pro caliber, then the smartest thing you can do is use your athletic scholarship propel you into real world success. Get that degree and use it to better yourself.
On ESPN’s First Take yesterday, the discussion was about Roger Goodell’s comments on how it is ridiculous that rookies get more money in the NFL then veterans who have proven themselves. The one panelist, Rob (his last name escapes me), said that these guys deserve the money straight out of college because what if they get hurt in their rookie season. Dana Jacobson quickly responded, “Then they can get jobs like the rest of us.” Wow, what a concept, getting a job. As the NCAA commercials say, of all the student athletes they have, almost all will go pro in something other than sports. So it is brilliant to take advantage of the free education in preparation for the possibility that you won’t be a pro athlete.
Even some who make it in the pros end up out in the work force eventually. Icky Woods was selling meat door to door. I bet he wishes he had a college degree (though I can’t say that I know if he does).