LeBron James will be remembered long after his career in the NBA has finished. Statistical achievements aside, he will always be remembered for being the last player who was able to go directly from high school into the NBA.
In 2005, the NBA created the current eligibility rule that requires that a player be 19 years of age during the calendar year of the draft and be at least one year removed from his high-school graduation.
The new rule means that players have to either play in the NBA D-League for a year after high school or go to college for a year before heading to the NBA. Because the NBA D-League has a less than favorable reputation, to put it mildly, it is no surprise that all the top players coming out of high school choose college over the NBA D-League.
The eligibility rule, often is referred to as the “one-and-done” rule, seems to create more debate each year as we see more and more players play one year in college before packing their bags and heading to the NBA.
I believe that the current rule needs to be changed or even eliminated.
Sure, the current rule does benefit the fans of college basketball because they get the opportunity to see players such as Carmelo Anthony, Derrick Rose, Kyrie Erving, Austin Rivers, John Wall, Anthony Davis, Michael Kidd-Gilchrist and more get to play for a year at the collegiate level, but it also disgraces the term student athlete.
These star players know they are going to the NBA and they go to college as a formality. They only have to take general education classes and remain academically eligible for one semester before they have “done their time” and can move on to bigger and better basketball. Most “one-and-done’s” don’t even declare a major while in school. Under this system players are going to school to play basketball and merely attending a few classes while there. The thought of actually earning a degree never enter their mind. The “one-and-done” rule is counterproductive to the goals of higher education. Being a student athlete implies that a person is both a student as well as an athlete. Universities want their athletes to achieve success on and off the athletic fields. Players who play a year and leave aren’t even in school long enough to live up to the standards of a student athlete.
There are three ways to fix this problem:
1. Just let kids go straight from high school like LeBron did. That way, players are not wasting people’s time and money while in school if they have no intention of earning a degree.
2. Require the players to stay three years like the NFL does; by doing that, players would have to work harder academically and wouldn’t be able to just pass by without putting in effort. In addition to that, they have a much better chance of earning a degree.
3. Keep the eligibility rule and improve the farm system (the NBA D-League). By doing that, players who don’t want to go to school could still develop and improve their skills before entering the league. Players don’t want to do this now because the D-League has such a poor reputation for actually getting people into the NBA.
Any of these three options are better than the “one-and-done” formality that is taking over college basketball. Bob Knight said it best: "I think it's a disgrace. … If I was an NBA general manager, I would never want to take a kid 18- (or) 19-years-old, a year out of college. I'd wait until someone else worked two or three years with him to adjust him to the NBA and I'd trade a draft pick."
Christopher Miller is a freshman studying broadcast journalism and sport management at Ohio University and a columnist for The Post. Email Christopher at cm001111@ohiou.edu.
