Dicky V hit the nail on the head. Just saw him on Mike & Mike and he is 100% right.

Basketball is far more like a system of slavery than any other professional sport (not that he said this specifically, but its an underlying issue). Right to self determination? No chance. If someone is an adult and wants to pursue a professional career, and NBA teams want him because he is ready, they should be allowed.

Dicky V was going off on how in baseball this doesn't happen, and that this kind of stuff leads to negative views of college athletes and players when they want to enter the pros. If a player wants to pursue college as part of his path while being an athlete, great. But more than a few, who are expected to be pros, are primarily going to college programs because they have to, or to further their pro chances.

In European soccer they have a system that takes guys, like baseball, from a young age to groom them for the pros. There's no college soccer system. They go pro at a young age, and work their way up from there.

Then NCAA should NOT be treated the same as students because they just aren't, and believing they are is kidding oneself. He said that it also hurts the college game because guys are being rented for one season and then bouncing.

I've discussed this with friends, about why Duke and NC turn out less top draft talent, and my suspicion is that Coach K, for example, doesn't want guys he knows will bounce after one year. He wants to make a team, because that's what wins games. Years of playing together means that you know each other better. Of course, the downside for NCAA ball is that this means the best players are not always on the best teams, and star power is part of the attraction of sports.

My respect for Dick V just went up a few notches.

[Edited by - PresIke on 05-12-2008 2:48 PM]

[Edited by - PresIke on 05-12-2008 2:49 PM]

[Edited by - PresIke on 05-12-2008 2:49 PM]