One and Done

Today's blog post was written by Remy Lewis.  Remy is a Psychology Major at Purdue University North Central and is a former Division One Track and Field Athlete at Indiana State University.  He is currently an intern with Play Like a Champion.  He is also a Coach, Scout, and Trainer for Sports Prep NBA.

When it comes to the "One and Done" rule for college basketball, many believe it is bringing shame to college sports by disrespecting the fans, and the schools. The rule simply requires athletes to be 19 to be eligible for the NBA draft. Those who may not have the grades to get into a college choose to play overseas for a year until they reach 19 years of age. Many coaches, administrators, and other experts have been searching for a viable solution that would benefit all involved.  It seems to me that "one and done" allows young stars to use college as a brief stepping stone to the NBA.  These young athletes aren't going to college to learn or to represent their school with pride, they are going because it is a rule. High school athletes are looking for the best schools in their sports to essentially find the team that will provide them with the most exposure against the best competition to prove they are ready for the professional ranks. Can you really blame them? They are extremely talented, have played for years, and have been recruited by top agents and coaches for years.  Many of these agents have described the riches that await them in the NBA. The young athletes are being told to go to a college because it is the rule, and after a year they will be guaranteed a contract (and the millions that come with being a professional athlete).  Well, when you are 18-19 years old and you are being told you will gain a contract worth anywhere between $1-3 million, how can you say no? I am sure most of us would agree to that kind of money and the chance to improve our skills and make more when the contract ends.

I recently read an article (One and Done rule must be done with immediately.) that proposes a viable option to the "one and done" rule by adopting the draft rules used by Major League Baseball. These rules basically state that if you are a high school graduate and have not played for a college team, you are eligible for the draft. Once you have been drafted, you can either choose to go to that team where you may or may not be signed based on draft pick, or you can choose to attend and play for a college instead (as long as you haven't signed with an agent). When you take the college route, you must either be 21 years of age or have finished your junior year to be eligible for the draft again.

This rule, however, has many foreseeable kinks in the armor. Sadly, the athletes are motivated by money. If the basketball player cannot be drafted out of high school to sign a contract, they would likely choose to go overseas instead of being forced to stay in college for 3 years, which would lead to fewer athletes playing for the college teams. The issue the athletes have is that they want the freedom to make their own decisions, while college fans are confronted with a new starting five every year. It is not that athletes cannot be great coming from high school, because we have seen great careers out of players such as Lebron James, Kevin Garnett, and Kobe Bryant. However, these players were a rare breed and ready to make an impact among the NBA players.

The real issue in my eyes is that we are sending kids to the NBA and they are neither physically nor mentally prepared for that type of life style.  As a solution to "one and done", I propose pushing the NBA draft eligibility age from 19 to 21.  Any college, or overseas player that is 21 or will be turning 21 during that current season can be eligible for the draft. Reasons behind this idea are that the athlete has now had to take care of himself for 3 years, he has learned more about the world as an adult, and has physically and mentally matured. For those in college, they may find a subject they like and decide that that graduating with a degree will benefit them later on, or if they choose to go to the NBA and the career does not pan out, they only have one year of courses to take in order to receive a degree.

It may still feel like we are forcing the athletes to go to school, but our young men need more than just a college freshman education level. Especially since they will be thrown into a world of business that they do not comprehend. Satisfaction would be improve for the fans, the coaches, the programs, and the players. Since NBA players will be required to be 21, colleges will stop hemorrhaging young talented players, and the players will learn how to work and grow as a team. A player who can keep his level of play at #1 pick level for 3 consecutive years is a player much more worthy of being the face of the franchise, and the face of a college program.

Recognition Has No Gender

Today's blog post was written by Remy Lewis.  Remy is a Psychology Major at Purdue University North Central and is a former Division One Track and Field Athlete at Indiana State University.  He is currently an intern with Play Like a Champion.  He is also a Coach, Scout, and Trainer for Sports Prep NBA.

In an age where sports are often dominated by men, women have made countless strides towards gender equality in all sports. Thanks to Title IX and overall cultural advancement, these days you can find men and women with generally equal opportunities to participate in sports at the high school and college levels--and at some schools, the women's teams often outperform the men.

But what about the publicity? What about the recognition? Are we giving equal opportunities AND recognizing and publicizing the highest levels of achievement? Some who may be stuck in the past may feel as if we have given the female athletic community enough for them to be satisfied, but the female athletic community, and those of us who may coach superb female athletes would tend to disagree.

Photo Courtesy of usssapride.com

How many of you recognize this symbol to the left? Until recently, I didn't know that we had a National Professional league for women playing fast pitch softball. This fast pitch league currently features 5 teams with many of the top college softball players in recent years. Some form of this league has been prevalent since 1997, but has reshaped and reformed itself in a bid for national recognition. According to its history, it has been shown on national television including its championship games. At one point, teams from the league competed with Olympic teams from around the world during the regular season. Now it is working on expansion so that it may have many home grown competitive teams just like Major League Baseball, then some of its All-Stars could represent the U.S. in the Olympics.

Photo Courtesy of WNBA.com

Other than few sports fans at the University of Notre Dame, who can recognize this picture? For those of you that may not watch enough ESPN, this is a photo of Notre Dame Women's Basketball Guard Jewell Loyd who was drafted as the #1 overall pick in the WNBA. The WNBA draft was held last week on April 16th 2015, a fact which went largely unnoticed accept in key media markets that either fed players or host teams. Jewell was a 2015 Consensus All-American who helped lead her team to the National championship game against UConn.

Where were you during last years NPF (National Pro Fastpitch) championship game? Or do you remember who won the WNBA Championship Game last year? (Phoenix.)  How can we not promote these types of events for our athletes? Some of these women represent our country in the Olympics, and many of them represented our favorite collegiate programs with pride. The athletes are out on the field or court for the name on the front of the jersey and the love of their game. We will never see women reach the status of men in professional of even collegiate sports until we begin to recognize these women for the amazing athletes they are.  Play Like a Champion strives to promote equal opportunities for all athletes of all ages, but the rest of the country still needs to realize that the women participating in professional sports are not only some of the top female athletes in our country, but some of the most outstanding athletes in the world. We should all give them the respect, support, and recognition they have earned and deserve.