Maddening March

With the NCAA tournament set to tip off on Thursday, office workers around the country are frantically filling out brackets in an attempt to win their respective pools. Fans are learning about schools like Belmont, Moorhead State and Saint Peter’s. Players are gearing up for what may be their last athletic moments that don’t involve pickup games at the local rec center. Meanwhile, national broadcasters are doing their best to spoil the fun by breathlessly admonishing the committee for the inclusion of questionable selections like VCU and UAB.

Even more annoyingly, experts like Jay Bilas are using their national platforms to politic for the restructuring of the NBA rule that allows players to enter the draft after one year of College Basketball. Bilas, like many other college basketball commentators has noticed the slow but steady downturn in talent at the college level. The best prospects leave as quickly as possible, cashing in on their opportunity to make it in the NBA. As a result, aside from the crop of freshman phenoms, the NCAA tournament annually showcases a collection of hard working players that often have limited potential at the next level. The quality of play often suffers, with games featuring plenty of missed open shots, blown layups and stretches without any scoring. However, as long as the games are close and drama ensues, fans don’t really seem to mind the lack of quality.

Commentators like Bias, are worried about the long term health of the game, while also getting tired of having to pretend like watching awful basketball is exciting. As a solution, Bilas had proposed adopting the NFL rule of forcing players to stay in college for at least three years before entering the pros. Bilas, a former Duke player and assistant coach, believes the rule change would improve the NBA and college game simultaneously. While it’s nice to have Jay Bilas around to solve the world’s problems, I don’t think his idea is good for anyone expect those trying to make money off of the backs of mostly impoverished African American college athletes. Additionally, I don’t believe the rule change is necessarily good for the NBA.

Derrick Rose, the star point guard and MVP candidate of the Chicago Bulls, entered the NBA after one spectacular season at the University of Memphis. Had the NBA adopted the Bilas rule, Rose would have spent the last two years playing college basketball, rather than becoming one of the young faces of the NBA. For the last two seasons, Rose has resuscitated the Chicago Bulls, bringing the roar back to the United Center with his astounding athleticism and lighting fast quickness. While Rose certainly would have become star eventually, how is it good for the NBA to have one its brightest and most humble stars playing an extra two years in college instead of the NBA?

What often gets ignored in the conversation, it what’s good for the young athletes. Rose, for example, grew up on the West Side of Chicago, the youngest of four brothers raised by a single mother. While his older brothers are all college graduates with steady jobs, his family and particularly his mother are in need of financial support. Rose, under the Bilas rule, would still eventually become a lottery pick and cash in on his millions, but is it fair to keep him in college for an extra two years when athletes already have limited earning potential? These athletes do their part, by playing their hearts out in front of sold crowds in arenas and massive TV audiences. The players, however, are the only ones not making money off of the product. Conveniently, they’re seemingly always the last people to be considered when anyone discusses how to improve the system.