None and Done?

[OrangeXtreme]

 

[Oakland]

Luv it! The ultimate student-athlete basketball experience.

 

[orangefog]

It amazes me that people buy this crap.

 

[Toga]

"Focus on school" Maybe he'll return years from now to complete his degree. He's only missing all of his credits.

 

[Shark58]

 

[DoctorBombay]

Clearly the great coaching from PayPalCal will serve him well on the next level. Add another notch to Cal's great record of getting kids to the NBA.

 

[longtimefan]

Luv it! The ultimate student-athlete basketball experience.

I wonder how many times he walked into a classroom in Lexington.

 

[JLine]

You gotta operate the easy way
"I made a G today"
But you made it in a sleazy way
Sellin' crack to the kids.
"I gotta get paid,"
Well hey, that's the way it is.

 

[Zelda Zonk]

It's unfortunate that these kids are vilified in this way. He made his moves to 'get into the system,' and he took advantage of that system. Think about how many actors and musicians never attended college, and yet we worship them.

 

[texascpa]

It's unfortunate that these kids are vilified in this way. He made his moves to 'get into the system,' and he took advantage of that system. Think about how many actors and musicians never attended college, and yet we worship them.

Agreed. There are many, many jobs that don't require a college degree. Hell, look how many kids join the military every year fresh out of high school. Their "education" for the their primary job is crammed in about 6 months.

 

[PhatOrange]

I'd like a review of his classes and school work if he comes back and is still eligible.

 

[jordoo]

Its the stupid rule that they need to be a year removed from graduation that is at fault.

 

[PeteCalvin]

I'd like a review of his classes and school work if he comes back and is still eligible.

He took correspondence courses from UNC. Full credit load.

 

[GooseMutt]

It's unfortunate that these kids are vilified in this way. He made his moves to 'get into the system,' and he took advantage of that system. Think about how many actors and musicians never attended college, and yet we worship them.

I am just grateful that he didn't select Cuse and then make this move

 

[SBU72]

It's unfortunate that these kids are vilified in this way. He made his moves to 'get into the system,' and he took advantage of that system. Think about how many actors and musicians never attended college, and yet we worship them.

Its because of the hypocrisy of the whole thing. And that fans feel lead on. Yes its not the kids fault but fans feel it is. Occupations that don't need higher education don't make fans and in the process lead them down a road of "false" hope. Car mechanic Joe Shmoe puts the wrong plugs in a few cars, he won't have a job for long. Actors and musicians have to produce first to get their fans (and higher pay days) before they can let down their fans. Tom Cruise makes a bad movie, he gets his multi millions for the next one. Do it 3 times in a row, not so much. Of course he'll still have fans, but many won't pay the big bucks on blind faith anymore.

 

[Melancer46]

It's going to be interesting to see what happens with him. Thon's success in the NBA might help him here, though Thon was a much higher rated recruit in the first place.

 

[Zepharus]

Its the stupid rule that they need to be a year removed from graduation that is at fault.

lol nicely calculated. enrolled early so he could have his one year from graduation set. Glad he chose UK for this stunt

 

[jordoo]

lol nicely calculated. enrolled early so he could have his one year from graduation set. Glad he chose UK for this stunt

It was pretty obvious that it was the plan when he went to UK midseason and wasn't eligible to play. Its a good move by his camp. He practices against better competition and works on his shot while the NBA doesn't get a chance to see him play a season of college ball. At this point all his faults are still possible to fix. He is an athletic freak who will do really well on measurable's which the NBA teams love. I think he will wind up in the 15-20 range and never play college ball.

 

[Knicks411]

lol nicely calculated. enrolled early so he could have his one year from graduation set. Glad he chose UK for this stunt

Unless I'm missing something, the enrolling early had nothing to do with it, right? IOW, if he hadn't enrolled early, wouldn't he still be draft eligible? He enrolled in January, that's not one year away from the draft.

Someone who follows the recruiting more than I do; if he graduated last year from high school, why didn't he enroll/play at the start of the school year?

 

[RF2044]

Unless I'm missing something, the enrolling early had nothing to do with it, right? IOW, if he hadn't enrolled early, wouldn't he still be draft eligible? He enrolled in January, that's not one year away from the draft.

Someone who follows the recruiting more than I do; if he graduated last year from high school, why didn't he enroll/play at the start of the school year?

Definitely very unusual.

 

[Knicks411]

Definitely very unusual.

Was he playing at all this year?

Maybe i should do some reading here.

 

[cuseinseattle]

It's unfortunate that these kids are vilified in this way. He made his moves to 'get into the system,' and he took advantage of that system. Think about how many actors and musicians never attended college, and yet we worship them.

I think it's less about what he is doing and more about how he is doing it. I don't mean to single out him because most kids operate this way. I also think they are young kids and it's pretty ridiculous the expectations that are put on them in regards to making decisions and how they make them. Having said all that from the beginning anyone that followed the recruitment I feel like knew this was coming. I think I made some statement he will never play college basketball like a year ago. I wasn't the first person to say it and it has been common knowledge for quite some time. So for him to come out and act like this was never my plan and I'm still not hiring an agent to keep my options open when everyone knows he will hire an agent just seems a little disingenuous. Maybe he doesn't want people to be mad at him or something I'm not really sure. To use your actor analogy no one make a movie and makes millions and then releases a statement before the movie comes out that they had always planned to go to college but things changed. The just make their movie and make their money. If he just came out and said I always wanted to play in the NBA and really didn't want to go to college but would have if forced into it. It turns out I won't be required to so I'm out. I think many people would have less of an issue with that.

 

[RF2044]

Was he playing at all this year?

Maybe i should do some reading here.

He started the year at a prep school, then transferred to UK mid-year. Didn't play, as there were apparently some clearinghouse issues -- but he must have been a "graduate" and have fulfilled all of the core courses for UK to accept him. Maybe he needed the fall semester to pad his transcript with a few core courses -- not sure.

I don't think anybody at UK ever expected him to play, it was pretty much universally understood that he was fast tracking toward going pro at the earliest opportunity. But there was no downside for either party. UK got the publicity and potentially having another kid from their program go in the first round, Diallo gets the prestige of going to UK and got to practice against them for an entire semester, enhancing his "readiness" to make the jump.

 

[RF2044]

Oh -- and BTW, this was a kid that our coaching staff was convinced we were going to land late last summer. He liked us, a lot. The plan was to nab his buddy Quade Green, and then Diallo would follow in the class of 2017. And it might have worked too, if it wasn't for those meddling kids...

 

[Col. Bleep]

To use your actor analogy no one make a movie and makes millions and then releases a statement before the movie comes out that they had always planned to go to college but things changed. The just make their movie and make their money. If he just came out and said I always wanted to play in the NBA and really didn't want to go to college but would have if forced into it. It turns out I won't be required to so I'm out. I think many people would have less of an issue with that.

A fair question to ask is whether he actually wrote the statement?

And the fact that he may have been "forced" into college shows why the rule is no good for anyone (except maybe Cal).
It also exposes major hoops colleges for what they really are: professional* teams connected to colleges.
*Professional in the sense that everyone makes good money except the guys who do the work...the players.