The NBA Effect

[Full_Rebar]

I didn't want to clog up the Ennis thread, but I thought there was an interesting discussion about the impact of NBA success on recruiting. One thing that I didn't see mentioned when talking about the underwhelming NBA careers of Donte, Jonny, Fab and Wes, is that all of those guys were 1st round picks and thus made guaranteed money.

Don't dismiss this in today's MBB recruiting. Calipari is selling kids on outstanding NBA careers, he's saying come to UK for a year and be a 1st rd pick. To a large number of recruits and their families/entourages, this is huge.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to every recruit and there are numerous other factors involved in decisions. I also don't want to sound like I am defending this, but I don't think it should be overlooked.

We'd all like to think that recruits want to come to a school, compete for a national championship and improve their games until they are ready for the next level. Some do, but others just want to get somewhere to get into the 1st round and they are gone.

 

[stuckinbig11]

Some do, but others just want to get somewhere to get into the 1st round and they are gone.

Others want to take a dozen easy credits in Fall semester as freshmen and call it their college education.

 

[Francis03]

I didn't want to clog up the Ennis thread, but I thought there was an interesting discussion about the impact of NBA success on recruiting. One thing that I didn't see mentioned when talking about the underwhelming NBA careers of Donte, Jonny, Fab and Wes, is that all of those guys were 1st round picks and thus made guaranteed money.

Don't dismiss this in today's MBB recruiting. Calipari is selling kids on outstanding NBA careers, he's saying come to UK for a year and be a 1st rd pick. To a large number of recruits and their families/entourages, this is huge.

Obviously, this doesn't apply to every recruit and there are numerous other factors involved in decisions. I also don't want to sound like I am defending this, but I don't think it should be overlooked.

We'd all like to think that recruits want to come to a school, compete for a national championship and improve their games until they are ready for the next level. Some do, but others just want to get somewhere to get into the 1st round and they are gone.

John Wall, Anthony Davis, MKG, Julius Randle, etc etc would all still be 1st round picks no matter what school they went to. Cal is successful recruiting these type of kids because he takes full advantage of the one and done nonsense. He has no problem rotating a new group of 5-6 five star players on a yearly basis. If these kids were forced to stay 2-3 years then you would see that list of his chopped in half. If they ever let players go straight to the Association out of HS again, watch how quickly Cal runs back to the NBA lol.

 

[skurey]

If I was gifted enough to be an NBA caliber player I'd pull a Brandon Jennings and go overseas instead of a year in college.

 

[NineOneSeven]

John Wall, Anthony Davis, MKG, Julius Randle, etc etc would all still be 1st round picks no matter what school they went to. Cal is successful recruiting these type of kids because he takes full advantage of the one and done nonsense. He has no problem rotating a new group of 5-6 five star players on a yearly basis. If these kids were forced to stay 2-3 years then you would see that list of his chopped in half. If they ever let players go straight to the Association out of HS again, watch how quickly Cal runs back to the NBA lol.

Not sure you know the answer to this, but what was the reasoning behind the establishment of the minimum 1 year of college ball rule?

 

[skurey]

Not sure you know the answer to this, but what was the reasoning behind the establishment of the minimum 1 year of college ball rule?

NBA teams were tired of drafting high school busts

 

[Full_Rebar]

John Wall, Anthony Davis, MKG, Julius Randle, etc etc would all still be 1st round picks no matter what school they went to. Cal is successful recruiting these type of kids because he takes full advantage of the one and done nonsense. He has no problem rotating a new group of 5-6 five star players on a yearly basis. If these kids were forced to stay 2-3 years then you would see that list of his chopped in half. If they ever let players go straight to the Association out of HS again, watch how quickly Cal runs back to the NBA lol.

I don't disagree. My point was that it's not always about NBA "success" for recruits and their families. It's about can you showcase my kid enough to get them drafted in the 1st round, so I think that having Jonny, Wes and Dion all go in the top 5 has helped SU's recruiting.

Cal is obviously using the high turnover to keep landing top classes, and I also think that he will go to the pros should the draft rule change.

 

[Francis03]

Not sure you know the answer to this, but what was the reasoning behind the establishment of the minimum 1 year of college ball rule?

Don't have the full answer but I think Stern and the Owners eventually preferred to have the HS kids go to college and showcase themselves since it seemed like the rate of HS kids going pro was getting higher n higher each year. I think the best thing to do is make it like Baseball. If they want to go pro then fine, but if you attend college you have to stay for at least 2-3 years.

 

[Sgt Cuse]

I think there is another aspect that comes into play for recruiting and that is when the kid can go. It is nice to have the NBA guys but sometimes you get more value and stability out of the program guys. The NBA going after potential is a wild card.

For example, suppose Grant leaves after this year as a lottery pick while CJ goes at 30. Even though Grant is the higher NBA guy most SU fans would consider CJ as the better SU recruit. Not only would CJ have the better season, he has the longer career here.

JB's recent uptick seems to be tied to using 2 and dones melded with his program guys. While the 2 and done types get the hype - the Fab, Wes, MCW, and Dion they would still get a good game out of the program crew of AO, RJ, CJ, Scoop and Andy.