Friday, April 08, 2005

Hoops Recruiting Reality

For everyone who thinks players should wait on the NBA and finish college, look at the reality. This story is about a kid in high school and it wasn't the NBA that backed off after an injury, it was the colleges, including our own:

Paul seemed to be on the fast track to big-time college hoops as a laundry list of powerhouse programs including Maryland, Pittsburgh, Georgetown, Notre Dame and Georgia Tech took hard looks at him.


But those schools began to back off when Paul went down with a serious groin injury sustained during a game in early January. The injury was so severe that Paul needed surgery, which forced him to miss four games.


But when he returned, he was not the same player, and his production dropped dramatically. Still, the senior finished the season averaging 17 points and eight rebounds per game.


I'm not saying any of these schools were wrong to back off. But face facts. The kids are being recruited to play hoops. The NBA is just as real. So don't get mad if Jarrett Jack tests the waters. He should. We don't selfishly want him to, but look at motives.