If you hate the NCAA, please read.
Living in Milwaukee, I’ve become exposed to a different world of sports. And, outside of the irrational Brett Favre love/hate, the biggest sports story around here is Milwaukee Bucks rookie Brandon Jennings. They call him Young Money. Errrr… he might call himself that too.
Brandon Jennings has made a huge impact early to a franchise that desperately needed it. Coming into the year, the Bucks were widely considered the worst team in the Eastern Conference. Currently, they’re 5-3 and, more importantly, have proven themselves to be competitive.
Jennings is the biggest reason for the early success of the Bucks. Early on, Jennings is averaging 25 points, 5 rebounds, and 5.5 assists per game. He is shooting a remarkable 58% from 3 point land. Not bad for a guy whose one weakness was supposed to be his shooting. Now, the scoring and shooting numbers will cool off, but his impact is clear. Just a few nights ago, Jennings broke Lew Alcindor’s Bucks rookie record by scoring 55 points against the Golden State Warriors.
Now, you might ask… why am I writing about Brandon Jennings? Sure, he’s having a great start to his rookie year. But, so is Tyreke Evans. What makes Brandon Jennings special?
Brandon Jennings first made headlines about a year and a half ago for being the first person to circumvent the NBA’s new minimum age rule. That is, to enter the NBA draft, players must now be 19 years old and at least one year out of college. Could you imagine LeBron James playing college basketball? Scary thought.
The NCAA strikes yet again. For years, the NCAA has exploited its athletes. Yes, I know… they’re getting full scholarships to school!!! I had a full tuition scholarship to the University of Michigan, so please spare me that argument. I’m well aware of the benefits of a full scholarship to a great school.
The difference is, I never made the Western Golf Association millions of dollars. That is exactly what high-profile college football and basketball athletes do every year. Just think about the money the University of Michigan Athletic Department will make this weekend. They will have 107,000 tickets at $50+ a piece on top of all concessions and apparel sold. The NCAA gets a cut of that apparel money among other things.
Rather than reward these athletes, the NCAA decides to impose ridiculous restrictions on their athletes. If you’re affiliated with a school, you can’t even pay for an athlete’s lunch. The NCAA refuses to put athletes names on the back of jerseys or on video games because they would have to pay out royalties. The cash cow that is the NCAA has grown at an alarming rate.
Finally, someone is giving them a huge middle finger. Kudos Brandon Jennings. I’ll be cheering for you, and I hope others will do the same.
How did he get around the rule? I think the rule banning the players from the NBA is stupid. If the teams want to hire 18 year olds to do their work then that is fine with me. Just win baby. I think the main goal in life is to have a job so you can provide for your family. If my kids could do that at 18 years old then they should be allowed to do so. Making them go to college for a year only hurts the college program they go to. The fact is that most of the “next great ones” are going to be broke and in jail within five years should have nothing to do with the NCAA. Let the kids make their decision as to throw away a free college scholarship and the chance to have a good life even if they do not become a superstar. Just dont expect me to feel sorry for them when they throw it all away.
Comment by eric westin — November 19, 2009 @ 8:27 am |
Totally agree. Jennings was originally planning on playing at Arizona, but repeatedly flunked the University’s entrance exam. So he signed a one year contract with Lottomatica Roma of the Italian league, earning upwards of $1 million from the team, supplemented by a $2 million contract with Under Armor. By the time that season was over, he was old enough to play in the NBA. In essence, he seems to have profited from his failure.
Comment by jmalewitz — November 24, 2009 @ 6:24 pm |