Quote:
Originally Posted by sj
I find it difficult to believe that officials will be supported working for Lavar Ball.
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Let's put aside the fact that Lavar Ball is an idiot blowhard helicopter parent for a few minutes.
https://sports.yahoo.com/lavar-ball-...221831199.html
Some kids, for whatever reason, just aren't academically college bound. If they are a truly gifted basketball player, this league my be the starting point of a successful career.
Liken it to a kid who decides to skip college to become an apprentice electrician, or an apprentice plumber, many whom go on to a long, financially successful career.
Of course, there are more plumbing jobs, and electrician jobs, out there than there are jobs in professional basketball.
College isn't for everybody. 30% of college freshmen drop out after their first year of college, including athletes and nonathletes.
That being said, if some "borderline academically college material" players decide to go the JBA route, and get injured, or don't make it to the professional level, without a college education behind them, they will be at a financial disadvantage the rest of their lives.
Factor in that the average length of a career in the NBA is just 4.6 years, and that 60 percent of NBA players are broke or under financial stress within five years of retirement, makes skipping college a risky proposition for many, but not all.
The formula of gifted high school athlete going to college, gaining competitive experience, allowing professional scouts to see his potential, getting one to four years of a college education under his belt, and going onto a professional basketball career, sometimes overseas, works for many, but not for all, especially for those who just aren't academically cut out for college, for whatever reason.
Giving up one's amateur college eligibility is a big risk for these young high school athletes. A good risk for some, a disastrous risk for others.
There's got to be some value in leagues like the JBA? Is a college degree, two year, or four year, or a few years of college with no degree, absolutely necessary for all in our modern society?
Full disclosure. I have a post graduate college degree, as do all three of my children, two with doctorates. None of them were gifted basketball players (although two of them received undergraduate scholarship money based on their athletic ability in other sports). My son-in-law has a one year "certificate" from a technical institute, and has a very successful career as an electrician. Also, I live in a state where we have many job opening in the manufacturing industries of submarines, jet engines, and helicopters, that are unfilled due to a lack of skilled workers, despite a robust state technical high school system. We have too many college graduates that are unemployed, or underemployed. It's difficult for English majors to find work, but easy for skilled welders, and skilled pipe fitters, to find work, and there are lots of apprentice programs (earn and learn) out there. Back in the mid-twentieth century parents wanted their kids to graduate from high school, assuring a successful life. Today, many parents believe that a college education will assure a successful life, and that their kids must attend college, even if their kids aren't academically prepared for college, or if their kids aren't interested a career that requires a college degree.