For years there’s been public discourse over eligibility for athletes going into professional sporting leagues. The topic of the hour is whether or not athletes should be required to attend college before going into leagues such as the NFL or NBA. More recently, these leagues have made it a requirement for players to attend a university for a set amount of time before entering the designated drafts.
The NFL and NBA players associations’ collective bargaining agreements state that athletes cannot get drafted into the pros if they have not yet attended college. For the NBA in particular, a notion known as the “one-and-done” rule has grown prevalent in recent years. This idea refers to the fact that since athletes must wait one NBA season before entering the league out of high school, some players have elected to go to college for one year only, and declare for the draft immediately after the one year is up.
A few decades ago, this was hardly a topic of conversation. Players like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant never attended college, and clearly, they didn’t need to. Some argue that if the talent exists at a young age, why not let them showcase their talents in the pros early?
On the other hand, some athletes like Joe Burrow and Caleb Williams made history at their universities for football. Additional experience and maturity are some reasons in favor of making college required before entering the pros.
Now, it’s time to discuss further. Should the current eligibility rules stay the same? Or, should they be thrown away so athletes can chase their dreams straight from high school into the pros?
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Tess (Keep): I wholeheartedly believe athletes should go to college before going into professional leagues for so many reasons, but I’ll keep it to just a few for now. First, college playing gives extra experiences to these athletes. Sure, you may be excellent at shooting three’s in high school, but jumping right from high school into the NBA is ridiculous. High schoolers aren’t trained to go to the pros, they’re trained to go to college, if that. The talent levels from high school, to college and then the pros are drastic. Athletes simply will not be prepared for the professional world of sports without additional practice in college.
Next, college should be a requirement for athletes because there’s always the potential for not succeeding in the professional leagues. Not to sound like a pessimist, but there are chances that an athlete attends a university, goes into the pros but then their career tanks a couple years in. While this isn’t the case for everyone, it would be a little more reassuring for these individuals to at least have some college education to lean back on if sports don’t work out for them. Some people want a higher education more than anything, so athletes should take advantage of the opportunities they get to go to college not only in an athletic sense.
While I believe in one’s ability to make their own decisions, jumping right from high school into the pros just feels wrong. We’ve got super young guys like Ryan Williams who are illustrating their elite skills in college and they’re getting praised for that. It should continue to stay this way so athletes can get more athletic exposure and be even more prepared for when their time comes to get into professional sports.
Ben (Throw Away): In a perfect world, I wouldn’t say throw away. I wish everyone could attend a university, but we don’t live in a perfect world. College sports are deteriorating before our very eyes, and they don’t resemble what we used to have.
The amateur aspect of the sport is gone. Players and coaches are getting millions of dollars, TV contracts are worth tens of millions of dollars and players are switching teams faster than you can blink.
This isn’t good for the game, the traditions or the fandom that built collegiate athletics as we know them. So, give them other options. The NCAA allows players to be drafted straight to professional baseball and forego college. Basketball players can play overseas, with OTE or the NBL.
High school athletes are rarely ready for the pros, but extending them opportunities outside of ruining the college game seems necessary. It’s going well for other leagues, and I can see it for every major sport. This will leave the motivated players in college, who appreciate their school and the development that they will get.
Hall of fame coaches like Jay Wright and Nick Saban have cited NIL and other new factors as reasons for their retirements. I’d like to avoid more of this. I think we should give athletes who don’t appreciate the college experience the chance to explore other options.
Conor (Throw away): If anything, the most confusing part of the college to professional sports pipeline is how the process varies between leagues. The NFL requires draftees to be three years removed from high school, while the NBA only requires that a full season has passed since a prospect’s high school graduation. MLB bridges the world of drafting high schoolers and requiring the passage of time after high school, as prospects can enter the draft out of high school but cannot enter from college until completing their junior or senior year. Basically, some consistency would be nice.
Different sports are admittedly more physically taxing than others, but across the board I would like to see MLB’s system implemented in sports where it is safe for athletes that young to compete against professionals.
Leagues like the NBA have a lot to gain from adding the ultimatum of no college or at least three years of college. Players who believe they will be ready in 1-2 years, rather than three, could be drafted as high schoolers and spend serious time in the G-League, moving more towards an MLB farm system that teams dip into every season as guys become ready. Eliminating the one-and-done would also add so much more to college basketball, as landing top recruits actually means they will be on your team for more than one year (excluding transfers).
Sahil (Keep): I’m all for keeping the current rules for a couple different reasons. First, I think that college sports help promote development and allow an athlete to hone their skills and their bodies before reaching the next level. Not to mention living on your own and growing as a person, which can be good for athletes instead of sending them straight to the pros and giving them millions of dollars to play with.
Also, NIL has completely changed the landscape. Players wanting to get paid immediately for their talents, such as LeBron James, did not want to sit at college and play without getting paid. However, that problem has now been solved. Players are straight up getting paid to play on top of endorsements, merchandising and more. Former Illini Coleman Hawkins, who likely would have been on a two-way contract making $500,000 to $600,000 if he decided to go pro, instead chose to return to school and receive about $2 million in NIL money to play for Kansas State.
Even if a player does not want to go to college and make money, they still have professional options. Players can go overseas to Australia’s NBL or play in the NBA G League for a season before entering the NBA Draft. This is because the G League’s minimum age is 18, one year younger than the NBA’s. LaMelo Ball, for instance, went to the NBL via their Next Stars program before being selected 3rd overall in the 2020 NBA Draft. These development programs give players the benefits of turning pro while also preparing them for the best league in the world.
