In light of the Cliff Alexander sweepstakes (which is about to be announced), I got to thinking.

If you are a top notch high school basketball player who only has dreams of the NBA...
If you only see the $$$...
If you don't give a damn about the NCAA...
If you don't care about championships...

Wouldn't you choose a small school, in a smaller league (in D1) and just dominate? Could you imagine Cliff Alexander shunning Kansas and Illinois for Grambling State? He should be able to put up a triple double on a nightly basis against the SWAC.

Sure, some NBA teams will wonder why he didn't choose top notch competition. But I have to imagine that a team in the top 5 picks couldn't pass up a guy averaging a triple double...right? Add to that, if he would be able to lead his team on a run in the NCAA's, that would mean more, right? Grambling State in the Sweet 16 means more than being on a stacked Kansas team in the Sweet 16.

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Cigarboy sucks!

a la Tony Mitchell from North Texas?

I see your idea but you go to the big schools to get the best coaching/development and get better playing against top flight talent in practice every day, as well as compete against the best of the best in the country. Calipari gets knocked by a lot of people, including me, but the man develops players better than anyone in their 1 or 2 years with him. Many guys (not all - Nerlens Noel) leave UK pro-ready and I don't think they'd be as ready after a year in the Horizon League.

Now, is it possible more guys shun college and go play pro in Europe like Brandon Jennings? Yes and i'm surprised more haven't done so already.

I understand the point about the coaching. For some players, it's still a crap shoot. Aren't there top tier players from schools like KU, UK, etc from the past few drafts that are still trying to figure it out?

I guess, ultimately, the argument revolves around the fact that these players HAVE to play a year in college even when they don't want to. LeBron went from HS to the pros directly and didn't have the coaching of a Calipari or Pitino. Sure, he's learned a lot from his NBA coaches but he was ready to go from day one. If you have a player like that, wouldn't it be in his best interest to show how dominating he can be (regardless of who he is playing)?

Going back to my initial example, I think it would look more favorably on Cliff Alexander if he got Grambling St to the Sweet 16 as opposed to being on a Kansas team that will be in the Sweet 16 with or without him.

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Cigarboy sucks!

There are, but there are very few Damian Lillards out there that go from mid-major to excelling in the pros. And with only 2 rounds in the NBA draft, if you're faced with picking between two guys that you see as equal talent, wouldn't you lean towards the guy you've seen compete against better players night in and night out?

There's only 1 Lebron and he's in a class of his own. I'd actually argue he'd have been a better player earlier in his NBA career if he played for Coach K for a year. Lebron didn't consistently dominate until what, his 7th or 8th year, when he developed a post game? A great college coach would've taught him that.

The best recent example for your point might be Dwyane Wade. Marquette was irrellevant for 5 or 6 years before he got there. He took them to the promised land and turned into a top 5 pick.

Just my opinion. I'd love it if your theory panned out though. If more guys stayed close to home or picked a school not based on it's national pedigree, you'd have a much more entertaining season to watch across the spectrum. Detroit got Ray McCallum for this reason and he was a blast to watch.

That would be great and would help, even further, to lessen the gap between the big boys and the rest of the class.



I thought the big part of it was because his dad was coach.

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Cigarboy sucks!

It was, but he didn't chase the national prominence. Easily could've played in the Big Ten or ACC for more exposure.

Alot of these kids want the best possible coaches and best possible facilities while they are in college. Most 1 and done players still learn a good amount in their year in college. So if they chose a small school the coaching probably, it could be there are some great coaches other places, wouldn't be as good as the grambling states. Also I'm pretty sure Tony Mitchell going to North Texas was because of grades. He was originally going to Mizzou but the grades weren't good enough.