It might be better if stars such as UCLA's Love just skipped college
BILL PLASCHKE
Rule that keeps high school stars from going directly to the NBA isn't working out well for the NCAA schools.
I was listening to UCLA freshman Kevin Love give his commencement address the other day and, with apologies to Rick Neuheisel, I wanted to go over the wall.
After spending eight months here, he was mentioning his name in the same sentence as Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Bill Walton.
"They left their legacy on the court and off the court as well," he said. "I want to continue to do so."
Don't get me wrong, Kevin Love is a great kid, and during his brief time here he has been a model of class and grace.
By leaving for the NBA, he's doing the right thing. Any of us would do the same thing.
Deservedly, Kevin Love will soon have lots of money.
But he'll never have a UCLA legacy.
He'll have a UCLA hiccup. He has had a UCLA guest spot. He has been a UCLA temp.
Like other high-profile freshmen leaving college this spring, two years after the enactment of the NBA rule that prohibits drafting them directly out of high school, Love can't have it both ways.
He can't use UCLA as a brief triple-A stop before heading to the major leagues, yet still have a center-field monument.
Ed O'Bannon, George Zidek and Tyus Edney, now that's a legacy.
All three players were seniors when they led UCLA to its last national championship in 1995.
That sort of championship cornerstone -- once college basketball's best selling point -- is all but crumbling under the force of the two-year-old rule.
From Kansas State to Memphis to Arizona to USC to UCLA, the story has been the same.
A great high school player bangs on the door of a great college program (Or in O.J. Mayo's case, he simply phones and refuses to leave a return number).
A great coach has no choice but to take him.
A year later, that player leaves, another great player takes his place, and by the time everyone learns the defense, that player is gone.
So, too, is a bit of the fabric that binds college hoops fans to their sport, the glue that ties March to the madness.
A Harris Poll conducted earlier this year showed that college football is three times as popular as college basketball.
One reason? College football players have to stick around three years.
Fans get to know them. Fans feel like they are watching not only kids play football, but kids grow up.
The one thing that always separated college sports from the pros is the lack of free agency.
- Events in the news this week. Jan 31, 1988
- Concordia Signs Basketball Players Apr 08, 1994
- Events in the news this week. Feb 21, 1988
