College basketball season is right around the corner, with perennial powers like Kentucky, Kansas, and more having their "Midnight Madness" practices kicking off the preseason. And no college basketball discussion could be complete without the talk of the potential superstars in the incoming freshman class. Last year was a special one for freshman, with Greg Oden and Kevin Durant emerging as perhaps the two best players in college hoops, ending with their selections at numbers 1 and 2, respectively, in the NBA draft.
Picking out and following "Diaper Dandies", as Dick Vitale would say, has always been a major topic of discussion during hoops season. But with the signing of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the NBA and the Players' Union two years ago, freshman suddenly became a whole lot more important. One of the agreements in the CBA stipulated that a player must be at least 19 years of age in order to be eligible for the draft, which effectively eliminates people jumping straight from high school to the pros.
That might be a damper to talented high school players who want to get paid right away, but to us the fans, it makes college basketball season that much more interesting. As seen in previous years, sometimes all a team needs is one superstar player to ride through the season and deep into March Madness. For example, Carmelo Anthony of Syracuse back in 2003 lead his team to the title. Along side him was a another freshman, Gerry McNamara. This past season, Ohio State rode to the title game on the backs of the "Thad Five", referring to the group of five stellar freshman recruits that Thad Matta accrued prior to the season. And after that run, three of those freshman entered the draft; Oden of course, his high school teamate Mike Conley Jr., and Daequan Cook.
This just goes to show that freshman who stick around for one year are becoming increasingly important in today's game, while the seniors who stay for four years are starting to become overlooked. This is the second year of the minimum age rule, and there are some exciting freshmen out there to keep an eye on. Eric Gordon at Indiana, Michael Beasley at Kansas State, and O.J. Mayo(right) at USC are three of these players to watch out for this season. These young studs could propel their teams deep into the postseason.
1 comment:
I'm a big fan of the new CBA rule that forces high school players to go to college for at least a year, I agree it does make for a much more interesting March. One player you didn't mention that has been getting a lot of press is Derrick Rose a point guard who'll be attending Memphis this season.
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