by John Atchison

Created on: March 01, 2009   Last Updated: April 27, 2010

It use to be an easy relationship to comprehend.  Young men who excelled in high school were recruited to an institution of higher learning and attended classes for four years while a coach groomed them to be the best player they could be. In the beginning that was the way things worked when it came to the relationship between the college and professional ranks. Unfortunately though this is no longer the case. Instead of working hand in hand to produce top-flight athletes and citizens,we are in a situatio that is nothing like that model anymore.  Some progress is being made, but there is a long way to go. So how does one arrive at this opinion and what type pf progress has been made?  Let us take a look.

The relationship between these two entities went from being good to a very poor one, but now does show some signs of heading in the right direction once again. Back in the day, the NCAA did serve as the logical step in the process for getting a young athlete from the high school ranks into the pros. Much like there NFL counterparts, the NBA had a natural "feeder" system if you will. Except for a very rare case, and the only one that really jumps into my mind is Moses Malone, most players went through the four years of college before being drafted into the NBA. This is a very important thing, especially when you examine the athlete of today. Going through college gives these youngsters at least 3 more years of seasoning. They get expert advice and training, in most cases from some of the most brilliant basketball minds in the game today. They are also able to polish their game to the point where they might have a better chance of succeeding at the next level.

The other thing that the athlete benefits from by going through college is they become much more mature. By going through 3 to 4 years of college life and college ball, they are more prepared to handle the challenges in life after college, and will probably be more adept at handling their new found wealth as well. Too often in the past few years we have read the articles where these guys who have tried to make the jump from high school to the pros, run into issues with the law, or hanging around the wrong crowd and get into a mess of trouble. Instead of the NBA promotign this type of system, it appears their concern lies in another area. 

In a sense, the NBA turned its back on the NCAA when it started accepting

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