by Steven Gomez

Created on: March 03, 2009   Last Updated: March 04, 2009

College basketball's relationship with professional basketball retains its fractured nature, with the college ranks serving as a glorified minor league for the NBA and beyond.

Over the last 20-30 years, many top players entered college on full scholarships, only to leave school without completing a degree program after 2-3 years. Virtually none of these players had any serious intention of finishing school: they simply came to play basketball and hone their skills therein until they were NBA ready.

The commitment to the basketball program eats up a lot of time and effort. Thus these are student-athletes only in name: they take whatever easy classes they're advised to take to stay academically eligible, but rarely follow a true track to a Bachelor's Degree. Most basketball programs hide their players in general majors with vague names like University Studies or General Arts, where the student takes a mish-mash of easy classes that don't require a ton of attention or work. Those who stay all 4 years get a degree in the "major" for their trouble.

Yes, there are exceptions, with some players following true degree programs and graduating with a degree they can channel into a fruitful career outside of basketball. Some NBA dropouts return to school during the off-season and complete their degree requirements after they turn pro. But they are often the exception rather than the rule. College basketball focuses less academic enrichment, and far more on developing their best players for the NBA, winning games and staying competitive enough to milk the cash cow that funds their program and, in turn, their schools. The money relationship is a necessary evil for many schools, which rely on media deals, booster donations and corporate sponsors to fund many of their operations.

NBA Commissioner David Stern, concerned about the string of teenagers entering the NBA draft straight out of high school, created an ill-advised age limit of 19. This only exacerbated the problematic relationship between college and the pros: Many top high school players now go to college as one year mercenaries, players with no intention of studying or earning a college degree. They help their school of choice win basketball games for a year, then declare for the next NBA draft following their 19th birthday. Meanwhile, they consume a scholarship that could have helped an actual student and take up space in classes with no real interest in the material... if they go to class at all (and their coaches aren't pulling administrative strings and manipulating their grades to maintain eligibility despite it) before leaving school to enter the draft and cash in.

Over the last few years, the NBA created a fledgling Developmental League. But this handful of teams is nothing like the latticework of minor leagues in baseball, where players with only an interest in the sport can turn pro and work their way up the minor ranks. College basketball teams have too much to financially and competitively gain by taking on these mercenaries to change the system so that basketball-first players go pro and leave lesser, academically-minded players for the NCAA's. Plus it costs the NBA nothing for players to develop their trade as subsidized guns for college squads.

Even if the morally correct decision was to overhaul the current relationship, neither side has any incentive to change things anytime soon.

Learn more about this author, Steven Gomez.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.