by Ronnie Plaiscia Jr.

Created on: April 07, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2008

I do not think it is fair to deprive high school students of much needed education. It is already a bad enough distraction to most students to be skilled at any given sport, but to have coaches from the pros scouting them would only give them that much more of a reason to not care about school. I'm not saying that all promising young athletes are like this, that is a choice made by each individual person, but such pressure on a young and still developing mind is just not fair. We must remember that these are teenagers we're talking about. The decision to play in the NBA or to go to college is a big and life changing decision, either way you look at it. The NBA offers the opportunity to become an instant millionaire, yet what if that NBA career falls through and proper money saving techniques were not taken. This young man is then left without a college education, a college education that their basketball talent would have given them, yet they opted to choose the side that made them rich. And why would any one of us choose otherwise at that age, or any other age for that matter?

Money makes this world go round. You can't live without it, just can't. And that is where the problem lies. Money is all that matters to most people nowadays, and we all sacrifice most of the hours in each day in order to get our own hands on that ever important green. We follow our dreams just as those kids do, all so we can "survive" just a little better than the next guy. And given that same opportunity as those kids coming out of high school, to get rich doing what we love to do, we all would have taken it. But with these opportunities becoming more common, it will only blind these aspiring athletes from the real opportunity in front of them. And that is a free college education.

These kids coming out of high school have a chance to go to a top college and earn a degree or two, while still playing basketball. And if they are good enough to play in the NBA they should only increase their credibility come graduation day. Graduation day will then soon turn to draft day and the money they will earn as an opening salary after having a successful college career will be substantially more than had they not. Not only that but playing college basketball will only make these players better overall than only playing against high school students. College will mature the mind gradually as it should be and the experience will only enhance them as people. The transition from high school basketball to college is hard enough. A transition from high school straight to the NBA cannot be made by everyone. Every talented basketball player coming out of high school is NOT Lebron James.

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