College Basketball All Stars

Every year in college basketball there is that one or maybe even two players who really sell the sport that year. Everyone in the country knows their name and chances are they will be in the NBA within a year. Last year there were names like Oden, Conley, Durrant, and Noah but who is it this year, who is going to help college basketball stay on the level were it is at every year? It may be North Carolina’s forward Tyler Hansbrough or Michigan States guard Drew Neitzel, or maybe it is going to one of the many great freshmen entering this year like O.J. Mayo who will mix things up. The point that I am trying to make is that a player should have to stay in college for at least three years because every year great players come into college, play for a year maybe two, then jump to the NBA. According to http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/preview2007/columns/story?columnist=katz_andy&id=3092147&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab4pos1 a player must be one year out of college and at least nineteen years old before he can jump to the next level. That means that he will have one year of college under his belt which is nothing. The NFL makes you go to college for three years so with that rule at least if you get hurt in the league and cannot play you will be one year away from a degree so you have a backup plan. In the NBA if you get hurt and cannot play ever again you will have three more years before you can get a degree, it just doesn’t make sense. Another reason a college basketball player should stay for at least three years is because it will make the school more money. For example the Ohio State Buckeyes had two players last year with the names of Mike Conley Jr. and Greg Oden, both were in the top five of their freshman class. These two took the Buckeyes to the finals in their first year of school and barley lost to the Florida Gators who by the way had five starting seniors. The Buckeyes were making money hand over foot which was helping the University in more areas then just athletics but now that they left they won’t get to make all that money which is a real let down. Finally college basketball players should stay for at least three years because the ones who leave early rarely do well, once in awhile you will get that one sensational athlete like LeBron James who can handle it but for the most part the guys who make the leap don’t make it. If they were to go to college for three years they will be able develop a lot more which in turn will help them in the bigger picture. Basically what I’m trying to say is that basketball players who come out of high school should have to go to college for three years so they can develop their skills compared to the rule now where you only have to go for one.

72-0

I have played many sports in my life for both very good teams and very bad teams. I have blown kids out of the water and have had teams blow me out of the water. Although I have seen some crazy scores nothing compares, no wait, nothing even comes relatively close to a score of 72-0 in only the first quarter. With that score the question arises, did the coach (Barta) run the score up or is his team merely that good. I feel that it could go either way because first of all his team went for two point conversations on every touchdown they scored, there has got to be a point were you stop doing that because you are killing them but that’s just me. Although most think he was probably running up the score because of this fact I must say I don’t think he had intentions on getting that out of hand. According to http://sports.espn.go.com/ncaa/highschool/news/story?id=3088759&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab5pos1 Smith Center High School has a record of 269-58 for the last thirty years, they have won six state titles, they are on a fifty game winning streak, they have outscored their opponents by an average of 71-0 with a total score of 640-0, did I mention they haven’t had to punt all season either. The Redmen’s are no joke when it comes to football. If you can imagine the Patriots or the Colts in the NFL, that’s what they are to their division, unstoppable. The team is just that good, plain and simple. Another reason I don’t believe they purposely ran the score up was because they had to keep their starters in to get some time. I mean they are in the state playoffs, it wouldn’t be right to just not play the starters because they are too good, how will they stay fresh? The coach of the opposing team said "There are absolutely no hard feelings. Roger has been around a long time and is a class act. This thing just snowballed on us and there was nothing we could do to stop it." That quote alone shows the score was not ran up because if he felt that it was he would have spoken his mind but he didn’t, that should tell you something. There is no way to possibly believe that Smith Center ran the score up because of those numbers alone and the reaction from the opposing coach. Next time someone brings this topic up around you and they say that Smith Center ran the score up, make sure you tell them these stats and watch how fast their opinions change.