College Basketball has a constant debate that has two sides. You are either a proponent of the “One and Done” where players can opt for the NBA Draft after their Freshman season.
Or you are either against the “One and Done” and think players should be forced to have at least two years in College ball. Like the NCAA does for College Football.
Duke Head Coach Mike Krzyzewski enjoys growing players. He’s not the biggest fan of coaching a player for one year.
Coach K was the special guest on ESPN’s College Basketball Podcast With Andy Katz and Seth Greenberg, preaching for a two-year Draft plan.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski expects the NBA and the National Basketball Players Association to continue the one-and-done draft rule because he isn’t convinced the players’ union would be in favor of moving the draft rule to two years out of high school when the issue next comes before the union and the league.
“I’m not sure how the players’ union would react to that,” Krzyzewski said. “They have to represent the players, and if a player is really good, an extra year you spend can cost you tens of millions of dollars. I’m not sure the players’ association would take that away from the players. I would like to see it [two years], but it’s not a done deal. What we have is probably going to be there for a while.“
A very interesting quote was later in the podcast when Krzyzewski talked about his approach to Jabari Parker and his current star Jahill Okafor.
“The summer is huge [now that incoming freshmen can be on campus and practice]. You have to set the tone right away — the level of work they have to do and how hard they have to work. You’re trying to cram in four years in nine months. There is going to be slippage, and you have to accept some slippage and not be [a perfectionist] teaching everything. How much can I accept while still teaching? Sometimes it works out and sometimes you lose in the first round. That’s the culture we’re in right now.“
I highlighted the key quote.
“You’re trying to cram in four years in nine months.”
Now I’m not a coach. I’d love to try but for the moment I’m not. But isn’t the point of being a College coach is that you want to nurture future NBA talent? What can you possibly teach in nine months? Look at Doug McDermott. He was at Creighton for the full four years. Sure he’s average on defense. But his work ethic, offensive ability and that sweet, sweet jumpshot wouldn’t be there if he was only there for a year.
Alright. You could take that argument and throw Kobe and LeBron at me saying “They didn’t even need college”.
I’m sorry. I didn’t realise that every player had the raw talent of LeBron and Kobe. Whoops. Silly me.
This will be a never ending argument. There are pros and cons for both sides. I think we should find the middle ground. Which in my opinion is two years. But again. Everybody probably has different definitions for a middle ground.
