NBA AGE LIMITS

The Waiting Game

By Travis Sawchik

The Sun News

Thaddeus Young's lean 6-foot-8 frame, elite athleticism and mild manner make him a general manager's dream.

Playing in the Beach Ball Classic this week for Tennessee's Memphis Mitchell High School, Young looked like a certain first-round draft pick in the National Basketball Association. But despite a 10-year history of successful jumps from high school straight to the pros - ushered in by former Beach Ball Classic participant Kevin Garnett, a first-round pick by the Minnesota Timberwolves in 1995 - Young will have to wait.

In July, the NBA and the NBA Players Association reached an agreement that requires players to be at least 19 years old and a year removed from high school. Young, who ranks as the No. 3 senior prospect according to Rivals.com, one of the nation's top recruiting-information services, is one of the first athletes affected by the controversial rule that will have wide-ranging effects on prep, college and pro basketball.

"If I was a lottery pick [one of the top 14 draft selections], I would have gone," said Young, who has signed to attend Georgia Tech. "... Who wants to pass up millions?"

NBA Commissioner David Stern and his camp think the rule will benefit teenagers with unrealistic expectations, while improving the skill level of the league and the efficiency of scouting.

Opponents of the rule say it is unfair to keep talented basketball-dribbling teenagers from the gold-bricked path laid by Garnett. They point toward the success rate of prep-to-pro players. Since 1995, of the 45 modern players to go directly to the NBA, 34 are on league rosters, including past Beach Ball participants Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O'Neal.

Those against the rule also say the union and league have compromised an individual's right to earn an income.

They say if Hewlett-Packard offered your son $500,000 out of high school, he would be bypassing college, too.

But there is only one basketball giant, the NBA, and just or not, it has forced Young and others to detour the prep-to-pro path to riches.

Some question the age limit

In the posh Charlotte Bobcats locker room, former Beach Ball participant Raymond Felton is surrounded by wood-paneled players' quarters and plush blue Bobcats-embossed carpeting.

Outside in the players' parking lot is nearly any luxury car one could desire.

Felton thinks Young should be able ditch his tan 2001 Chevy Impala and join the NBA lifestyle in 2006.

"If you are good enough to play in this league, you should be able to play," Felton said. "School is not for everyone."

Nets guard Jason Kidd played at the Beach Ball in 1991. He thinks the new generation of high school player is in some cases NBA-ready.

"They are bigger, faster, more athletic; each generation is different," Kidd said. "Kobe and [Garnett] and these guys come up, and they are physically more mature."

The rule may spark another Maurice Clarett-like legal challenge.

The former Ohio State running back challenged the NFL rule that states a player must be three years removed from his high school graduating class to play in the league.

Clarett initially claimed victory in a U.S. district court only to have the ruling overturned by the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in 2004.

Michael McCann, a law professor at Mississippi College and member of Clarett's legal team, thinks a high school basketball player has a stronger chance to win a similar legal challenge.

"Clarett had to argue a hypothetical," McCann said. "Basketball players wouldn't have that issue; basketball has had 10 years of data. Basketball players can say we're not arguing a hypothetical. We have gone to the NBA and [have had success]."

According to a research paper written by McCann and published in the Virginia Sports and Entertainment Journal, an NBA player who jumps from high school can make up to $100 million more during his career than if he earned a college degree first.

McCann also questions the legitimacy of pro sports unions bargaining away future players rights.

"There is incentive for existing players to watch out for their own interests," McCann said. "It's one thing if you have a union of factory workers ... but sports leagues are monopolies, you can't play anywhere else [for similar compensation]."

Who benefits

The rule is designed to do more than protect overzealous high schoolers from becoming the next Lenny Cooke, who threw away a college scholarship by entering the NBA draft, where he was not selected.

The rule appears to be a boon for NBA executives and scouts. They now have a year to evaluate players against elite college basketball competition before making their million-dollar decisions.

"You cannot afford not to be thorough in your evaluation now because of the type of money you are putting in with these players," Charlotte Bobcats coach and General Manager Bernie Bickerstaff said. "The investment you make on them [is substantial]."

The Garnett-era also created what some refer to as the second draft.

With players entering the league at ages 18 and 19, their rookie contracts expire and they enter the free agent market as early as 21 or 22, far from completely developed as a player.

No team has developed these teenagers like the Trail Blazers. Portland has spent a first-round draft selection on a high school player in each of the past three drafts and has five such players on the roster: Darius Miles, Martell Webster, Ricky Sanchez, Sebastian Telfair and Travis Outlaw.

"Garnett opened up eyes," Trail Blazers General Manager John Nash said. " [But] I don't have any objection to the rule; it makes it easier."

Like most NBA teams, the Trail Blazers draft on potential, although there is far less data and video when observing a high school player than a college player.

"We are trying to develop talent," said Nash, who explained that his team's high-risk, high-reward philosophy is to take a high schooler with superstar potential rather than a solid but unspectacular college player.

Those potential superstars now have to spend a year in college, which means elite programs such as Georgia Tech or Ohio State can benefit by landing a Young or Daequan Cook - who is playing this week at the Beach Ball Classic with Ohio's Dayton Dunbar High - for at least one year.

"It is better than what they had," University of North Carolina coach Roy Williams said of the rule. "Kids will have more information; NBA teams won't have to guess. It's a great rule for college: It's a great rule for the NBA."

But while schools such as UNC will benefit by renting a top prospect for a year, is that year worth sapping recruiting hours and resources?

Roy Williams recruited Marvin Williams knowing he may play just one year in Chapel Hill.

After helping the Tar Heels to a national championship last spring, Marvin Williams entered the NBA draft. He was selected second overall by the Atlanta Hawks.

"I don't know if we were ever going to ignore them," said Roy Williams of potential prep-to-pro recruits. It depends on what kind of kid it is.

"[Marvin Williams] was very sincere about his academic work and being a college student. If you told me I was going to have that type of experience, [I would do it again]."

The rule has obvious benefits for the college and pro ranks - and some say for the high school level as well.

Young's 62-year-old coach, Jerry Johnson, has seen 40 years of high school basketball and thinks the age minimum already is benefiting Young and high schools.

"It puts attention back on colleges," said Johnson, whose Memphis team will play two games on ESPN this season. "It's good because you had a lot of entourages following these kids in high school. You don't see all those people snuggling up behind your players now [that the direct window] has been eliminated.

"It took the focus off of the high school athlete."