Mom of Duke player says NCAA system resembles 'slavery and the prison system'

[J.Jennings]

I don't disagree. I'm just saying that the players keep coming to college because college is the best game in town. Most understand they need the exposure a Kentucky can give.

Some don't care about exposure and they go to LSU or Washington or whatever. But college remains the best bet.

If the G-League somehow became this viable thing where players were okay with making that much money and okay playing in front of tiny crowds, then college basketball would have to adjust. It might have to adjust anyway if they change the one-and-done rule. Kentucky would still be Kentucky with or without those players.

But I'd rather have them. We talk about the downsides of one-and-done a lot but there have been many positives. I'm in the minority among UK fans, but I don't think one-and-dones are killing the college game.

This year's NCAA tournament was amazing for many reasons. The thing that stood out the most to me is that you can have a "great basketball team' without so many top players. Yes a high powered Villanova team with stars won it all in the end but what if some of those , Villanova, Duke, or Kentucky players never came to school in the first place, you could still have great basketball teams in college without so many one and dones in the geam?

Don't get me wrong, i dont mind one and done's and i enjoy watching stars like AD, Wall, and Cousins who come to Kentucky. It's also s a pleasure watching them excel in the NBA and still represent Kentucky, it still keeps the Kentucky name in the papers.......

[BobS]

Slaves were beaten into submission and forced to work.

Get a clue lady. You are an insult and an idiot for saying this stuff. Your kid isn't forced to do anything. Have him work 50-60 hours per week trying to raise a family insteas of playing a game and get back to me.

[J.Jennings]

Slaves were beaten into submission and forced to work.

Get a clue lady. You are an insult and an idiot for saying this stuff. Your kid isn't forced to do anything. Have him work 50-60 hours per week trying to raise a family insteas of playing a game and get back to me.

Exactly!!!! Like i said, if you don't like the system or how it works, go get a job and do something else like the rest of us real world people..

[Lighthouse]

Slaves were beaten into submission and forced to work.

Get a clue lady. You are an insult and an idiot for saying this stuff. Your kid isn't forced to do anything. Have him work 50-60 hours per week trying to raise a family insteas of playing a game and get back to me.

Well said Bob.

[Catatonic]

I know everyone's preoccupied with being triggered by the word 'slavery', but if you look past that one sentence she was actually pretty well-spoken, and mostly correct.

[J.Jennings]

I know everyone's preoccupied with being triggered by the word 'slavery', but if you look past that one sentence she was actually pretty well-spoken, and mostly correct.

I am all for straight out of high school straight to the pro's. I always go back to 18 year old in the Military and the same applies here with professional basketball for me...

With that being said, don't go to college and no one is forcing anyone, get a job and do something else. I agree the NCAA is a joke but it is what it is, go overseas or go to the G league if you don't like the rules. The flip side of the argument is that the NCAA gives them the exposure and platform to market themselves, how much is that worth if you had to pay for that exposure and marketing? I would love to run a National ad for my business for free but and market but it cost money..

Bottomline, someone needs to stop the madness now before it's too late. The NCAA been working for years and now this new movement of entitled kids think they just destroy it from the ground up. For many just going to college is a blessing, especially if you actually grew up rough and tough and poor like many claim. To be blessed with a God given talent with a opportunity to go to college and market yourself for free on the big stage can also be considered a blessing. The problem is to many 3 stars think they should be treated like a bona fide 5 star player. Again, i think the great 5 stars out of high school should be allowed to jump but if the the NBA business (employer) says no then the athlete has to make a decision. Get a job and wait for a year or go to college and get FREE MARKETING for a year.....

[J.Jennings]

How many players went to college for one year and got hype up as the second coming to get drafted in the first round with guaranteed money only to be a bust? You mean to tell me the FREE MARKETING in college didn't benefit those players with a guaranteed NBA contract, it's like hitting the lottery for those kids who just aren't good enough. Maybe the NBA teams should get a refund??

[Catatonic]

I am all for straight out of high school straight to the pro's. I always go back to 18 year old in the Military and the same applies here with professional basketball for me...

With that being said, don't go to college and no one is forcing anyone, get a job and do something else. I agree the NCAA is a joke but it is what it is, go overseas or go to the G league if you don't like the rules. The flip side of the argument is that the NCAA gives them the exposure and platform to market themselves, how much is that worth if you had to pay for that exposure and marketing? I would love to run a National ad for my business for free but and market but it cost money..

Bottomline, someone needs to stop the madness now before it's too late. The NCAA been working for years and now this new movement of entitled kids think they just destroy it from the ground up. For many just going to college is a blessing, especially if you actually grew up rough and tough and poor like many claim. To be blessed with a God given talent with a opportunity to go to college and market yourself for free on the big stage can also be considered a blessing. The problem is to many 3 stars think they should be treated like a bona fide 5 star player. Again, i think the great 5 stars out of high school should be allowed to jump but if the the NBA business (employer) says no then the athlete has to make a decision. Get a job and wait for a year or go to college and get FREE MARKETING for a year.....

I agree with you, there's a lot of value to the exposure they get. But you also have to consider that it's only a handful of kids who end up playing pro, it's not only the 5-star guys helping the NCAA make a billion dollars every year. I don't think some kind of base stipend/profit share is unreasonable.

Also agree kids should be able to go directly to the NBA out of HS if they want to, but then we're only talking about what, fewer than ten guys a year? It dominates our thoughts because we're Kentucky fans and that's our world, but that's pretty exceptional when you look at the big picture. I do think comments like this one from this kids mom would largely go away if they were allowed to go directly out of HS.

[J.Jennings]

I agree with you, there's a lot of value to the exposure they get. But you also have to consider that it's only a handful of kids who end up playing pro, it's not only the 5-star guys helping the NCAA make a billion dollars every year. I don't think some kind of base stipend/profit share is unreasonable.

Also agree kids should be able to go directly to the NBA out of HS if they want to, but then we're only talking about what, fewer than ten guys a year? It dominates our thoughts because we're Kentucky fans and that's our world, but that's pretty exceptional when you look at the big picture. I do think comments like this one from this kids mom would largely go away if they were allowed to go directly out of HS.

Seems like the easiest solution is to let them go straight out of high school, few will make it and many many will fail without a college education but who cares, not our problem right?

[Joneslab]

Not having a college education isn't a guarantee of failure.

Most of my family doesn't have a college degree. About 23% of the population of Kentucky has an undergraduate degree.

Not sure why people are always do convinced that not getting a college degree is going to doom a basketball player. It definitely helps...but goodness gracious look at how many places there are these days to get a degree later in life. There's nobody more sanctimonious than your average college basketball fan when it comes to policing higher education for the players we root for.

I'd say about 15% of the Kentucky fanbase has their degree. And that's being generous.

[Catatonic]

Also, it's pretty naive to expect someone destined for the NBA in a year to care much about the monetary value of a scholarship. These guys aren't like you and me. The exposure thing is a far point, but even then they are still bringing far more to the table than they are getting back.

[Dwight Schrute]

I'd agree with profit sharing but how many athletic departments these days run in the black? It's not very many, right? I'd have no issues with the NCAA giving a baseline profit share and performance bonuses on top for the teams that make the NCAA tournament, perhaps compounding for each round a team advances.

[J.Jennings]

I'd agree with profit sharing but how many athletic departments these days run in the black? It's not very many, right? I'd have no issues with the NCAA giving a baseline profit share and performance bonuses on top for the teams that make the NCAA tournament, perhaps compounding for each round a team advances.

So IF the NCAA does develop a system to fund and pay players, does the players at Morehead make the same as the players at Kentucky? I agree the system is flawed but once you start compensating kids in college, to me it just opens up many doors and more opportunities for corruption....

[J.Jennings]

Also, it's pretty naive to expect someone destined for the NBA in a year to care much about the monetary value of a scholarship. These guys aren't like you and me. The exposure thing is a far point, but even then they are still bringing far more to the table than they are getting back.

I agree which is why i think the 19 year old rule is stupid. I have said for many years that if you can stick me in IRAQ fresh out of school in a desert to fight a war over money, oil, and politics, why can't a kid go straight to the NBA if he's really that good?

[J.Jennings]

Not having a college education isn't a guarantee of failure.

Most of my family doesn't have a college degree. About 23% of the population of Kentucky has an undergraduate degree.

Not sure why people are always do convinced that not getting a college degree is going to doom a basketball player. It definitely helps...but goodness gracious look at how many places there are these days to get a degree later in life. There's nobody more sanctimonious than your average college basketball fan when it comes to policing higher education for the players we root for.

I'd say about 15% of the Kentucky fanbase has their degree. And that's being generous.

I agree, i went to military then ended up getting a degree down the road in my 30's but actually realized the things i paid for and was taught i already knew, kind of felt like i wasted my money to be honest. Some of the most successful people i know do not have a college degree and even the ones who did go to college, most spend 4 years partying and can't even remember a fraction of what was taught...

With that being said, i still think a college education holds merit and if i had it to do all over again, i would have taken advantage of multiple scholarship offer to play golf and would have went to college fulltime....