From the Bench - Riches of NBA Still Don't Outweigh the Value of a Year in College

[Robert Shields]

Riches of NBA Still Don't Outweigh the Value of a Year in College

Robert Shields

That large part of the Razorback Nation that is always fully expecting to get its heart broken did this past week when Bobby Portis announced that he would declare himself eligible for the NBA draft even as many fans had recently proclaimed that Portis would stay.

You can't blame the kid for leaving college for the lure of a huge payday that will also benefit his family and to another degree his agent.

Every year Portis waits to play professional basketball, millions of dollars are lost that he can never recover. The window to play professional basketball is limited, and every year spent playing in college is one fewer where you can earn real money.

This unsolvable dilemma that plays out the same way each year around this time and leads to a diluted product on both sides is the reason college basketball and the NBA are nowhere near where they were 20 years ago in terms of popularity.

And I don't know the number, but I will guess the number of college kids who leave for the pros early and then go back and get their degree is low.

Some think the answer is to pay college kids playing in athletics in the revenue sports such as football and basketball so that they will be more inclined to stay and get their degrees. The universities make millions off these kids while they are playing sports and some who call for justice think the players should share in that bounty.

Not this capitalist. I'm in the camp of not paying players.

No one squawked that loud when Bill Gates was making millions while kids minted software for him or when Steve Jobs made billions with kids creating circuit boards.

No matter what anyone says, no one has to go to college. There are plenty of major success stories of people who didn't.

However... the value that the universities provide to a student's life beyond their education is never fully appreciated.

There is an enormous value that college provides a student with the experience outside of football and basketball that is so great it cannot be quantified.

You never want to be the one at a social gathering when the question comes up about where you got your degree and be in the position of either lying or explaining that you do not have a degree. Even if your degree is in paper cutting, it matters that you have it. Because when you have a degree no matter what it is in, everyone knows you earned it.

But the college experience gives a person more than just a degree.

It provides you the opportunity to find out who you really are, which is not really afforded to you in high school because of existing friendships and peer pressure. In college is where you really learn to socially interact with contemporaries.

In college is where you meet the people that often impact your life forever.

It's often where you meet your future spouse.

College is where you let Sherman sleep on your dorm-room floor because he has been kicked out of campus housing for fighting Rofo and has nowhere to sleep but has eight weeks of school left and no money. Ten years later, you're in an interview with Sherm.

In college is where you learn self-awareness, and it's where you learn to not take yourself so seriously.

It's where you run in the steam-duct underground between the library and the student union.

It's where you learn your limitations.

It's where you learn a baby tiger cannot be housed in a dorm.

It's where you meet girls at Humphreys while stealing the Christmas tree off their floor.

It's often where you find your religion or lose it.

It's where you learn that people expect you to be an adult.

And to cut yourself short of that experience or think you should be paid for it is misguided and only robbing from yourself of what you could be in the end.

While it is hard to see past NBA money, whatever they are paying you is not enough to miss a year of your life.



Send your college experiences to fromthebench@yahoo.com.

[onebadrubi]

You needed one more year before jumping too national board of arrogance. 

[The_Iceman]

[ricepig]

Gates has only made millions, who'd have thunk it??

[HotlantaHog]

It is an interesting question of how many kids who go to the NBA early get their degrees. I don't know the answer either ... but have read a lot of the UK players have gone back to UK during summers .....

[zane]

[Inhogswetrust]

As someone that does have a college education RS you should realize that not everyone measures "value" the same way.

[HappyHogFan]

It is an interesting question of how many kids who go to the NBA early get their degrees. I don't know the answer either ... but have read a lot of the UK players have gone back to UK during summers .....

It's a question a real journalist would have researched the answer to before writing an article like this.

And I am 100% against paying college players btw

[Doug]

So let me get this right...

You posted a BASKETBALL splorp... in a FOOTBALL forum.

As far as the rest of your schpiel...

[Seebs]

Robert -

Your ramblings have assured my diagnosis: You are an Idiot Savant without a gift.

[The NewEra]

Doesn't this belong in Jump Ball?  It would be nice to see one of Roberts post finally removed.

[Inhogswetrust]

Robert -

Your ramblings have assured my diagnosis: You are an Idiot Savant without a gift.

I'd say leave out the word "Savant".

[DeltaBoy]

Riches of NBA Still Don't Outweigh the Value of a Year in College

Robert Shields

That large part of the Razorback Nation that is always fully expecting to get its heart broken did this past week when Bobby Portis announced that he would declare himself eligible for the NBA draft even as many fans had recently proclaimed that Portis would stay.

You can't blame the kid for leaving college for the lure of a huge payday that will also benefit his family and to another degree his agent.

Every year Portis waits to play professional basketball, millions of dollars are lost that he can never recover. The window to play professional basketball is limited, and every year spent playing in college is one fewer where you can earn real money.

This unsolvable dilemma that plays out the same way each year around this time and leads to a diluted product on both sides is the reason college basketball and the NBA are nowhere near where they were 20 years ago in terms of popularity.

And I don't know the number, but I will guess the number of college kids who leave for the pros early and then go back and get their degree is low.

Some think the answer is to pay college kids playing in athletics in the revenue sports such as football and basketball so that they will be more inclined to stay and get their degrees. The universities make millions off these kids while they are playing sports and some who call for justice think the players should share in that bounty.

Not this capitalist. I'm in the camp of not paying players.

No one squawked that loud when Bill Gates was making millions while kids minted software for him or when Steve Jobs made billions with kids creating circuit boards.

No matter what anyone says, no one has to go to college. There are plenty of major success stories of people who didn't.

However... the value that the universities provide to a student's life beyond their education is never fully appreciated.

There is an enormous value that college provides a student with the experience outside of football and basketball that is so great it cannot be quantified.

You never want to be the one at a social gathering when the question comes up about where you got your degree and be in the position of either lying or explaining that you do not have a degree. Even if your degree is in paper cutting, it matters that you have it. Because when you have a degree no matter what it is in, everyone knows you earned it.

But the college experience gives a person more than just a degree.

It provides you the opportunity to find out who you really are, which is not really afforded to you in high school because of existing friendships and peer pressure. In college is where you really learn to socially interact with contemporaries.

In college is where you meet the people that often impact your life forever.

It's often where you meet your future spouse.

College is where you let Sherman sleep on your dorm-room floor because he has been kicked out of campus housing for fighting Rofo and has nowhere to sleep but has eight weeks of school left and no money. Ten years later, you're in an interview with Sherm.

In college is where you learn self-awareness, and it's where you learn to not take yourself so seriously.

It's where you run in the steam-duct underground between the library and the student union.

It's where you learn your limitations.

It's where you learn a baby tiger cannot be housed in a dorm.

It's where you meet girls at Humphreys while stealing the Christmas tree off their floor.

It's often where you find your religion or lose it.

It's where you learn that people expect you to be an adult.

And to cut yourself short of that experience or think you should be paid for it is misguided and only robbing from yourself of what you could be in the end.

While it is hard to see past NBA money, whatever they are paying you is not enough to miss a year of your life.



Send your college experiences to fromthebench@yahoo.com.

Wrong Forum Robert but I agree other than someone like Moses Malone they need to stay in College and go at least 3 of the 4 years.

[theFlyingHog]

How do we make him stop? Somebody steal his keyboard

[onebadrubi]

Just burn all his underwear and he will be in search of a Kmart

[Inhogswetrust]

Just burn all his underwear and he will be in search of a Kmart

Lingerie department.......................

[Paul]

Nice!!!

[LSUFan]

It's like the scribblings above the turd filled urinal in a Waffle House bathroom, you know it's going to suck to have to read it, and probably smells like a dead skunks' ***, but like a car wreck, something just forces you to look, knowing damn well it's going to be scattered and splattered and not very well thought out.

[Calling All Hogs]

[Professor Psychosis]

You know, Robert, I'm really going to regret this, but you have so many haters, I don't know why you don't start a Wordpress blog and post your dumbest paragraph or two on Hogville with a link to the rest of the article on Wordpress.  You have enough haters, you might get enough traffic to make an extra buck or two off your obvious attempts at trolling.  You obviously love doing these things, and anything worth doing is worth doing for money.

Unless whatever newspaper it is that you write this column for wouldn't let you, or some outlandish "Hogville secretly gives you a kickback for these because it generates traffic" conspiracy theory is involved, I'd think it would be a natural sell.  For as little as $18, anyone can start their own .com blog, you just have to think of a title.  Unfortunately, fromthebench.com is already taken, but that's nothing someone with your amount of haters couldn't overcome.

[snortman]

Good read Robert, I am totally against paying players, lord know they are pampered to the hilt, with free R&B, all the right foods to eat, unlimited tutoring, free clothing, now they got a 25 million practice facility at there disposal. What's next free chauffeurs or massage therapists

[thirrdegreetusker]

If Portis is drafted #20 in 2015, his total lifetime-to-date NBA earnings, as of the conclusion of 2018 season, will be about 4 mil.

If Portis stays, and is drafted #8 in 2016, his total lifetime-to-date NBA earnings, as of the conclusion of 2018 season, would be about 6 mil.   

[thirrdegreetusker]

Good read Robert, I am totally against paying players, lord know they are pampered to the hilt, with free R&B, all the right foods to eat, unlimited tutoring, free clothing, now they got a 25 million practice facility at there disposal. What's next free chauffeurs or massage therapists

Going to college full-time on an athletic scholarship is more demanding that going to college full-time, PLUS working a 40-hour job. 

[ricepig]

If Portis is drafted #20 in 2015, his total lifetime-to-date NBA earnings, as of the conclusion of 2018 season, will be about 4 mil.

If Portis stays, and is drafted #8 in 2016, his total lifetime-to-date NBA earnings, as of the conclusion of 2018 season, would be about 6 mil.   

Lots of "ifs" in that^, he'll also be a year closer to the second contract, which is where the "real" money is.

[Poker_hog]

Going to college full-time on an athletic scholarship is more demanding that going to college full-time, PLUS working a 40-hour job. 

And yet nobody makes them do it and most kids would die to be in their shoes.

[thirrdegreetusker]

And yet nobody makes them do it and most kids would die to be in their shoes.

Sure, I would have loved to have had a chance to play college ball. But, from what some of my friends went through, it ain't all it's cracked up to be.

[thirrdegreetusker]

Lots of "ifs" in that^, he'll also be a year closer to the second contract, which is where the "real" money is.

The big "if" is the second contract. The majority of drafted pro athletes never get there.

[duckman]

[Hawghiggs]

 If you can die in a war at 18. The you should be allowed to play basketball for a living.

[bphi11ips]

Right forum and right on the money, no pun intended.

[Dwight_K_Shrute]

I deplore from the bench but agree with the premise.  Kudos to those brave enough to agree with RS on this issue. Saying you will go back and actually going back are two different things.  Very rare is the athlete that stayed the additional year and then years later says they regret that decision.

[bphi11ips]

I deplore from the bench but agree with the premise.  Kudos to those brave enough to agree with RS on this issue. Saying you will go back and actually going back are two different things.  Very rare is the athlete that stayed the additional year and then years later says they regret that decision.

Thirty-four minutes since the last post in MMQB, which was this breath of fresh air from DKS. On Monday before the Spring game.  My how Hogville has fallen.  Here's two rules to enforce against ALL posters to create an environment where fans WANT to post here again:

Treat others the way you want to be treated.

If you don't have something nice to say, say nothing at all.

Pretty simple.

[pigbacon]

Sure wish I had my degree in "paper cutting" so everyone would know I earned it. Instead, i guess I'm just a dummy that someone must've felt sorry for and decided to give me a good job, because no way could I have earned that without a "paper cutting" degree.

You never want to be the one at a social gathering when the question comes up about where you got your degree and be in the position of either lying or explaining that you do not have a degree. Even if your degree is in paper cutting, it matters that you have it. Because when you have a degree no matter what it is in, everyone knows you earned it.

Send your college experiences to fromthebench@yahoo.com.

[Science Fiction Greg]

Good lord.  One of 26 (TWENTY-SIX) paragraphs contained more than two sentences.  Only six of the other twenty-five paragraphs contained two sentences. 

And lol at that tortured first sentence.  Again.

Seriously, learn to write.

[CattleCorn]

Go back to the bench.

[ErieHog]

The big "if" is the second contract. The majority of drafted pro athletes never get there.

Actually, no.    For 1st round NBA draft picks taken under the salary arrangement of this Collective Bargaining agreement, only one is not in the league that didn't start out in the D-League-- and nearly 40% of those who would have been eligible for 4th year options, have already either had them exercised, or have had the terms of their last years of team control torn up, and a new multiyear deal put into place.

The NBA is a different animal than the land of MLB or NFL Contracts.

[bphi11ips]

The OP wasn't about Bobby Portis or basketball. It doesn't suggest Portis should have stayed in school.

Rob Shields has never professed to be anything more than a casual sports fan.  Sometimes that shows in his analysis.  But his post in this instance is not about sports.  Bobby Portis is simply a vehicle for a fine essay on the true value of the college experience.  If  you don't understand that, you may have missed the experience yourself or are not yet far enough removed from it to appreciate the truth he expressed here.

That is why MMQB was the correct forum to begin with.

[rzrbackramsfan]

DID NOT READ.  People have beat this horse to death. I doubt you added anything new.  Plus the numbers come out to where the rational robot decision was to go pro.

[dsgreen]

I couldn't play in the NBA and college was still a waste of time and money.  You dumb.

[moses_007]

The truth of the matter is, many players who jump to the NBA simply don't make it.  Ask Scotty Thurman.  If you don't produce enough points, and do so very quickly, they'll cut you in a heartbeat.  Teams won't give you 3-4 years to become a proficient player in the NBA like a college coach gives a player. 

I dare say more of these guys who jump to the NBA after a year or two of college don't make it.  Many of them get a half million or so dollar bonus, but that might just be all she wrote.

[nwahogfan1]

Good read Robert even though I might not agree on all of it but respect your time to write it.  . How did you get such a unfriendly following.  Usually those hateful responders are those that have nothing to report so they jump on others.

Come on guys.  Either give us something or get out of the way and let others.

[BadHog]

[The_Iceman]

What mod screwed up and put this in Jump Ball instead of the Trash Can?

[lasthog]

This unsolvable dilemma that plays out the same way each year around this time and leads to a diluted product on both sides is the reason college basketball and the NBA are nowhere near where they were 20 years ago in terms of popularity.[/quote]



I'd like to buy an editor,  Pat

[Inhogswetrust]

The truth of the matter is, many players who jump to the NBA simply don't make it.  Ask Scotty Thurman.  If you don't produce enough points, and do so very quickly, they'll cut you in a heartbeat.  Teams won't give you 3-4 years to become a proficient player in the NBA like a college coach gives a player. 

I dare say more of these guys who jump to the NBA after a year or two of college don't make it.  Many of them get a half million or so dollar bonus, but that might just be all she wrote.

It has become more common for those that don't make it and even those that do to go ahead and finish their college except maybe the one and dones.

[LRrazorback]

Wow!!  Never have read these comments after a RS article. Did he steal your wife or girlfriends?  Goodness, why the hate for RS?

[Nipsey Mussle]

Wow!!  Never have read these comments after a RS article. Did he steal your wife or girlfriends?  Goodness, why the hate for RS?

To hopefully scare him away, I'm assuming?

Although, the best way to make him stop is for no one at all to respond to the posts. At this point, RS likely justifies it as "Any good opinion piece will have people debating the topic for hours and hours!" When the rational people understand that the majority of the thread is people absolutely hating him...and about 2% actually debating (reading?) what he posted.

[The_Iceman]

To hopefully scare him away, I'm assuming?

Although, the best way to make him stop is for no one at all to respond to the posts. At this point, RS likely justifies it as "Any good opinion piece will have people debating the topic for hours and hours!" When the rational people understand that the majority of the thread is people absolutely hating him...and about 2% actually debating (reading?) what he posted.

Yep, I can't debate the topic when I:

[Nipsey Mussle]

Yep, I can't debate the topic when I:

Lol

Do you ever try to read but get so turned off by his writing after two lines (which would be a lengthy paragraph by RS' standards, according to Oatmeal) ? I used to do that but now just skip right down to see the hate.

[hogfanshan]

I don't know Robert Shields. Have no idea who he is. I seldom agree with his writing. He often re-hashes and summarizes things that have been expressed in various posts on Hogville. Every now and then, there will be something that he writes with which I agree.

Often his writing just simply doesn't interest me. Sometimes I'll read half and decide it's not for me.

There are many opinions on what he writes...mostly negative.

But for the life of me, I can't figure out why people take the time to post "Didn't Read" comments after he posts.

While I must admit some of the animations with the "Didn't Read" comments are quite amusing....I just don't understand why people would take the time to post "Didn't Read."