When a tennis prodigy begins their professional career at 17 years old or a 6’5” flame throwing lefty gets drafted to play professional baseball right out of high school, no one bats an eye.  So why all the hoopla about a 17 year old high school junior, basketball phenom named Jeremy Tyler journeying overseas to play professional basketball for the next 2 years?

Young Mr. Tyler is a 17 year old, 6 ft. 11 in., 260 lb. man amongst boys on a high school basketball court.  By all accounts, he has insufficient competition at the high school level to challenge his skill set.  If your child was not being challenged academically, shouldn’t a good parent actively seek out greater opportunities for their child’s optimal growth and development?

Why is basketball held to a different standard?

Jeremy’s stated ultimate goal is to prepare for the 2011 NBA draft. Under current rules he is not eligible for consideration until 1 year after his high school class would have graduated.  Therefore, he and his family have determined that the most efficient use of the next 2 years is to practice and play overseas against professional competition.

He can either play for free for the next 2 years against lesser competition or he can make several hundred thousand dollars and hone his skills against bigger, stronger professional players.  He can become a wink, wink student athlete and have his practice time strictly regulated or he can be openly professional and work on his game as much as he chooses.  He can either help generate revenue for a university athletic department or for himself.

Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and a little known kid named Lebron James all went directly from high school to the NBA without ‘passing GO and collecting $200’ (or generating millions of dollars for a major college program).  Or is that the real problem? 

The biggest loser is no longer the kid; it’s the universities that are slowly losing their ability to exploit the best children athletes under the ruse of offering a free college education.  For decades these basketball programs have routinely maintained graduation rates in the low double digits.  Also, the time that these young men spend on campus is neither free nor particularly educational.

There are few that enjoy the collegiate basketball spectacle called March Madness quite like me (with the definite exception of my uncle Kevin) but my advice to young Jeremy Tyler is quite simple.  Procure a great disability policy from Lloyd’s of London, improve your game and get your money son…in that order.