Kentucky exodus proves Bobby Knight prescient…

Kentucky lost an entire basketball team today. It would seem it is only a matter of time before the SEC Championship won this season is lost as well.

Five Kentucky players declared they would enter the NBA draft. In seasons past, fans may be distraught, upset and saddened. With this bunch, the fans knew this was part of the contract. Four of the five players were freshmen. They came to college to go to the pros. They did not come to college to get an education and play basketball at the same time. It is a shame. Kentucky was used, but in reality, Kentucky used itself.

A year ago, Kentucky hired a criminal, John Calipari. “Coach”, or recruiter, Calipari had jumped ship from a Memphis program he left for dead after their Final Four visit was mired in scandal surrounding Derrick Rose. Calipari had previously left UMASS to take down its own Final Four banner after violations surrounding Marcus Camby.

Bobby Knight has railed against Calipari and the NCAA for allowing a one and down system to exist. The NCAA is the NBA’s dog on a leash right now. NBA Commissioner David Stern supposedly wanted to get his scouts out of high school gyms. He imposed a 19-year-old entrance rule to the NBA draft. Apparently that year makes all the difference. NBA teams now draft players who spend one year in college based on potential, just as they would have if they were 18 and coming out of high school. Failure rates of these “potential” picks still need to be analyzed over a longer period, but let’s not hold our breath hoping there is a change in GM draft success. Two years? Two years might make more sense. The NFL uses a two year rule. A least there is presidence for two years. Three years? Baseball uses three years. If you don’t sign after high school, you lock in for three years in college. Three years can definitely make a difference. The “athlete” is a lot more likely to become a “student” in three years. One year? Let’s see, go to enough classes to not fail and you can get on probation for your second semester. You do not go to any classes in your second semester because of basketball and you could flunk out…or you could declare for the NBA draft.

Over/under on classes attended by the four freshmen who just declared? Is 20 too high a number to set the betting mark at? Five classes per player? In four months? You’re actually thinking that might be high? Me too.

The NBA can set the rules it wants. The NCAA does not need to be dictated to. It can set the rules it wants to also. Penalties for one and done players would stem the problem quickly.

Is there any surprise Duke and North Carolina won the titles the last two years? That Michigan State has been to six Final Fours in 12 years? Not to Bobby Knight. None of these programs are known to recruit a one and done type player.

Listen to Bobby Knight the next time he is speaking about the problem. He could have told you Kentucky would lose a team today. And he is right about a lot more.

Quick hits of the day:

– Great column by Bill Simmons on the infection that is Rasheed Wallace.

– Did President Obama really need to wear a White Sox hat on the mound when throwing out the first pitch at a Nationals game? You’re the President, sir, not some hometown slappy who needs to remind everyone who he roots for. You get asked to throw out a first pitch, you wear the home team colors, head to toe. Let Chicago ask you again to pull out your hat. Wear your hat at home, on the grounds of the White House, on Air Force One, but not, sir, on the mound of the Washington Nationals. Disrespectful and embarassing.

– New favorite pre-NFL draft consideration: did an offensive tackle come from a spread offense? I want my teams to avoid them if they did. Will some make it? Sure. Are the chances of success fewer? Definitely. Russell Okung, potential Top 5 pick, played at Maryland…in a spread offsnse. Draft the Kong, Lions, draft the Kong.

– Tiki Barber breaks up with his wife for an intern. His wife is 8 months pregnant, with twins (yep, the gene really does continue in families). Someone found a way to look worse than Tiger Woods.

– Come get us Iran, our President wants to shrink our nuclear abilities. Bad decision, Mr. President.

– Thank you Idol judges. It was way too early for Michael Lynche to get the heave ho. The judges used their once a season save tonight. How he ended up last is beyond me. Tim Urban, Andrew Garcia and Aaron Kelly, the clock is ticking (or at least I can hope).

– I hate that I pay taxes for a company like GM to stay in business. Over $4b in losses in 2009. How is that possible? Shut it down.

– Don Kelly made a solid relay throw. Scott Sizemore made us wish for the return of Polanco. Tigers lose in 11. Not fun to watch. Let’s hope for a bounceback in the day game after the night game, something that has been challenging in the past.

Goodnight and God Bless,

Scott