Kevin Love declared for the 2008 NBA draft today. And that now adds him to a growing group of fabulous freshmen who refuse to stay in college for more than one year. A few years ago, these players would have never seen a college campus. They would have simply made the jump from 100 seat gymnasiums to 30,000 seat arenas. When the NBA required students to be 1 year out of High School before entering the draft, they were hoping for more mature, grown up players. But it seems that this year of forced education seems to have only delayed the inevitable. In fact, the results may be worse. While the NBA surely knew some players would be "one and done," I'm sure the League's Commish and the President of the NCAA were hoping that some of these athletes would get an education and stay three, maybe even four years. But that hasn't been the case and this year it seems to be magnified. The list of fab freshmen leaving early is long: Michael Beasley, Derrick Rose, Kevin Love, Eric Gordon, O.J. Mayo, Jerryd Bayless. Add to that list Sophomores Russell Westbrook, Ryan Anderson, Robin and Brook Lopez, Darrell Arthur, Chase Budinger, Derrick Caracter, and Bill Walker and you have what should be the future of college basketball that is instead deciding to jump to the NBA. These players have the right to declare early, I'm not saying they are wrong. But as a college basketball fan, it is sad to think that we may never see a great college player again. If a freshmen leads his team to the National Championship, he is a "one-hit-wonder" (Carmelo Anthony), and if he comes up short he didn't accomplish what he should have (Kevin Love, Derrick Rose). The point is, it is saddening to think that there may never be a four year college career that is considered among the best of all time...and this is simply because the athletes of today are growing up much faster than the athletes of the last 50 years.
