Maturity

And now, for something completely different.

Yesterday on ESPNews – “What’s with Scribe and that channel?”, you must be asking – Fran Fraschilla discussed the evolution of pre-draft scouting by NBA executives over the past decade. As he talked about the increased efforts and resources invested from team officials, the former St. John’s head coach then elaborated on the fundamental difference between international and American players.

For years, Fraschilla has said that international players have a greater maturity than their stateside counterparts. He believes that because they come from countries with tougher and lower standards of living, the internationals are far more appreciative of the chance to play in the NBA compared to American prep school and college kids who see a spot in the Association as a birthright.

He may certainly have a point as some of the best American players currently in the league are guys whose names we have heard about since at least their senior year in high school. The NBA is the end result of years of coddling, hyping and protecting these prodigies in order to have their names called by Commissioner David Stern in late June. However, Fraschilla – whether he was careful to not condemn or condone the American powers-that-be – left out another reason; the difference in basketball development here in the States compared to Europe and Asia.

Here in the States, we have relied on colleges as the minor leagues for the NBA. Whether or not the nation’s high schools and the NCAA have done a good job in being that free feeder system is up for debate (though truthfully, it’s been pretty bad these days), yet the system is an American construct only. Here, we ask our athletes to become the ideal Renaissance (wo)men; Academic and Athletic All-Americans who can juggle The Odyssey, a Spaulding and aid for a few underprivileged kids simultaneously.

Overseas, you have the choice early one to be an academic or an athlete. Players can go into basketball leagues as young as fourteen years of age, even becoming professional if a kid is deemed talented enough to run with a few grizzly veterans. There may not be much of a childhood for those who choose this route, but at least there is little interference and conflicts as there would be if both school and ball had to be balanced.

In a basketball sense, having the chance to play in a league with players of varying experience and styles seems to do more for the internationals than playing in a somewhat stymied league for young Americans. How those development styles translate on the court isn’t very easy to determine as players on either side succeed and fail at about the same clip, according to knowledgeable men like Fraschilla and others who have been around the game for some time.

Just observe the adjustment levels between some of your work or school colleagues. Some who have traveled the traditional path – graduating from an esteemed program of a major four-year college – may struggle in the first few months, or even years, of a job because real life differs greatly from the textbook. Some who had to work their way around to come to the company – transferring colleges or working immediately after high school, working in other industries, etc. – might perform very well in their professions because they were exposed to real-life challenges while their peers were still hitting the books.

No matter what, the beaten path is not a requirement for any player aspiring for the NBA life anymore. It’s an option on both sides as not only are American prep stars such as Jeremy Tyler following in Brandon Jennings’ footsteps but there are more international recruits in US colleges year after year.

Where there’s a will, there’s a way.

Say What?!?!: A couple of weeks late, but best of luck to you, Epiphanny Prince. Even you have chosen the Jennings route. I love it!

Intrepid

For those who have been reading Scribe for a while, you are well aware that the NCAA is as close to a cuss word as there is on this blog. It’s not so much about the action as it about the politics surrounding the surface of play. There’s no question that as long as basketball and football continue to be the engine that drives the organization, the debate about compensation for its athletes beyond scholarships will rage on.

Yet, though it may not appear to be the case right now, the future of the NCAA hinges on a couple of intrepid kids.

Last year, it was Brandon Jennings who decided to jump across the pond – bypassing the NCAA in the process – to play professional basketball in Italy before offering his services to the NBA. Now, we have Jeremy Tyler, a 6-foot-11 prospect from San Diego, who has decided to take things to another level by forgoing his senior year in high school.

High school.

It appears that Jennings’ gamble, which was to join a league where he would be tested by seasoned pros and endure a more grueling schedule than even the top NCAA teams create, has paid off as he’s projected to be at least a middle first-round draft pick in June. While many believe that his decision was based on not performing well on the SATs in order to enroll at Arizona (a test is not a measure of someone’s aptitude, contrary to popular opinion), Jennings understood that he would be wasting time in playing against peers that he easily dominated or would toss aside in college. Having played numerous invitational games (high school and AAU) seemed to have been all the evidence Jennings to see that there would be little challenge to spend the mandatory one season away from prep school to play in the NCAA.

So, in the face of those whose extol the virtues of a ‘free education’ while pocketing money for the work of these athletic marketing representatives (which is what a student-athlete essentially is), Jennings essentially became an apprentice. He decided to build his craft in a foreign land among men who are playing for more than mere dreams, but for mere employment in an über-competitive industry.

Tyler would have been a lottery pick in the pre-age limit NBA. Where Jennings appears to be the best young American point guard not in the Association, skilled big men are coveted with as much fervor as finding reasons to jump on the Twitter bandwagon. Yet, deciding to skip his senior year in high school seems to be for similar reasons as Jennings; being a man among boys. Why go through another year of quadruple teams against kids nowhere near your size? Why deal with an eventual college coach who is going to work to only keep his job or look ahead for the big program?

Yet people will be up in arms about Tyler’s decision to skip the senior prom, the senior trip, the aptitude exams and missing out on a 400-karat high school ring from a mail-order catalogue. The thing is that Tyler understood that the NCAA isn’t the only organization that feeds off of young talents, but his high school as well.

He understood that in high school (including those AAU teams and basketball factory prep schools), there isn’t a foundation or even interest to cultivate more than a handful of talented kids. Much of the reason for the age limit in the Association is because when a bunch of random names threw their names in the hat, there were too many ‘raw’ prospects, unfinished products and unprepared youngsters who were pushed through the traditional channels too fast.

This isn’t to say that either Tyler or Jennings will become multiple All-Star selections and win NBA titles. It’s quite possible that both completely bomb out when they reach the NBA (next season for Jennings, 2011 for Tyler at least). Yet, it’s hard to get upset at two kids willing to take such drastic steps to get one step closer to making their dreams come true.

For all the histrionics about the one-and-done players who are apparently wasting a college’s resources by not being engaged in the classroom, just be happy that there are a couple of teen phenoms who don’t want to do the same to some high school.

Say What?!?!: Further commentary found here.