The hired guns: Out in the open

This certainly could have gone on the college basketball thread, but I figured it was more general than that.

I like Andy Enfield, the new USC coach. He's from my hometown. But reading a profile on him today, I came across this passage:

My question is this.

Has the complete division of student and athlete gone so far that it's not even "wink-wink" anymore? Is it a sign of the elite to say you're glad to go get kids who you know will leave school after one year, obviously with no intention of, like, really learning something other than basketball?

I know I'm taking a simplistic view of it. I know that. But doesn't it strike any of the rest of you like a rather appalling concession?

 

The funny thing is - there have always been one and done college athletes - it's just that only recently has the player been able to make the decision instead of the coach.

 

Yes, it's a complete joke that American universities double as de facto minor leagues. That said, go Hoosiers.

 

Good thread for 1995.

The only teams that take one-and-dones are the ones that want to win. The rest still get get their panties bunched.

 

Like I said, I know it's a naive view of it.

Guess I just wish "student-athlete" still meant something.

 

It does. Just not in high-level men's basketball.

 

I totally agree with you. That's one reason I enjoyed covering the small colleges. The players knew they weren't going pro, so whatever sport they were playing wasn't the end-all of their lives. They were students, they practiced hard, they were involved in the university and community beyond sports. They would go out of their way to help you.

I really hate what the big-time college programs --- especially in basketball --- have become.

 

So do I.

Meanwhile ... the Yale-Harvard game is back on.

 

Alas, Yale is still trailing.

 

Ah, Yale-Harvard. Where all the players will go on to heal the world as investment bankers and hedge fund traders.

 

It does still mean something at the majority of schools. I attended a mid-major game Tuesday night and as we walked out we were talking about what year certain players were and then noted that the coach doesn't have to worry about any of them leaving early.

Most are still student-athletes. A few, though, are athlete-students.