DaytonBuck;1134578; said:
Jermaine O'Neal and Rashard Lewis actually improved against NBA players versus playing in college. Greg Oden would have lost more money than any insurance policy could have ever paid him.
I'd love to see to OSU get loaded up with talent but not at the expense of their future. Going back to Cook last year I offer the advice that any sane person would have in the situation. If you can get million dollar money for playing hoops that's a train you should jump on.
And it took O'Neal and Lewis more than two years to make that leap. Before the high school invasion, plenty of the best went to school for two years and came out as instant impact guys. That's more than likely what would have happened for O'Neal and Lewis. In JO's case, maybe he would have come out a more mature man as well.
In Cook's case, there you have a guy that was never going to be a lottery pick. I don't care how many seasons he spent in college - he has flaws in his game that may never be fixed. So, for him individually, the one-and-done rule probably hurt. It gave teams a chance to see his flaws. If he had stayed in school another year, it would have given teams another year to see his flaws and he would have dropped further. Of course, that's the exact reason why the rule is important.
The rule gives teams more time to evaluate undeveloped talent. It gives "kids" an opportunity to mature in a structured, supervised environment. And it gives more exposure to these athletes than they would ever receive sitting on the bench for the first 2-3 years in the league - benefitting them for endorsements and benefitting the league for having players that are recognizable.
The exposure issues is extremely important here. It's the only positive that the rule brings, which benefits all sides. If we, as Ohio State fans, understand anything, it's that we will support our Buckeyes into their pro careers. The same is (will be) true about college basketball fans. It will help the viewership of the game to expand greater into areas like Kansas, Memphis, North Carolina, Kentucky, Ohio, Indiana, etc...