They're coming...OJ may be First

The "Basketball for Thought" is a commentary by Kris Gardner.

April 22, 2004

I am getting ready to attend this weekend's HUGE Houston Kingwood Classic which will feature over 400 AAU boys basketball teams from across the country competing at different age levels in approximately 1,000 games at 40 gyms in a 48-hour period! I'm looking forward to the competition as well as meeting some of the hundreds of college coaches who will be in attendance. This will be the fourth straight Kingwood Classic I'll attend; and, though this will be the 10th KC overall, I can safely say I've seen the event grow leaps and bounds in just the last three years. Of all the young men I have a chance to see, I'm looking forward to seeing one young man in particular -- OJ Mayo. OJ is a freshman at Cincinnati North College Hill High School; but, he'll be playing with the D1 Greyhounds AAU team this weekend. Believe or not OJ is already being touted as the "Next LeBron James". I have no idea why American society won't let him become the "First OJ Mayo"; but, apparently, he's one heck of a talent.

I first heard of OJ when he was in the 7th grade! High expectations and high praise were already being tossed his way. Then, he was the proverbial "men among boys" in West Virginia. He moved to Cincinnati before his 9th grade year to attend (should I say play?) North College Hill. Some people are saying OJ will be the first young man to actually attempt to head to the NBA after his junior year of high school! (Of course, some of those same folks said the same thing about LeBron.)

OJ is 6'6" and he averaged 30.8 points, 8.7 rebounds, 7.7 assists and 5.2 steals a game while shooting 60 percent from the field, 38 percent on three-pointers and 80 percent at the foul line this season at NCH. North College Hill went from 2-18 a year ago to a 20-0 regular season and a No. 1 ranking in the final regular-season AP poll. OJ was named Cincinnati's Division III Player of the Year by a state panel of sports writers and broadcasters.

Three years ago, I wrote a commentary titled "Get Ready: Cause Here They Come" about the increasing numbers of high school players skipping college and heading for the NBA. There is talk of 10 or so high school kids being selected in this summer's NBA Draft! NBA scouts and General Managers continue saying, "I don't like scouting high school kids." They describe the scouting as a "necessary evil". Blah, blah, blah.

From the July 2001 commentary: Despite the league's insistence that a player's high school class has to graduate before a player can be eligible for the Draft, what court of law would ultimately deny a young person his ability to earn a living in a non-licensed profession. I'm no legal expert; and, in fact, that reference to "non-licensed profession" was mentioned on my website's message board by a guy who's studying to become a lawyer; however, I really don't see how the league has the proverbial leg to stand on in this matter if and when they're taken to court.

I won't argue the pros and cons about high school kids declaring for the Draft because I've made my point many times before: as long as a kid is mentally and physically ready for the NBA, he should be allowed to enter the Draft.

My problem is with the hypocrisy of many involved on both sides of the debate. The NBA doesn't want these kids in the league; yet, while they still seek an age limit for the Draft, every team in the league attends the top AAU / high school camps which feature the country's top high school talent. Therefore, if more and more scouts are present at more and more high school events, then why should people expect the top basketball players to attend college after graduating from high school? Basically, the league has one viewpoint while the teams clearly have another viewpoint. Every general manager that says "I'd rather not scout high school kids" has sent his team's scouts to look at high school kids. Teams are looking for the next superstar talent; so, they don't seem concerned with Commissioner David Stern's hope for an age limit being implemented.

Honestly, if the league wanted to put an end to high school kids declaring for the Draft, they could stop attending high school games and / or events, period. If the kids didn't see the scouts (it's kind of hard to not know a scout because they tend to stand out in the crowd), then the "skipping college and heading for the pros" talk would die. Unfortunately, if the owners unilaterally did that, then someone (perhaps the National Basketball Players Association) would argue collusion.

The Houston Kingwood Classic continues to get bigger and bigger; but, the NBA and the NCAA need to quickly hammer out a solution because, five years from now, I don't want to see the NBA filled with 9th graders who lack fundamentals like most of today's pro basketball players.