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The Indiana Daily Student

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Column: Vonleh did the right thing going to the NBA

spIUMBB

Noah Vonleh’s welcome to the NBA didn’t go exactly as planned.

The 18-year-old former Hoosier standout struggled in his debut Summer League game with the Charlotte Hornets. And saying he struggled is putting it nicely.

In his debut as a professional, Vonleh missed all 13 of his shot attempts , picked up five fouls and turned the ball over three times.

I’m going to repeat something, because you might have skimmed over it. Vonleh missed every single one of his 13 of his shot attempts. Talk about a rude awakening.

One of the ideas tossed around by NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been raising the draft eligibility age to stop the so-called one-and-done rule. The rule keeps the nation’s best hoopers in college for one year before leaving for the NBA, which Vonleh did at IU.

But don’t let the rocky start fool you. Vonleh made the right decision to go to the NBA. Raising the minimum draft age to put an end to the one-and-done players would not improve the quality in the NBA or change the basketball landscape as some would hope.

Unlike sports such as baseball and football, basketball talent transcends all levels rather evidently. Typically, the best high school players turn into the best college players and the best college players turn into the best NBA players.

In the past three seasons, just more than half of the NBA All-Stars turned professional either out of high school or after only one year in college.

The idea that freshmen who turn pro are going to be busts or struggle on the professional level hasn’t proven to be all that true.

According to NBA census data, there are typically 430 active NBA players each year. In total, 59 of the 82 college freshmen who turned pro since 1996 are currently on an active roster.

Are there busts? Yes: Greg Oden.

But is it fair to assume freshmen are likely to bust? No.

Young players like Vonleh can have successful All-Star careers despite starting at a young age. Kobe Bryant, ?LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Derrick Rose are just some of the teenagers who panned out despite entering the association as teenagers.

A popular argument is one-and-done freshmen aren’t mature enough for the NBA. Do you honestly think one more year of college makes enough difference in maturity?

If Vonleh’s game isn’t “NBA ready” by the start of the season, he’ll go to the NBA D-League where he will grow as a player playing against other professionals while collecting a check.

He will get significantly better playing against former NBA-tested players and top-tier basketball players in the D-League than he would against the likes of a Chicago State or Stony Brook squad.

The NBA is an employer. The nation’s best basketball players should not be denied the opportunity to get a job simply because of their age or time spent in school. The longer a player is kept out of the draft, the longer they risk a career-threatening injury like Greg Oden did years ago.

Noah Vonleh played well enough his freshman season to shoot up draft boards and get himself into the lottery. His decision to turn professional is frowned upon by many IU fans who felt cheated out of a star, but you can’t blame him for leaving when he’s ready to go.

The world’s best players fill up NBA rosters, and that’s why I prefer it to the NCAA — the quality is better.

One-and-done players are a staple in college basketball whether college fans like it or not. The NBA doesn’t discriminate by age. If you can play, you can play and deserve to enter the workforce instead of hanging around a college for an extra year.

To borrow a line from Kentucky basketball: succeed and proceed, Noah. You earned it.

sbeishui@indiana.edu

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