The NBA's age limit (19) for young athletes to be eligible to declare for the NBA draft.
Storified by MaxLutz · Fri, May 09 2014 16:22:47
In an article in 2007 published in The Chronicles of Higher Education, Brad Wolverton, a well-established senior writer for the chronicle and many other publications, informs people about the both sides of the argument on the one and done rule in college basketball. In this article, Wolverton analyses the two main topics about the piece. First he claims that Bob Knight, a famous basketball coach, argues that the one and done rule makes the college game worse, and proceeds to insist that it is the worst thing he has seen since he has been coaching. Knight claims that the kids will not focuses on as much academics as they should, and that the rule pushes players to skip crucial classes just to work on basketball. The second point of the argument that Wolverton makes is that it will get players to try college and they may like it and want to continue it in the future, as a few players already have. Bob Knight also mentions that he believes the college athletes should be forced to partake in a pre college course. He also suggested that the minimum age requirement age for basketball to three years before going to the pros. Since work in the classroom is where the NBA and collegiate athletics is trying to achieve for players, implying this rule was a helpful idea, but it can certainly be improved. Based on this article, Wolverton was not biased at all and gave both sides to the compelling story.
In this article in The Chronicles of Higher Education I learned there are really two completely sides and arguments for this topic. One side famous coach Bob Knight is not in favor of the one-and-done rule. Knight argues that the kids get hurt by this rule because they are forced to go to college, even though they are necessarily cut out for college. Also I learned that there are coaches that are for the one-and-done rule and say that this rule is a step in the right direction for college basketball. They also argue that it gives kids the opportunity to extend their college career if they choose, and that will give them guidance after their playing days are over. This article helped deepen my understanding about the one-and-done rule because it gave me perspective on both sides of the argument. Both sides have very strong arguments and make solid points. This article is an alright article, it does provide some very unusual insight for people, however it is very short and can lead you to some dead ends.
"Analyzing the WNBA's Mandatory Age/Education Policy from a Legal, Cultural,and Ethical Perspective: Women, Men, and the Professional Sports Landscape"
http://scholarlycommons.law.northwestern.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1017&context=njlsp
In this article published in Northwestern Journal of Law and Social Policy, authors Marc Edelman and C. Keith Harrison analyze the difference between the NBA and WNBA and criticize the WNBA. Edelman and Harrison make three points. Greg Oden (Freshman) and Courtney Paris (Sophomore) both had out standing years in basketball in 2008 and probably would have both gone to the pros in their respective leagues, if the could. However Courtney could not to to the WNBA because of the "WNBA age/education policy" (Edelman and Harrison, 3) which states that a player must be at least 22 years old, or have at least four years of college education to play in the WNBA. Even though Paris was older and better educated, she could not go to the pros, while Oden a year younger could. They claimed it was not fair for the college women, and they should have the same rules because they have equal abilities. Also, women have unequal right as far as basketball is concerned because they do not have the one-and-done rule. The authors also claim that with the age/education rule in the WNBA it produces scholarly athletes, and studies show that "female athletes who play college basketball graduate from college at a higher rate than any other American education. Finally women basketball players must play four years of college which means that she is sacrificing her self fulfillment and money while the men are making millions just one year removed from high school. Based on this article the authors remain unbiased because they mention both sides of the argument of women not having the one-and-done rule.
From this article I learned that the women age/education requirement for the WNBA is a highly debated topic in the world today amongst sports fans. I also learned a lot about race and academics in this article. Candace Parker a black female basketball player and also an exceptional student in the class room. Another thing I learned was that women that play college basketball have the highest graduation rated among American education, which really speaks for the type of association the WNBA is. This article helped deepen my understanding about the one-and-done rule because it made me realize that men and women are not the same and there is still gender and racial discrimination in college basketball. These women basketball players give up many years making money and have to go to college for three more years that the men do which speaks for the durability and endurance of these athletes and the WNBA for staying with their decision. This article is very long and goes into deep detail about the law and ethnical perspective surrounding women's college basketball, and is very informational and gives helpful facts regarding rules and race in college basketball.
Overall I came into this research being fairly biased and naive, but I am walking away from this research with a much better idea of the one-and-done rule, and all of the complications that come with it. I learned great deal of information and found a collection of articles that spike my interests and help further my knowledge of the one-and-done rule. I never knew there were so many ideas and values that went into creating the rule. I now have all my questions answered about race, gender, expert opinions, and history and how they relate to the one-and-done rule and the minimum age requirement for NBA.
Bibliographic Citation
Brown, Robert, and Todd Jewel. "Race, Revenues, and College Basketball - Springer."Race, Revenues, and College Basketball - Springer. Springer Link, n.d. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
Christian Science Monitor, 22 May 2001. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
“Athletics.” The Chronicle of Higher Education. N.p., n.d. Web. 30 Mar. 2014.
Edelman, Marc, and Keith Harrison. "Analyzing the WNBA's Mandatory Age/Education Policy." Northwestern Journal of Law & Social Policy, 2008. Web. 6 Apr. 2014.
"John Calipari on the One-and-done Rule." YouTube. YouTube, 31 May 2012. Web. 09 Apr. 2014.
Myron Medcalf. "Roots of One-and-done Rule Run deep." ESPN. ESPN Internet Ventures, 26 June 2012. Web. 07 Apr. 2014.
“NBA’s ‘one and Done’ Rule May Have Role in Abuses – USATODAY.com.” NBA’s
“Straight to the NBA – without a Stop at College.” The Christian Science Monitor, The