BaltimoreTerp
07-11-2008, 06:16 PM
http://sports.espn.go.com/ncb/news/story?id=3483221
Former Arizona signee Brandon Jennings' decision to play in Europe may have sparked a fundamental change of heart in coach Lute Olson.
Jennings, who wasn't certain to play for Olson, announced his intent to begin a professional career in Europe on Tuesday.
Two days later, the 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach all but turned off his program's radar for top-tier NBA prospects.
"It's a situation now that if someone's a 'one-and-done,' we're not going to pursue them anymore, no way," Olson told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
...
"Jerryd said all along he wanted to stay here two years," Olson told the Times. "But then you get the agents working on the kids and parents all year. You might have the kid in your controlled environment for some time, but when [outsiders are] on the parents, you have no idea what's going on."
Olson, who led Arizona to a national championship in 1997 and took the 2007-08 season off as he was amid divorce proceedings, called the situation with one-year players a "farce." He told the Times he planned to use his position as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches to seek reform.
...
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who is also a member of the coaches' association, told the Times, "We can't do anything about this rule. . . . We're stuck with it."
"Are you crazy?" Boeheim replied when asked by the paper if he would follow Olson's mantra.
"We don't know who's going to go," Boeheim said. "You try to get the best 11 players you can. Guys will leave . . . it's a fact of life . . . But you still have 10 guys. When we recruit, we try to get the best one we can and hope he's good enough to win you a national championship, like Carmelo Anthony. But you have to be prepared for guys leaving, like Carmelo did."
"Now BTerp," you are asking yourself, "why are you posting an article on Lute Olson in a Maryland Terrapins thread?"
There have been a lot of discussions, mostly since the start of the University of Maryland's recent basketball struggles, about the obvious if unofficial aversion towards "one-and-done" college prospects of Gary Williams.
Some people support the idea, and some disagree. There really doesn't seem like much of a middle-ground.
Even among coaches, there seems to be some who gladly take the best players no matter what, and some who focus (mostly unofficially, as I said) on more commitment-minded prospects. As a non-Maryland example, it seems that very few Duke players end up leaving after their first year, though Mike Krzyzewski tends to have his pick of players which may have something to do with it.
There are also coaches who feel as Jim Boeheim, that even though they may not LIKE it, they will still try to put the best team on the floor no matter what.
Now my question for discussion is, how far should principle really go when it comes to these prospects and a school like Maryland that probably COULD get some but does not?
Should the goal be to use basketball as a student activity as originally intended, or as simply a money-making tool as reality seems to have dictated?
Is Lute Olson (and Gary Williams) right, or wrong?
Former Arizona signee Brandon Jennings' decision to play in Europe may have sparked a fundamental change of heart in coach Lute Olson.
Jennings, who wasn't certain to play for Olson, announced his intent to begin a professional career in Europe on Tuesday.
Two days later, the 73-year-old Hall of Fame coach all but turned off his program's radar for top-tier NBA prospects.
"It's a situation now that if someone's a 'one-and-done,' we're not going to pursue them anymore, no way," Olson told the Los Angeles Times on Thursday.
...
"Jerryd said all along he wanted to stay here two years," Olson told the Times. "But then you get the agents working on the kids and parents all year. You might have the kid in your controlled environment for some time, but when [outsiders are] on the parents, you have no idea what's going on."
Olson, who led Arizona to a national championship in 1997 and took the 2007-08 season off as he was amid divorce proceedings, called the situation with one-year players a "farce." He told the Times he planned to use his position as a member of the National Association of Basketball Coaches to seek reform.
...
Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim, who is also a member of the coaches' association, told the Times, "We can't do anything about this rule. . . . We're stuck with it."
"Are you crazy?" Boeheim replied when asked by the paper if he would follow Olson's mantra.
"We don't know who's going to go," Boeheim said. "You try to get the best 11 players you can. Guys will leave . . . it's a fact of life . . . But you still have 10 guys. When we recruit, we try to get the best one we can and hope he's good enough to win you a national championship, like Carmelo Anthony. But you have to be prepared for guys leaving, like Carmelo did."
"Now BTerp," you are asking yourself, "why are you posting an article on Lute Olson in a Maryland Terrapins thread?"
There have been a lot of discussions, mostly since the start of the University of Maryland's recent basketball struggles, about the obvious if unofficial aversion towards "one-and-done" college prospects of Gary Williams.
Some people support the idea, and some disagree. There really doesn't seem like much of a middle-ground.
Even among coaches, there seems to be some who gladly take the best players no matter what, and some who focus (mostly unofficially, as I said) on more commitment-minded prospects. As a non-Maryland example, it seems that very few Duke players end up leaving after their first year, though Mike Krzyzewski tends to have his pick of players which may have something to do with it.
There are also coaches who feel as Jim Boeheim, that even though they may not LIKE it, they will still try to put the best team on the floor no matter what.
Now my question for discussion is, how far should principle really go when it comes to these prospects and a school like Maryland that probably COULD get some but does not?
Should the goal be to use basketball as a student activity as originally intended, or as simply a money-making tool as reality seems to have dictated?
Is Lute Olson (and Gary Williams) right, or wrong?