Prospects see value of college despite other options
CHICAGO » Tyty Washington Jr. remembers being in awe gazing at the banners in Madison Square Garden as he watched the New York Knicks meet the Cleveland Cavaliers and the feeling he had two days later when Kentucky faced Duke at the famed arena.
Something else he won’t forget? The reaming he got from coach John Calipari when the team watched video in the Hall of Famer’s basement the next day.
“He came up to me, he was like, ‘Kid, you don’t play hard enough’ and just started going in on me,” Washington said Thursday at the NBA draft combine. “I’ve had coaches go in on me, but I’ve never had a coach tell me I don’t play hard.”
Those experiences were invaluable to Washington, whether it was the feeling he had just being at The Garden or the feedback he got from Calipari after playing poorly in Kentucky’s season-opening loss. And he’s banking on them to help him make the jump to the NBA.
The college game can offer opportunities that aren’t available through other avenues, with the exposure through TV deals and the NCAA Tournament and all that comes with it. The burgeoning name, image and likeness chances that were created last year when the NCAA’S Board of Directors cleared the way for college athletes to start earning money without endangering their eligibility or putting their schools in jeopardy of rules of violations are another incentive for top prospects.
Options remain overseas and in the G League Ignite. A new basketball league called Overtime Elite offers top high school players a path to the pros along with six-figure salaries. Two
from there — Dominick Barlow and Jean Montero — got invitations to the combine compared to three from NCAA champion Kansas.
Though the winners of the NBA’S Most Valuable Player Award the past four years did not play college ball, with Denver’s Nikola Jokic repeating after Milwaukee’s Giannis Antetokounmpo won it two years in a row, the top prospects in the draft next month went the NCAA route. Gonzaga’s Chet Holmgren, Duke’s Paolo Banchero, Auburn’s Jabari Smith and Purdue’s Jaden Ivey are likely to go in the top four.
“The NCAA is changing a lot,” Wisconsin All-america guard Johnny Davis said.
The NIL is a major gamechanger.
Banchero worked with Creative Artists Agency and got deals that included becoming the first player featured in the latest NBA 2K video game as well as a basketball trading card from Panini as part of a multiyear agreement. He’s about to make more money in the NBA, and he’s hardly the only one.
“I think college basketball is in a good state right now,” said Michigan State guard Max Christie, a Chicago-area product.
He mentioned the quality of the players as well as the impact the NIL is having, even if it wasn’t a big factor for him.
“It’s hard to turn down money at some point,” he said.