Hey, NBA & NCAA: MLS gets it right letting teens play
Ben Mines is a boy among men. Two weeks ago in his Major League Soccer debut, Mines scored his first professional goal for the New York Red Bulls in a 4-0 win over the Portland Timbers. Ben Mines is still just 17 years old. “I didn’t process it at first but a couple of minutes later I thought, ‘Wow, I just scored for the team I grew up dreaming about playing for,’” Mines said. “After the game, the more I thought about it I almost cried.”
As the NBA contemplates changing the league’s age-limit entry rule, the thriving MLS is signing teenagers. This week, NYCFC announced the signing of 15-year-old Joe Scally. Scally became the second youngest player in league history to sign a professional contract. In 2003, Freddy Adu signed with DC United at the tender age of 14.
The NBA requires that players must be at least 19 years old or one year removed from their high school graduation class before they can declare for the NBA draft. The rule has led to a wave of players attending college for one season and entering the draft, otherwise known as “one and done.”
The league has considered raising the age limit to 20, thereby increasing the likelihood of a player attending college for two seasons. Increasing the age limit allows the NBA, like the NFL, to use the NCAA as a free minor-league system, since a majority of players would have to remain in college for two years.
The NBA Players Association wants to lower the age limit to 18, which would give graduating high school seniors the option to enter the draft. The league raised the age limit in 2006 even though Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James successfully made the jump.
In conversations with several NBA general managers and scouts, most believe that if high school seniors were eligible to enter the draft, between six and 10 would be selected over the two rounds. The NCAA tournament, which resumes Thursday, will survive without six to 10 top players.
One compromise would be to open the draft to three or four rounds. Under that format a drafted player has the option of attending college for a minimum of two years while the team retains his rights.
“If a player is mature like LeBron, why shouldn’t he be allowed to go straight to the NBA?” Mines said. “Everybody should have that option.”
The NBA, unlike professional baseball, hockey, tennis, golf and soccer leagues, doesn’t give players that option. Mines’ decision to sign with the Red Bulls was complicated by the fact that he had been offered a scholarship at Stanford, a top flight academic university with a strong soccer program.
“One of the best schools in the world,” Mines said. “But I wanted to keep developing as a player. I did what was best for my game. Going to Stanford, the college schedule is tough. You play twice a week. You don’t have as many recovery days. And I would have tough classes to take.”
Instead, Mines, who joined the Red Bulls Academy as a 15-year-old, signed a multi-year contract with the Red Bulls. The deal is essentially the equivalent of the NBA’s two-way contract, which allows players to be on both an NBA and G-League roster.
The Red Bulls’ minor league team, or Red Bulls II, plays in the United Soccer League. They won the championship two years ago with Mines on the roster. One of his teammates, Kevin O’Toole, honored his commitment to attend Princeton.
Mines’ dream was to be a professional soccer player as soon as possible. He took the opportunity when it was presented to him but also understands the challenges ahead of him. A spot on the 18-man roster is not guaranteed, including Saturday’s home match against Minnesota United. He’s competing against men in practice and in matches. Mines learned that in his Red Bulls debut when Portland’s Diego Valeri, the talented 31-year-old midfielder, tackled him from behind. “It was my first touch,” Mines said. “Valeri welcomed me to the MLS. I’m not sure if he wanted to get me or get the ball. It is what it is.” It’s the real world now. But it was Mines’ choice. The same choice every teenager should have the right to make.