Letner 1

Jayden Letner

Prof. Colvin

English Comp II

16 March 2020

High School Athletes Going Professional

Marcus Lattimore, Derrick Roland, Tyrone Prothro, Kevin Ware, and Burt

Reynolds are some names you may have heard about. That's because these guys used

to dominate the college scene, and they all had the talent to go professional. The sad

part about this is that they weren't able to make it to the pros due to devastating injuries

in college. For the past few decades there has been a lot of concern and questions

whether or not high school athletes should be allowed to go professional without any

college experience. Most people say that going to college would be the smarter idea

because if going professional does not end up working out then they would be able to

rely on the college education that they received. What most of these people need to

realize is that the chances of making it into the league are slim to none, so if the athlete

has the skills to go professional straight out of high school then they should do that.

The number one reason that high school athletes should skip college and go

professional, if they have the talent, is because you would be making so much money

compared to losing so much money towards college. In a source by Jack Renkens, a

well known man for advice in sports, he lists some positives about high school athletes

going professional. His first reasoning behind going professional is because “the

purpose of college is to get an education, be prepared for the job world and be able to
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make a good living. By going pro, you are already accomplishing making a good living”

(Renkens). Renkens makes a very solid point that you could be making money with a

rookie contract, and that if you really put in the work that it could become hundreds of

thousands… possibly even millions if you had the skill. A source by Fred Carter, an

NBA analyst for ESPN, also states that “The point of college is to receive a better

education to increase your ability to make more money. The best high school players

can bypass college and go straight to the money” (Carter). This statement by Carter,

once again, proves my point that if high school athletes have the ability and skill to go to

the league that they should since making money won’t be a problem for them.

The amount of time that is put into playing high school sports can take a toll on

some students if they aren’t careful. If a high school athlete commits to going

professional, then they won’t have to balance sports with other work that is needed to

be done. The sport that they play would become their job and their number one priority.

College athletics are just like high school athletics besides that fact that college is a lot

harder than high school in both education and athletics. A source by Recruiting Realities

states “One of the greatest benefits of going pro after high school is time management.

In college, not a lot of time is allocated to student-athletes to practice their game. In the

pros, you get to spend whatever time you want working on your skills and already start

playing against pro players thus perhaps elevating your game quicker than you would in

college” (Renkens). If you have the skills to go professional, then why worry about

classes and finding time to practice your game. If you go professional then you can

devote all of your time to working on your game, which can lead to you making more

money by improving as a player. Fred Carter also had some thoughts on how time was
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such a positive by going to the league. He states “Most people don't realize the amount

of teaching these kids receive in the NBA before and after practice. In college there are

time restraints on how long a player can be in the gym. In the pros there are no

limitations, and these kids are practicing and playing with the best players in the world”

(Carter). Only success can come from focusing on one topic, and that topic is improving

your game then I don’t see a problem with that.

The third reason why high school athletes should go professional if they have the

ability to is because they have the ability to become a role model or maybe even one of

the greats. In a Clutch Points article, by Omar Guerrero, it lists five reasons why high

school athletes should be eligible for the NBA draft. One of his reasons was because so

many role models from today’s NBA came straight out of high school because the high

school rule wasn’t put into place yet. “Some of the best NBA players of the past decade

have been those that were drafted straight out of high school. If you were to create a

new Dream Team chosen strictly from those that came out of high school, you’d have

an all-time team that could rival any generation’s best lineup. Just imagine a team with

Moses Malone, Garnett, James, Bryant, and McGrady as your starting lineup with the

following players coming off the bench: Dwight Howard, Amar’e Stoudemire, Darryl

Dawkins, Jermaine O’Neal, Shawn Kemp, Al Harrington, Rashard Lewis, Josh Smith,

Lou Williams, and Monta Ellis” (Guerrero). Each one of the players listed had very

successful careers, and two of the players listed have been in the talks for the greatest

of all time. Some players are even mentioned again in a different article by Conor Oliver

from Maroon News. Conor states “LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Lionel Messi, all

superstars in their respective sports, also share the distinction of not attending college”
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(Oliver). These players didn’t need a college education because they really focused on

their game so they could become superstars.

When a high school athlete gets a full ride to a university with the intentions of

playing their sport professionally are they really going to put a lot of focus into school?

This question leads me into my fourth point about why high school athletes should be

able to make the decision to play professionally. A very knowledgeable and credible

youtuber known by his channel name, Dom2k, put together a video after watching a

documentary about Ben Simmons, a current NBA all-star, who plays for the 76ers.

Dom2k references the documentary several times in his video since the documentary is

all about how Ben Simmons did the very least to pass all of his classes because he was

too busy working out and training for his college season. Ben only had to pass one

semester to be able to go to the NBA after college, so that’s exactly what he did. Ben

showed up to his classes for one semester and passed those classes, and when I say

passing I mean that Simmons only had to have at least a “1.8 cumulative grade point

average for one semester.” (Dom2k). When the next semester came around Simmons

didn’t even bother to show up to any of his classes because by then he had already

passed school for the year. This just goes to show that high school athletes going into

college with the dreams of making it into the NBA aren’t going to focus in school when

they have bigger plans ahead of them. Most of these special talents don’t even stay at

the college long enough to get a degree since they only stay for the one required year,

which leads me into my next argument.

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Most people who think that talented high school athletes that have the skills to go

professional should attend college say that because they think that the athletes need to

develop their skills. These people would be correct if the athletes stayed to play at the

college for all four years. In Dom2k’s youtube video he states that most of these high

school talents going into college with the intentions of going pro are only going to be

attending the college for one year. Dom2k states that “Some development can be put

together in one year, but that’s nothing compared to the development that could be put

together in four years at college. Why risk one year of injuries in college? Just let these

‘adults’ make their own decision to go professional out of high school.” (Dom2k).

Dom2k’s statement is just mentioning that by the time high school is over most of these

athletes are technically adults at that point. They should be able to choose what they do

with their careers whether it’s going to college or signing up for the professional draft.

Some people say that high school athletes won’t have the maturity or work ethic

to make it in the professional leagues. A negative idea from Fred Carter’s source states

that “A young high school kid usually doesn't realize how hard he has to work in the

NBA and is left shell-shocked” (Carter). The physical workload may be more for a high

schooler in the NBA, but the mental workload won’t be as bad since players won’t have

to worry about college classes while playing the game they love.

People still question whether or not it’s okay for high school athletes to go

straight to the professional leagues. They may be young when they make that decision,

but it is a smart decision because they’ll be making money, putting their time into their

game so they can improve, and not risking any possible injuries in college while
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allowing them the possibility of becoming a role model to many other kids. High

schoolers get to choose their path in college, so why shouldn’t they be allowed to

choose their path when it comes to playing sports. In conclusion, high school students

should be allowed to go professional straight out of high school.

“4 Reasons the NBA’s ‘One & Done’ rule needs to go.” Directed by Dom2k. Youtube,

uploaded by Dom2k, 16 November 2016. https://www.youtube.com/watch?

v=7UsqUZcXYHM

Carter, Fred. “Pros and cons of high schoolers going pro.” Fred’s Weekly Points,

Assets.espn.go.com, 11 April 2014,

http://assets.espn.go.com/nba/columns/carter_fred/1537641.html

Guerrero, Omar. “5 reasons why high school players should be eligible for the NBA draft

again.” Clutch Points, Clutchpoints.com, 8 March 2018,

https://clutchpoints.com/5-reasons-why-high-school-players-should-be-eligible-

for-the-nba-draft-again/

Oliver, Conor. “Around the Hill: Should high school athletes be able to turn pro?” The

Colgate Maroon News, TheColgateMaroonNews.com, 8 October 2015,

http://www.thecolgatemaroonnews.com/nattysports/article_f17d33a6-6dfd-11e5-

9e4a-032d0f697b31.html
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Patterson, Kwame. “Going Pro VS Going To College.” Scholastic Scope,

ScholasticScope.com, 10 December 2001, https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=14&sid=6ce9b577-6a55-46bd-

95ed-04133794c229%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#db=f5h&AN=5754248

Renkens, Jack. “Pros and Cons of Going Pro After High School.” Recruiting Realities,

RecruitingRealities.com, 12 October 2017,

https://www.recruitingrealities.com/blog/pros-cons-going-pro-high-school

Sorge, Carmen. “Study or Play Ball?” National Science Teachers Association,

ScienceScope.com, September 2001, https://eds-b-ebscohost-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/eds/detail/detail?vid=26&sid=6ce9b577-6a55-46bd-

95ed-04133794c229%40sessionmgr103&bdata=JnNpdGU9ZWRzLWxpdmU

%3d#AN=19038099&db=ehh