Posted on 04/07/2015 11:35:03 AM PDT by drewh
After Duke University won the men’s NCAA basketball tournament Monday night, Senator Claire McCaskill weighed-in on Twitter.
Congrats to Duke,but I was rooting for team who had stars that are actually going to college & not just doing semester tryout for NBA.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) April 7, 2015
McCaskill’s snide remark implicitly slammed Duke’s Jahlil Okafor, who is leaving after his freshman year to turn pro, and other Duke freshman who may not return for their sophomore seasons.
Duke has gained a reputation as a school where players complete their education before turning pro. According to statistics compiled by the NCAA, every student recruited to Duke by Coach Mike Krzyzewski between 2004 and 2007 eventually graduated.
Krzyzewski won the championship with four freshman, and several are expected to go pro early. This is the way college athletics now works, as John Calipari’s Kentucky program proves. But McCaskill doesn’t like it – although she doesn’t explain why highly talented young black men shouldn’t be able to leave college early to pursue their careers, unlike talented young white men or Hispanic men who skip college altogether to play baseball. McCaskill’s rant continued:
I see I have stirred things up. Sorry, but I’m sad about the one & done thing.I understand why it’s happening,but I don’t have to like it.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) April 7, 2015
To be clear folks, this isn’t about the kids,this is about the system.This is about the NCAA/NBA.I don’t blame the very talented athletes.
— Claire McCaskill (@clairecmc) April 7, 2015
Translation? The kids must be pushed through higher education despite the fact that their career aspirations lie in the NBA, not in an MBA.
(Excerpt) Read more at breitbart.com ...
Judging by the way Okafor played last night, he needs a few more years before he’s ready for the NBA.
It would be great if the politicians in DC cleaned their sewer first...thanks Missouri!
Agreed. Maybe the kid is a good player, but I didn’t see much evidence pointing to that last night.
Or, you could attend UW Madison which turns out Cookie-Cutter Communists by the thousands each and every year!
Yeah, the sports are great, but don’t kid yourself that you’ll be getting any semblance of a ‘conservative’ education in our UW System.
I guess she’s a racist, then.....
He’s got raw skills, but his footwork was horrible, it will take him a few years before he can start in the NBA if he leaves college now.
I think “one and done” has done a lot to damage college basketball.
Most who jump to the pros are immature, and don’t know how to handle the situation. And most of those who jump also end up leaving the NBA after a short stint. With no college education, most end ul flipping burgers. The lucky ones can at least play pro ball in Europe.
Speaking as a huge Bucks and Badger fan, I wouldn’t mind seeing Okafor in a Bucks uniform. But he’ll go long before we get a chance to pick him. He didn’t play well last night, and he needs a lot of improvement in his defense which at the moment is not NBA ready. But he’ll be able to score points. And he’s only 19.
I’m sure if he spent four years with Coach K, he would come out ready to play at a high level in the NBA. That’s the problem with today’s college basketball, the athleticism is there, no doubt, but the skill level is severely lacking and players never fully develop their game, it boils down to which team is more athletic than anything.
Is she from Kentucky?
Judging by the way Okafor played last night, he needs a few more years before he’s ready for the NBA.
how many layups did he miss...? Not even to mention the crappy foul shooting.
But even if they manage to complete their four years of eligibility, most are still quite uneducated and unprepared for the real world. So if they don't make it as a pro, they're screwed. Bankrupt, uneducated, and just another person on gov. system and/or into crime.
Some coaches are running basketball camps and basketball entertainment enterprises under the umbrella of a university. It is interesting how you can find every minute detail about their basketball performance and nothing about their academic performance. Maybe all basketball scholarships should be for a minimum of 2 years. If you leave after the first year the school is still charged with a scholarship for the second year.
....Claire McCaskill weighed-in...
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I was going to make a comment on that, but, I better not.
But this is actually a case of a blind squirrel finding an acorn. College basketball is little more than an uncompensated farm team system for the NBA, at least when you get to teams that consistently make the sweet sixteen.
There is some excitement involved when a 6'1" player makes a three pointer. There is none when an 7'6" player does a lay-up.
Her problem is with the NBA’s rules not with Duke’s players.
I'd like to see a modified version of the eligibility rules for MLB:
1. High-school graduate, at least 18 years old
2. If you sign a junior college scholarship, you have to wait two years.
3. If you sign a scholarship for a 4-year college or university, you have to wait three years.
typical granny mac.
America is in the worst mess of our history and this old hag can only find THIS to concern her dumb ass with ?
So Dem B. from Missori really thinks she has a say what DUKE U. in North Carolina’s BB program does??
Who give a rip?
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