The great College vs G-League Debate

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

Figured we would have a thread that addresses this directly. 
 

Do you think it is more beneficial for a highly-ranked high school player to go to college first, or go straight to the G-League (or some other professional league) given the opportunity?

[toddc 13,194]

18 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

Figured we would have a thread that addresses this directly. 
 

Do you think it is more beneficial for a highly-ranked high school player to go to college first, or go straight to the G-League (or some other professional league) given the opportunity?

Come play for CBP and it’s gonna work out fine!

[AUBwins 10,104]

9 minutes ago, toddc said:

Come play for CBP and it’s gonna work out fine!

/thread. lol

[Rednilla 5,397]

Generally speaking, it's more beneficial for them to come to college, IMO, because it gives them a backup plan readymade if they get injured or basketball just doesn't work out for them. But I can't fault a kid for betting on himself in what he has chosen as his profession, and for some kids, it might even be better for them. I'm not going to be one to judge.

[DAG 34,033]

The top tier players who the g-league is eyeing on are getting paid six figures for a year of ball. IMO, that would be more beneficial versus risking hurting yourself without pay at the collegiate level.  If you wanted to get your education, you could take the money you made at G-League and just go back. Not to mention, you are playing better competition and learning from some of the best. I would defer to Cole or GWILL on this topic, but I am sure the g-league prospects have much more talent than straight up D-1 players.

[atl-tiger 655]

If you ask Jalen Green and Kuminga I'm sure they would say it was beneficial. Got paid, didn't have to deal with classes and projected top 5 in this year's draft. 

Just depends on the player.. Then you got guys like Davion Mitchell. Back up at Auburn, star at Baylor, now projected top 10 pick. College benefited him. 

NBA just needs to change it back to 18 year age limit. Basketball is one of the few sports you can skip college and go straight pro and compete. 

[ArmchairAthlete7 21]

1 hour ago, atl-tiger said:

If you ask Jalen Green and Kuminga I'm sure they would say it was beneficial. Got paid, didn't have to deal with classes and projected top 5 in this year's draft. 

Just depends on the player.. Then you got guys like Davion Mitchell. Back up at Auburn, star at Baylor, now projected top 10 pick. College benefited him. 

NBA just needs to change it back to 18 year age limit. Basketball is one of the few sports you can skip college and go straight pro and compete. 

Yes they got paid, but Jalen came out and said he felt like not going to college hurt is draft position and that he thinks he would have been #1 overall had he gone to college.

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

Stuff like this is what’s frustrating to me.  If AU was in his top 5 he would definitely be eyeing the G-league 😂

 

[DAG 34,033]

1 minute ago, Maverick.AU said:

Stuff like this is what’s frustrating to me.  If AU was in his top 5 he would definitely be eyeing the G-league 😂

 

What is NBL?

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

2 minutes ago, DAG said:

What is NBL?

Overseas, specifically Australia and New Zealand

[DAG 34,033]

3 minutes ago, Maverick.AU said:

Overseas, specifically Australia and New Zealand

So yeah essentially a professional league . 

[Maverick.AU 13,281]

Just now, DAG said:

So yeah essentially a professional league . 

Yes, I think the top talent gets a better payoff in the gleague than in the nbl as far as salary goes tho.

[AuburnArch13 185]

1 hour ago, ArmchairAthlete7 said:

Yes they got paid, but Jalen came out and said he felt like not going to college hurt is draft position and that he thinks he would have been #1 overall had he gone to college.

Yeah, he said that. But I don’t know that we have any real reason to think he is right. He wasn’t the number 1 kid in his draft class to begin with and he’s still almost definitely a top-5 pick. 
 

If an NBA exec or scout had said something like this, I might give it a little more weight. But this sounds more like bravado from Jalen, thinking that he SHOULD be the top pick.

[akillshot 299]

1 hour ago, AuburnArch13 said:

Yeah, he said that. But I don’t know that we have any real reason to think he is right. He wasn’t the number 1 kid in his draft class to begin with and he’s still almost definitely a top-5 pick. 
 

He was considered the number 1 kid coming out of high school last year - not sure how that equates to draft rankings

[AuburnArch13 185]

5 minutes ago, akillshot said:

He was considered the number 1 kid coming out of high school last year - not sure how that equates to draft rankings

Ah thanks, I didn’t realize that ESPN had him there. I was basing my thoughts on the 247 composite which had him at 2 behind Cunningham. In any event NBAdraft.net has him at 3 right now, behind Cunningham and Mobley. So not exactly a precipitous fall. And all that could get scrambled once the ping pong balls land and team need comes into play. So I’m still not sure we can say that Jalens stock has really fallen in the last year. At least not yet. 
 

https://247sports.com/Season/2020-Basketball/CompositeRecruitRankings/?InstitutionGroup=HighSchool

[tgrogan21 6,198]

Get the money when you can. Injuries can happen no matter what you do.

If I was an up and coming prospect I would want to work full-time on basketball and getting better rather than splitting time between school and basketball. I can always go back to school if something happens.

I know this isn't the topic up for discussion but I have to imagine this has to start forcing the NCAA's hand and make paying college athletes a thing sooner rather than later.

[cole256 17,084]

Jalen said he would've went to Memphis. I don't know why we chalk him up on our list as a miss. 

To answer the original question it really depends on the situation and now talented the individual player is. 

It's funny how lamello ball was being told how he was doing everything wrong and his dad was ruining him and his brother's but it now seems like he did everything right and his dad set him up to where he doesn't feel the pressures of being used by all the vultures college players and young NBA players deal with. And it seemed like such an easy transition for him to the NBA. If anybody followed him coming up you have to remember how people even questioned him being a college level talent, yet alone a NBA guy. It seems like playing pro and developing your game certainly helps some.

After how the NCAA pretty much destroyed schea cotton it's awesome how this old system is becoming a thing of the past. Now it's NCAA needs to come up with something to make it worthwhile, instead of how they use to just sit back and take, and be catered to. 

[WarEagle80 0]

False cole.  https://auburnwire.usatoday.com/2021/02/09/jalen-green-i-would-have-went-to-auburn/

[Rednilla 5,397]

11 hours ago, WarEagle80 said:

False cole.  https://auburnwire.usatoday.com/2021/02/09/jalen-green-i-would-have-went-to-auburn/

Right after he chose G-League, he said he would have gone to Memphis if he were going to college. That is more likely the case, as it was closer to his mindset at the time. All this article means is that he would have gone to Memphis and then second-guessed himself when he saw how much more he could have done with Coop as his point guard.

[ArmchairAthlete7 21]

On 5/22/2021 at 10:40 PM, cole256 said:

Jalen said he would've went to Memphis. I don't know why we chalk him up on our list as a miss. 

To answer the original question it really depends on the situation and now talented the individual player is. 

It's funny how lamello ball was being told how he was doing everything wrong and his dad was ruining him and his brother's but it now seems like he did everything right and his dad set him up to where he doesn't feel the pressures of being used by all the vultures college players and young NBA players deal with. And it seemed like such an easy transition for him to the NBA. If anybody followed him coming up you have to remember how people even questioned him being a college level talent, yet alone a NBA guy. It seems like playing pro and developing your game certainly helps some.

After how the NCAA pretty much destroyed schea cotton it's awesome how this old system is becoming a thing of the past. Now it's NCAA needs to come up with something to make it worthwhile, instead of how they use to just sit back and take, and be catered to. 

It really is impressive the way the Ball family handled his draft prep. Like him or hate him, his had built his brand to the level that he was able to go play in the middle of nowhere and have no one see him play, yet still keep his name on people's minds and in the headlines.

[tigerbrotha12 2,362]

On 5/24/2021 at 11:21 AM, ArmchairAthlete7 said:

It really is impressive the way the Ball family handled his draft prep. Like him or hate him, his had built his brand to the level that he was able to go play in the middle of nowhere and have no one see him play, yet still keep his name on people's minds and in the headlines.

I think I would say that the majority of players do not have this luxury of already having a national brand coming out of high school. Hardcore NBA fans may know them, but the casual fan will not. You can build that in March Madness and in college regular season on TV games, plus there are college highlights on ESPn and rarely ever minor league highlights. 

From the perspective of people being worried about injury, I don't think that matters much at all anymore. If anything, Chuma's stock went UP after his ACL tear, and it didn't seem to hinder Michael Porter Jr. from Missouri either. NBA teams do not seem swayed by injuries anymore.

There just doesn't seem to be a huge threat of a career ending injury. Heck, Kevin Ware from Louisville snapped his leg in half in the tournament, and is playing pro ball in Greece now. 

[AUDub 11,187]

55 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

From the perspective of people being worried about injury, I don't think that matters much at all anymore. If anything, Chuma's stock went UP after his ACL tear, and it didn't seem to hinder Michael Porter Jr. from Missouri either. NBA teams do not seem swayed by injuries anymore.

Depends on the nature if the injury.

Chuma would've have been top 10 easy without the injury.

59 minutes ago, tigerbrotha12 said:

There just doesn't seem to be a huge threat of a career ending injury. Heck, Kevin Ware from Louisville snapped his leg in half in the tournament, and is playing pro ball in Greece now. 

Ware thinks he'd have made it to the NBA without the injury.