NCAA TOURNAMENT: NBA or NCAA? Leaving college early a mixed bag for top prospects

By JAY PARIS - Staff Writer | Wednesday, March 26, 2008 5:51 PM PDT ∞

Stay or go? Embrace college or wrap your arms around an NBA contract? Listen to your heart ---- and prominent alumni ---- or an ATM account with more zeros than Alaska in the winter?

While fans are busy marking their brackets as the NCAA tournament reaches its second weekend, elite underclassmen are wrestling with something more important ---- the decision to elevate to a higher tax bracket.

It's a dilemma that arises every spring ---– as predictably as Dick Vitale yelling, "He's a diaper dandy, baby!''

But are these baby players ---– in relative terms ---- ready to tussle with grown men? Are college stars prepared to go from being Big Man On Campus to possibly a 12th man one seat over from the guy distributing towels?

One thing is certain ---- make no mistake what NBA stands for. Those initials are clear to interim Arizona coach Kevin O'Neill, .

"The NBA means 'No Boys Allowed,' " said Arizona interim coach Kevin O'Neill, whose coaching resume includes an NBA stint. "If you're not ready to go and you go, you are not going to have much fun. You're going to be someone who doesn't enjoy their life very much at all. That's not a good league to go to if you're not ready."

At the recent Pacific-10 Conference tournament at Staples Center in Los Angeles, the images meshing college and the NBA were hard to ignore.

There was Arizona sophomore Chase Budinger, the former La Costa Canyon High star, dressing in the Lakers' locker room. UCLA freshman Kevin Love running through a hallway adorned with pictures of Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson. USC freshman O.J. Mayo shooting at a basket usually used by NBA gunners.

They, and others, are among the players whose early departure has been widely speculated. Predictably, none of them are tipping their hands. That's assuming they've decided what lies ahead ---- should it be a Ferrari or a fraternity next season?

"I'll just talk to my family and coaches and the staff,'' said Budinger, whose Wildcats lost to West Virginia in the NCAA tournament's first round. 

Strangely, Budinger has been here before ---- kind of.

While most know of his basketball prowess, he was just as good ---- if not better ---- in volleyball. Those with face plants from his countless days of spiking balls at Encinitas' Moonlight Beach will vouch for that.

Before leaving LCC, Budinger had to pick one sport, with hoops winning out.

"It was probably one of my toughest decisions,'' Budinger said. "That took a lot time to make that decision to play basketball, and I'm glad I made the decision. I could always just play (volleyball) for fun at Moonlight during the summer.''

Budinger eventually will play basketball for a living. But O'Neill, with his keen perspective on college and pro basketball, doesn't think Budinger could compete in the NBA after two college seasons.

"He is only 19 years old, and his process of maturation might be a little longer than other guys because of his age,'' O'Neill said. "But I think he is going to be one heck of player.

"He has to become more consistent with his effort on both ends. He needs to become tougher. He needs 15 pounds of muscle to become a guy that can't get shoved around because when he plays at the next level, that is what they are going to do ---- they are going to shove him around.

"This summer, whether he goes to the NBA or stays at our place, is a huge summer for him. If he goes another summer without gaining significant weight, it will be a problem for him. He's got to get in the weight room and he has to get stronger.''

Few doubt the power of Love. At 6-foot-10, 260 pounds, Love is more brawn than finesse, more about leverage than levitating. He already has a man's body after one season in which he was the Pac-10 player of the year.

With two ice bags hugging his knees while sitting in the Lakers' locker room, Love looked like a pro at the Pac-10 tournament. After five minutes of chatting with the media, he chuckled when asked if this was the longest session without someone mentioning the NBA.

"Yes, I would say so,'' Love said.

So what he does he say about next season?

"It's possible, but I really don't know,'' Love said of leaving for the NBA. "I have a lot more to prove. I want to win a national championship.

"If we were to win it (this year), that could give me extra incentive to go out on top. But other than that, we'll see what happens. Maybe I'll tell O.J. to go and I'll stay.''

As for Mayo, Washington coach Lorenzo Romar said the Trojans' guard is the real deal.

"They have a star playing for them,'' Romar said.

Mayo has spoken of wanting to put USC on par with UCLA.

"History has to start somewhere, and I was thinking (of) maybe getting USC turned around,'' he said.

Then again, the Trojans' disappointing first-round loss to Kansas State last week might have doubled as a push out the door for Mayo, who's expected to be a lottery pick.

Love certainly isn't the first Bruin to sniff around at the pros. All-American forward Marques Johnson was in a similar position in the late '70s, primed to mine gold in the American Basketball Association.

"I was leaving early and going to Denver with the old Nuggets of ABA before the merger,'' Johnson said. "They had David Thompson, Bobby Jones and (coach) Larry Brown at the time. I spent time with him and I loved Larry Brown; they offered me a contract and I had agreed to terms.

"All of sudden, the NBA came in and said they weren't allowed to make that signing without me going through the NBA draft. Otherwise, I was gone.''

Johnson still could have left after his junior year, and says his destination would have been Detroit to play for the Pistons, who had the fourth overall pick of the NBA draft. That was about as appealing as donning an USC jersey.

"I didn't like that situation, not at all,'' Johnson said. "So I was able to come back and win the first John Wooden Award and everything worked out beautifully.''

So because Johnson reaped the benefits of staying his senior year, he would urge others to do the same? Not exactly.

"I'm of the school of being a realist and not being one of those guys who says, 'He has to stay in school until he is 21 and spend three, four years working on his game,' " Johnson said "If a guy is academically inclined, he will find a way to get his degree anyway if he leaves after his first year. Vince Carter, Shaq (O'Neal), (Jerry) Stackhouse did it. A lot of guys did. I have no problem with that."

Johnson's problem is the double standard applied to basketball players.

"If you're in the music department and a prodigy piano player, and they tell you, 'We will pay you $5 million a year to go on tour,' they don't say, 'No, no, no! He has to stay in school so he should turn it down.' That's bull," Johnson said.

If a player's decision to enter the NBA is flawed, Johnson said, he should still be free to follow his heart.

"This is America, and you are allowed to make that mistake,'' he said. "Even if you don't make it ---– it's a gamble ---- why treat them different than you do tennis players and golfers? Some of them turn professional at ages 14, 15.

"But the other side of me regarding Kevin Love, O.J., (Arizona's) Jerryd Bayless, I'd like to see them stick around and use another year. But who am I to say, 'You are not ready.' "

Michael Cage nearly went. But the former San Diego State standout ---- the most celebrated NBA player with Aztecs' roots ---- stayed on Montezuma Mesa for his senior year.

Cage speculated that if he had left early, his NBA stay would have been brief. Instead, he played for 15 seasons.

"When you get up to the big leagues, they expect results,'' Cage said. "It has nothing to do with loyalty, with love. It's money and results. I pay you money, I expect results. I don't think young people come in and quite understand that.

"The money will always be there; that's what I tell them.''

Cage nearly answered the NBA's siren song. While admitting it was tough to stay in school, he said the lessons ---- both in and out of the classroom ---- were invaluable.

"When you make a lot of money, that doesn't necessarily make you the most mature person in the world,'' he said. "Nor does it give you the advantage of making the proper decisions when it comes to investments, choices you make about staying out at night, females, clubbing, all those things.

"I have no problems with guys having fun, but when you are 18, 19 years old and you turn your back on the college system, you turn your back on a lot of things ---- that maturation process, education.''

After Cage's junior year, the opportunity ---- called hardship cases back then ---- was there. But Cage's head and body wasn't.

"I wasn't ready emotionally, mentally or physically,'' he said.  "You know the majority of them are ready ---- look at Love ---- physically and they can play basketball.

"But can they play the whole game that embodies being a professional? (Can they make) the decisions you have to make being a businessman once you sign on the dotted line, the professional decisions you have to make versus staying out all night?

"These guys have too much money with too much time on their hands, and that's a deadly combination.''

University of San Diego coach Bill Grier saw some players leave early during his long tenure as a Gonzaga assistant. He said each case is different, but that he prefers players to stay in school

"My view on the thing is if a kid has an opportunity to be a lottery pick or get first-round guaranteed money, I think I look at it like, 'OK, he can make far more money if he leaves early than, say, he stayed all four years and got his education and doesn't play basketball afterward,' " Grier said. "When you look how much money these first-round draft picks make, you can't fault the kids for wanting to take care of (their) family.

"But you would love for them to go through the whole college experience. The kids that are fortunate enough to go four years and played in the NBA, they all talk about the great experience that was in college and how much they miss it. It doesn't have that same chemistry they had with their teammates; it's a business and it becomes a job.

"They get their money, but at the same time they are missing out on some really good years of life, being in college and having an education. When they get their degree, that is something that can never be taken away from them.''

Some early-entry decisions have disastrous consequences. San Diego State's Marcus Slaughter thought he was ready for the NBA and ditched the Aztecs after the 2005-06 season. Then he wasn't drafted and is now on his third overseas team ---- this one in France ---- in two seasons.

If Slaughter had stayed for his senior season, he likely would have improved his NBA standing.

"What I struggle with is these kids that get bad advice and listen to someone who doesn't know anything about anything,'' Grier said. "They end up going out and end up being a late second-round pick or they don't get drafted at all.

"Now they've given up that opportunity to stay in college and have that experience and graduate all because they had that grand illusion that, 'I'm going to be a first-round pick.' "

Cage put it more colorfully.

"You don't want to pull an apple before its time,'' Cage said. "They are green and still need to stay on the tree some. Wait until you are red, and you will get plucked from that tree and you will do better.''

Contact staff writer Jay Paris at jparis8@aol.com. Comment at sports.nctimes.com.