College Basketball

The relationship between college basketball and the National Basketball Association is complex and evolving. Prior to 1979, most NBA players were recruited directly from college teams. That all changed when Moses Malone went straight out of high school to join the Utah Stars of the American Basketball Association. Subsequent to this landmark move, the NBA veered away from recruiting exclusively from the college pool.Two of the league's most brilliant superstars--LeBron James and Kobe Bryant--were recruited straight out of high school. Other players, such as Carmelo Anthony, only got in one year of college basketball before being brought up to the NBA. While NBA stars garner million dollar paychecks and nationwide fan followings, college basketball stars--even brilliant Division I players--often get left in the wake of history.Further confounding matters, corporations offer multimillion dollar endorsement contracts to the best basketball athletes. The rules which govern how and when college athletes may accept endorsement packages have evolved over the years. Athletes, coaches, and school administrators are constantly at odds about what constitutes appropriate behavior for superstar student basketball players.College basketball fans, meanwhile, expect more and more from their players. Student athletes often come under conflicting pressures from their coaches and professors to excel both on and off the field. Moreover, college basketball stars who get admitted to difficult universities based on their athletic prowess as opposed to their academic skills find themselves at once deified and snubbed by their student peers.