The Hall Of Fame For College Basketball

In the collegiate world of sports, basketball has become an increasingly recognized sport among African Americans, predominantly males. The hope of any young basketball player is that one day a scout will come and recruit them into stardom The question that presents itself as a problem to the lucky few who are chosen to go professional, is whether or not an education is more important than a million dollar shoe deal, “The NCAA's (1998) annual six-year study reported that only 33% of Black male basketball players graduated, (Chronicle of Higher Education, 1999). Individually, basketball reported the lowest graduation rate in all divisions,” (Robinson, 2004:1). Basketball players have become so idolized in the eyes of young

In the last ten years many young and talented high school basketball players have chosen to enter the NBA draft. These 17 and 18 year olds decide to skip college, and instead they choose to take a big risk and enter the NBA, hoping to become stars and earn millions of dollars. In many cases, these youngsters’ careers are a failure because they don’t turn out as talented as they thought to be. They end up spending only a few seasons in the NBA because they are not good enough to compete at that level. Many of them have to move on to doing other things, such as playing basketball overseas, doing everyday jobs, or going back to college to earn a degree.

A plethora of reasons exist as to why a certain sport might signal importance to a state, but in Indiana, the sport happens to standout on a whole different level. Current Southeast Dubois Superintendent, Rick Allen, commented on why Indiana high school basketball remains superior saying, “One reason Indiana high school basketball is such a standout of a sport in Indiana is because of the community support behind the team” (Allen 2). The era of basketball between 1911-present remains crucial today not only for the big schools’ gyms in Indiana, but also for small towns gyms such as Huntingburg, Loogootee, Tell City, Ferdinand, and numerous others.

On May 6, 1999, Bill Russell, the man who redefineed the center by his unique shot-blocking, man-to-man defense and rebounding ability, and contributed to his team Celtics by his outstanding performance and remarkable leadership, finally attended his own retirement ceremony after 27 years of retirement. This great man in the history of American basketball refused to have a ceremony in 1972 in Boston, the city he perceived as the “racist city”, because of his concern of discrimination. On February 15th, 2011, Bill Russell received the Medal of Freedom from President Obama for his contribution to civil rights movement. Obama described him as “the man who stand up for the dignity of all men”. From being insulted, being refused in restaurants during tournaments, intimidating the world with his long arms and strong opinions, to challenging the politics of sports and fighting against racism, it has been a long way for Bill Russell, for American basketball, and for American society. Basketball, one of the major sports in America, presents the civil rights breakthrough both in professional games and in colleges. The book “King of the Courts: Bill Russell and the Basketball Revolution” by Aram Goudsouzian and “Getting Open: The Unknown Story of Bill Garrett and the Integration of College Basketball” by Tom Graham, and Rachel Graham Cody, reveal the story of how two of the greatest players in the history of American basketball, broke the color barriers in basketball and foster the

The likes of Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, Amare Stoudamire, and Jermaine O’Neal are setting the tone across the nation for high schoolers considering by-passing college for the NBA. Two of today’s biggest stars, Garnett and Bryant, have never attended college, but both were immediately successful and popular in the pros (Head to Head). The biggest star in the NBA right now, Garnett, is having an MVP-caliber season and is leading his team to their best record in franchise history. The teenagers with high hopes admire these professionals living their dream and hope to someday be in their shoes.

“After God and my father, I respect Larry Bird more than anyone,” said basketball legend, Earvin “Magic” Johnson. With the odds set against him, a country boy from the basketball hotbed of Indiana, Bird was able to make a name for himself and has left an impact on the basketball world like no other. Creating an image was hard for Bird; he dropped out of Indiana University after just twenty-four days because he was unable to adjust to the crowded university culture. Bird worked as a garbage man after he dropped out, forgoing his basketball career to spend time at home. Bird loved his time as a garbage man, where he learned to enjoy the simpler parts of life. Bird’s father committed suicide during this time, forcing him

On March 23, 1992, a legend was born. For Example, As a kid who grew up in West Orange, New Jersey he always had a one up in basketball. In high school, Kyrie Irving attended Monclair Kimberely Academy where he averaged 25 points per game, 10.3 assists per game , 4.8 rebounds per game , and 3.6 steals per game. Irving switched high schools because he felt he needed a bigger challenge. For instance, At Monclair Kimberely there wasn’t anybody who could possibly guard him. At St. Patrick high school, Irving averaged 17 points per game, 6.0 assists per game, 5 rebounds per game, his junior and senior year. During high school he played AAU for the MAC Irvine fire , which he led to their third New Jersey tournament of

Josh Selby was the top high school basketball player in the United States, and his future as a professional basketball player in the National Basketball Association looked nothing but promising (Pick 1). The National Basketball Association, also known as the NBA, is the professional basketball league in America and consists of thirty teams. Every year, the NBA Draft takes place, and the thirty teams select players who are eligible for the league. If Selby had been eligible after his senior year of high school, he would have been a top pick. However, the NBA’s eligibility rules required him to be out of high school for at least one year. Selby was expected to play the required year in college, be a top pick in the 2011 NBA Draft, and

“I had the chance to write about a lot of people that are going into the hall of fame with me and they’re all outstanding basketball players, legends, and people who have blazed the trail for a lot of folks here in

The legacy that I want to leave behind is in the game of basketball. I want to be remembered as an NBA legend (or the G.O.A.T.), and my ultimate goal is to be inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Although these are not the only individuals profiting off the talents of these young men. Another main group of people that benefit from the success of their athletes are the coaches of those athletes. Even though being a coach does require talent and you have to be able to pull in recruits, college coaches make or break based off if their recruits become stars. Looking back to the Manziel case, after his Heisman run, his coach Kevin Sumlin received a 1.1 million pay raise (manziel). And it’s not only Sumlin who is being awarded for their teams success, “average salaries for major college football coaches have jumped more than 70% since 2006” (manziel). This just adds to the list of people who profit off of the success of these young men, while

In this era of big-time college sports, it seems the main focus of Division I athletics evolves around the money that schools and conferences make through different deals. These deals typically involve television rights for individual conferences with major television networks. Currently the NCAA has a 14-year, $11 billion TV deal with CBS and Turner Broadcasting for the NCAA basketball Tournament, and this upcoming year ESPN will pay around $470 million to broadcast the new college football playoffs. The majority of this money is streamed to a teams athletic departments via their respective conference. The largest percentage of this money goes to teams that perform well on the field and on the court. Therefore the size of a school’s

Dedication. Teamwork. Leadership. Success. Those are four traits the U.S. and the 1992 U.S. Men's Olympic Basketball Team, also known as The Dream Team, have in common. Without question, The Dream Team was the best team to ever be assembled in the history of sports and it was created after a devastating third place in the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul. Ready to come back winning, the U.S. compiled eleven all-star NBA players (Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Charles Barkley, etc.) and one college player (Christian Laettner) who is known as the best college basketball player ever.

The 2016 NBA Draft took place this week. I have assisted the organization for almost six months now in anticipation for the NBA Draft. Although the team didn’t have a pick, the information that provided was valuable in providing team executives necessary information on all players. Some of the players that I was tasked with researching on, we have signed to our roster for NBA Summer League, which begins in July. We had one last workout on Monday, but I assisted in making final edits on all of the player bios that the basketball operations team made over the past couple months. On Wednesday, I assisted in setting up draft boards and making Intel books for the

In 1995 Scotty Thurman was on top of the world. Thurman led the Arkansas Razorbacks to a NCAA basketball championship with one great performance after another. After this miracle season, Thurman made a decision that would change his fortunes. Rather than come back for his senior year and get his degree, he elected to make himself eligible for the NBA draft. With a NCAA championship under his belt, Thurman was confident he was ready for the NBA, but NBA scouts had different ideas. Thurman could only sit and watch the draft from start to finish. Today Thurman finds himself without a college education and still chasing his NBA dream in the Continental Basketball Association. With nothing left to turn back on, basketball is all Thurman has