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The Sportswriter's Concern for the Athlete

Jason Whitlock has a breathtaking column inspired by the poor NBA draft results of Mario Chalmers and Darrell Arthur - "poor" being the 34th and 27th picks, respectively, for those of you like me who didn't pay much attention to a Tar Heel-free draft. His solution to keep the Jayhawks in school? An education centered around professional athletics. No, really:

 

Universities should offer educational majors in professional athletics. Had Chalmers and Arthur been enrolled in KU’s hypothetical school of professional athletics with an emphasis in basketball, I believe they not only would’ve made more intelligent decisions but also been more enthusiastic about staying in school.

[...]

You can teach all the educational disciplines — math, English, science, etc. — through athletics. You can teach kids to think critically by properly teaching them the sports world. All the responsibility of preparing Chalmers and Arthur for the NBA (and life) should not have fallen on the overworked shoulders of Bill Self and his coaching staff.

 

Put aside the rampant possibilities for educational fraud inherent in such a plan - think of Jim Harrick's wonderful classes down in Athens - and just focus on Whitlock's impression of a college education. That it's just a glorified trade school. That "all the educational disciplines" can be lumped under the heading of professional basketball like it's so many 7th grade math word problems. Christ, even business students study more than one business over four years.

Here's a thought. Maybe athletes leave school early, driving sportswriters to write desperate columns on how they don't value the opportunity of good education because they're surrounded by folks like you, Jason Whitlock, who don't value the opportunity of a good education. Who just think of it as a rubber stamp, or something to pass the time in between layup drills. This is college, dammit, and players should be treated like the college adults they are, not ghettoized to special programs that further self-center them around chasing a ball around a court.

Players leave for the draft early because the NBA pays buckets and buckets of money. Some don't because they think they believe those buckets can be larger with another year of college sports under their belt. Some think the risk isn't worth the immediate payday, and they can improve quicker on the professional stage than in the NCAA's. (And some just really like that awesome philosophy class.) Most of them at least get a window into a larger world in college classes, though. There's no reason to shut them out of that just to further maximize your enjoyment of amateur sports.

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And Although It Didn't Fit in the Main Article...

... I couldn’t help but juxtapose the following quotes:

Players rebel against coaches the way a teenager rebels against a parent.

Had this taken place, I don’t believe Arthur would’ve declared for the draft and allowed his AAU coach Jazzy Hartwell to captain his pre-draft preparations.

I realize that Chalmers’ father, an assistant coach at Kansas, quarterbacked Mario’s bad decision.

That’s a hell of a lot of rebellion against coaches going on there.

by T.H. on Jul 8, 2008 7:55 AM EDT reply actions  

Ahh, yes, Whitlock

He has been a frequent topic over on my blog (Bring On The Cats).

In addition to the fine points you made, TH, I might add that I seriously doubt there’s anything to be learned about the business of sports that couldn’t be taught through your typical business administration or finance course of study.

We'll carry the banner high!

by TB on Jul 8, 2008 9:37 AM EDT reply actions  

Obviously Whitlock's Ball State Curriculum failed

to teach any semblance of logic, reasoning or research skills.

Going along with what TB stated, most major universities offer Sports Management classes through their Kinesiology departments or as a stand alone major. These classes typically include a more comprehensive focus on the business aspects of professional and amateur athletics than anything Whitlock suggests.

He is, in his ignorance, advocating for something which already exists in a far more inclusive and respectable manner than “course credit for playing basketball”. Here’s the link to the course requirements for a sports management degree from KU.

Nice find TH, another sign of the sad disregard given to higher education.

by learned hand on Jul 8, 2008 2:59 PM EDT reply actions  

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