Overseas Overschool

Photo/Rivals.com

Jeremy Tyler is just 17 years old. About to finish his junior year at San Diego High School, Tyler made a decision last week that took many by surprise in the high school, collegiate and professional basketball ranks. After originally committing to play for Louisville, Tyler decided to forgo his senior year of high school, to go overseas and play professional basketball. Something that has never been done by a kid his age, and only once before by any American high school basketball player.

Since a ruling in 2006, the NBA prohibits kids under the age of 19 to enter the NBA draft. Athletes are eligible a year after they graduate from high school, meaning they must play one year in college, or go overseas. While most high school basketball players choose to go to college, what most people don't realize is that they can decide to go overseas. I was not aware of this until it happened last year, and I also didn't realize that a kid could leave before their senior season...until last week.

While a lot of professional sports reporters/writers think the move by Tyler is "unique" and "smart", I feel differently. It's hard to tell what ones motives are for making certain decisions, and this one has me really scratching my head. Why would, "the next best big man since Greg Oden" want to leave the United States, where he is a top five recruit of the junior class, has an opportunity to play for one of the great coaches of all-time in Rick Pitino at Louisville, and can perform on the big stage in one of the best conferences in college basketball? Maybe he just doesn't like school, maybe his family needs the money or maybe he just wants to be the first junior to try the professional basketball ranks in Europe.

Tyler has stated he chose to go overseas because he feels he can get better playing against professionals, rather then other college players. That might be the case, but there are a lot of "what-ifs". I'm not trying to be a pessimist, but my biggest fear is that if Tyler is successful overseas, it will be the beginning of what could be a lot of high school athletes dropping out to pursue their professional dreams outside the U.S.

For college basketball's sake I hope this doesn't start a new trend for high school basketball players. The Lebron's and Kobe's of high school are exactly what the collegiate level needs. It provides a level of excitement that was lacking before the rule change in 2006. Besides if you are one of high school's top recruits, what isn't to like about getting to pick what elite basketball school you get a full-ride scholarship to? But then again a six to seven figure salary overseas does sound pretty enticing...

Rose in Bloom

Photo Courtesy of AP

So many words pop into my head when I watch Derrick Rose. Poised, smooth, clutch, leader and "wow" might as well be thrown in there to. The kid.... yes kid, can play.

In recent years the Chicago Bulls have always been almost unpredictable on who they might take with their lottery picks. They've been right (Ben Gordon) and they've been wrong (Eddie Curry). This year...they hit the nail on the head and now have the type of player, in Rose, that a lot of teams are drooling over.

Rose, only 20, was named the 2009 NBA Rookie of the year, the first Bull to earn the honor since Michael Jordan did so in 1984. I'm not going to say Rose is the next MJ, because there will NEVER be another MJ, but he is one of a kind, he's special, and he's exactly what the Bulls needed.

I have not had the opportunity to watch a ton of games this year, but from articles I've read, highlights I've seen and games I have watched, Rose's athletic ability is beyond the age of 20. Watching him, you would think he has been in the NBA for years. He's calm, he leads and most of all he performs.

In his first playoff game he dropped 36 points, tying Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's record for most points scored in a rookie playoff debut. Three of the four games of the series have been decided by three points or less. In every one of those games he has put the team on his back in the closing minutes. Whether he shoots, passes or entices a double team, he's always contributing, and is a big reason why a very athletic Bulls team, finds themselves tied at two games a piece with the defending NBA Champion, Boston Celtics.

Rose is the type of player that doesn't come around very often, which is why I like him as much as I do. He doesn't show off, shows some emotion but not too much, he's not full of himself and the millions of dollars he's making and he's a young pup who plays like he's been in the neighborhood for years. After a dismal 2008 season, the Bulls needed a player like Rose. They got him and now find themselves back in the playoffs. With the young, athletic talent around him, the Bulls should do nothing but improve in the coming years. Everyone raves about Kobe and Lebron, deservingly so, but in a few years everyone in the NBA just might be raving about a certain Rose that's just beginning to bloom in Chicago.

Don't Go McNutts---yet...

Photo Courtesy of Press Citizen

Marvin McNutt-- already a cool name in itself-- is making an even bigger name for himself on Iowa Football's most recent depth charts released on Tuesday...but not at quarterback.

McNutt, recruited as a quarterback, found himself buried on the depth chart the past couple of seasons behind Jake Christensen and the up and coming Ricky Stanzi. During the middle of the season coaches decided to experiment with the idea of converting him to wide receiver, a decision that is apparently paying off after he has recently bumped Iowa's leading receiver the past two seasons, Derrell Johnson-Koulianos, to second string.

What people might not realize is that McNutt was not your typical Division I football recruit coming in. He had a number of offers from many smaller Division I schools, and offers in football from schools such as Kansas, Nebraska, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Missouri. At 6'4'' 215 pounds, he's got the size and speed for a mobile quarterback that could present defenses lots of problems, but he also has the tools to pose defenses a number of problems at a receiver as well.

While I'm excited to hear McNutt is thriving at his new position, I don't think fans should rush to any kind of judgement. Be excited but don't go McNutts. Here's a few reasons why:

• Don't go McNutts because while DJK may be "struggling" which caused his recent demotion, only the coaches REALLY know how he is performing. They might have demoted him to make a point that, while he may be Iowa's leading returner at wide receiver, he has to earn every second of playing time.


• Be excited because depth at wide receiver was one of the question marks heading into spring ball, with the emergence of McNutt, that question mark can begin to be erased.


• Don't go McNutts because he only has one career reception and has very little experience against Big Ten defenses...facing your own team's defense is one thing, facing some of the nation's best defenses is a whole new ball game.


• Be excited because I've always believed this guy has all the talent in the world, just has never had a chance to showcase it. Trey Stross gets injured often and its hard saying how incoming heralded recruit, Kennan Davis, can or will performa as a freshman...enter McNutt, and pray to the good Lord that he's as good in real games, as he is in spring practice.

Those are just a few reasons. Take the news of McNutt's emergence for what it's worth. It's great news don't get me wrong...but there is a long time between now and the opening kickoff of the season. Don't let any Pat Harty newspaper articles ratting on DJK, or saying how McNutt might be the second coming of Larry Fitzgerald cause you to rush to any judgements on either him or McNutt. Paaallleeeeeassssseee....

Let's just hope this quarterback-converted-wide receiver goes a little better then the last time it was tried. Cough-JasonManson-Cough... (For those of you who don't know who he is, or how that went---well lets just say I have just as many receptions, yards and touchdowns at the Division I level as he did...)

For the Love of the Game...or Money?

Photo Courtesy of AP

I've always had a lot of respect for top-notch, future hall-of-fame coaches in collegiate athletics. John Calipari was one of them. After Calipari up and left Memphis, now one of the nation's elite men's basketball programs, last week for a struggling Kentucky program, I have a hard time believing that he took the job because it was his "dream job" he knew he wanted since 1992. This might be the case, but it has to be merely an afterthought following the millions of dollars, or the two free old model cars or the free golf club membership of his choice that were offered to him with his contract...and that was only part of the deal.

It seems as if any time a college basketball or football school that is a top-25 caliber, or is on the verge of being a top-25 caliber team and is in search of a new coach...some are willing to do just about anything to land the coach. Obviously schools are trying to lure some coaches away from teams which they repeatedly take to postseason play, and will need to offer something more then what they already have, but after Calipari's deal, it's gotten to the point where I feel it's getting out of control.

In a way coaching hires have become like recruiting blue chip athletes...except there is no such thing as "illegal recruiting" when it comes to coaches. For example, how about the crap Nick Saban pulled when he left LSU just a year after winning a national championship for the Miami Dolphins, only to leave there after just two seasons for an eight year, $32 million contract which includes: private use of a University airplane, two cars and a country club membership just to name a few. Of course Saban's Dolphins were not going to win the Super Bowl anytime soon but you wonder what the real reason for leaving after just two seasons in the NFL was? On a lighter...or maybe not so light note, when Iowa was in search of a men's basketball coach a couple years ago, Pancheros offered Rick Majerus free burritos if he took the Iowa coaching job. Seriously? Some are willing to offer about anything...or everything to attract some of today's elite coaches.

If the top high school athletes can't accept money, cars or any other benefits to go to different colleges, why can the coaches, who coach some of these top athletes do so? Of course as time goes on, the dollar amounts of contracts will keep steadily increasing, which I understand. But the offering of free cars, season tickets, country club memberships and private airplanes is nearly ludacris.

One must wonder what John Wooden, the legendary and perhaps greatest college basketball coach of all-time, thinks about the contracts surfacing today in collegiate athletics. Wooden never made more than $35,000 a year at UCLA where he won 10 national championships. Never asked for a raise following those national championships...and even turned down an offer to coach the Lakers which would have paid him at least ten times as much as he was making while coaching the Bruins. Where oh where did the John Woodens of the collegiate sports world go?

No Worries

Photo Courtesy of AP

I've often been accused of worrying more then I should by multiple people. Upon hearing the shocking news of four men's basketball players setting aside their black and gold jerseys last week, first reaction---"we're in trouble".

However, after a couple days of reflection I don't think it will be as bad as most Hawkeye basketball fans are thinking right now-- provided a thing or two happens.

Yes losing Jake Kelly, who developed into one of the more impressive point guards in the country in the closing weeks of the season, will hurt...a lot. BUT the other three players leaving (Jermain Davis, David Palmer and Jeff Peterson) each had their "role" with the team but are by no means irreplaceable. Peterson brought a lot of leadership and maturity at the point guard position and would have been a leader the next two years, but something wasn't going the way he had envisioned so you have to wish him nothing but the best. He'll be missed...but can be replaced. By who you might ask?

Well, Malcolm Armstead is a name that Hawkeye fans should get to know because there is a good chance he could be Iowa's starting point guard next season. He was the starting point guard at Chipola Junior College in Marianna, Florida, that went 34-2 this past season. He has scheduled an official visit to Iowa City and it's sounding very likely he will be a Hawk next season. The crazy thing about this is that Iowa is also after one of Armstead's teammates at Chipola, Torye Pelham. He's a 6'6'' 225 pound forward. If Iowa gets one, they will more then likely get both as I was told this past weekend that if one comes to Iowa, the other is wanting to follow.

Throw in the mix that Michael Jordan's son, Marcus (who obviously doesn't have quite the talent his father did but nonetheless would contribute for a struggling Iowa team) was offered last weekend. Jordan's interest is up in the air at the moment but if the guy is looking for playing time, Iowa has to be looking awful nice. Considering the recent transfers and the fact that six scholarships are open, Iowa is two or three commits from continuing to take steps forward from this past season.

Don't think for one minute that Freshman All-Big Ten performer, Matt Gatens, or captain Jarryd Cole will let this Iowa team take a step back after this past season. Even though Coach Lickliter is under a lot of criticism, don't be too quick to judge. Whether things get turned around or not, for better or for worse, a lot of unexpected things can happen in the off-season...just ask Memphis and John Calipari.