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Look Quick in the One-and-Done Era
Published: 1/31/2013 2:08 PM
Last Modified: 1/31/2013 2:08 PM

Marcus Smart of Oklahoma State and Ben McLemore of Kansas are considered by many the two best freshmen in college basketball.
They’ll meet on Saturday when the Cowboys go to KU for a Big 12 Conference basketball game.
Look quick. If recent history is any indication, those two players will be gone to the NBA next season.
In the age of “one and done” college basketball, the best freshmen leave after one season for the NBA.
The rule changed a few years ago and it has dramatically altered college basketball. The best players in college basketball, or what should be the best players in college basketball, are in the NBA after one college season.
As a result, most of the top teams face some sort of rebuilding job every season.
Many believe it has hurt college basketball.
“I think if you ask most coaches, and they are honest, they would tell you it has been a bad thing for college basketball,” said former OSU coach Eddie Sutton, who coached college basketball for nearly 40 years.
Some believe it has also had an impact on attendance. It is hard for fans to identify with a team when it changes so dramatically every season.
Many coaches, such as Kentucky’s John Calipari, have embraced the one and done rule and flourished. The Wildcats have won a national championship with a team made up of a majority of freshmen.
But it provides for little continuity. And, just when you get to know a player after the first season, a great ones like Smart or McLemore are usually gone.
Many would love to see a rule in college basketball that would be similar to college football - three years in college before being eligible for the NFL draft.
Or, perhaps baseball where you can leave for the pros out of high school but once you commit to a major college it is three years.
Anything would be better than the one-and-done system currently in college basketball.
Yet, don’t expect it to change any time soon.
“It would take the NBA or the players association to change the rule and I don’t see that happening,” said Sutton.
Neither do we. As such, you better take notice quick. Those fabulous freshmen will be a pro next year.
“I don’t blame the kids,” said Sutton. “We’re talking about an awful lot of money. Given the opportunity to be a lottery pick, they almost have to go.”



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Klein's Korner

Tulsa World senior sports columnist John Klein is in his fourth decade of covering sports. He started his newspaper career at The Daily Ardmoreite in 1977 and moved to the Tulsa World in 1978. He served 10 years as sports editor for the Tulsa World before being named to his current position in 2005. He also spent five years as the Southwest Conference beat writer for the Houston Post. He has won many writing awards and is a former Oklahoma Sports Writer of the Year.

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