If LeBron James had gone to Ohio State out of high school in 2003 instead of the NBA, Buckeyes coach Thad Matta knows what the net effect would have been.
“Had LeBron James come to college, his team may have won the national championship,” Matta said. “That would have been my first year here, and I would have been a better coach that year.”
So he was half-joking.
But three years later, Matta has rectified that situation with help from an NBA rule that stands to change the college basketball landscape.
Hello, Greg Oden. The 7-foot, game-changing center from Lawrence North High School in Indianapolis was hand-delivered to Matta’s Buckeyes via the NBA, which finally said “not so fast” to the multitude of prep seniors who jumped straight to the pro ranks. Now, the draft is not available to any player younger than 19 and whose graduating class hasn’t been out of high school for a year.
It means the stars, those players whose names are big and games are bigger, are back in the college game.
“I think it will have a dramatic impact, because the stars that we’ve had for the most part had been guys that had passed on the NBA draft and developed over a two- or even a four-year period,” Southern California coach Tim Floyd said. “I think because we don’t have as many of what I would consider to be ‘stars’ in the game, they are going to have a dramatic impact in year one. That would be my guess.”
Oden already has had a dramatic impact on Ohio State, raising the Buckeyes’ national profile tenfold. Magazine covers love him. Coaches around the nation rave about him. Nearly everyone believes this will be his only season in Columbus. Most said he would have been the no-doubt No. 1 pick in the NBA draft this year had the rule not been in place.
And he isn’t alone.
Texas hit the jackpot with 6-9 swingman Kevin Durant, who has skills from the paint to the 3-point line. He is so good a Texas newspaper boasted “the next time they redecorate the Erwin Center, University of Texas officials might want to display prominently a portrait of David Stern.”
Durant scored 21 points and grabbed 13 rebounds Friday night in a 92-66 win against Chicago State.
“I think the biggest impact you’re going to see is probably going to be in the post play, because it appears that most of the guys that get taken early out of high school are big guys,” Matta said. “I think for the college game of basketball, it is beneficial.”
Two other players who would have been surefire NBA draft entrants are North Carolina forward Brandan Wright and Georgia Tech forward Thaddeus Young.
“You will see a higher level of play,” Matta said. “Just like when you go to the NBA, there’s that learning curve that they have to get through. But I think with who these guys are, you should probably see some high-level basketball from young kids.”
But not everyone thinks the impact will be felt on a large scale. Count Syracuse coach Jim Boeheim among those.
“You’re really talking in some years as few as two guys and some years four or five leave and go right to the NBA,” said Boeheim, who had Carmelo Anthony for one season – when they won the 2003 title – before the new rule. “In some of the cases, I’m not sure those guys would have had that huge of an impact on their college teams.
“Now, this year, I think a guy like certainly Oden is going to have a huge impact because he’s a great player. Some guys jump to the NBA and they’re not great players. Just because they jump doesn’t mean they are great.”
Floyd may get The Next Best Thing in 2007 in West Virginia prep O.J. Mayo. While the guard has not made anything official, it has been reported the No. 1 player in the 2007 class is headed to USC.
And if that is the case, Floyd would not be worried about losing him after one season.
“I don’t think you have to look any further than Carmelo Anthony to take the risk,” said Floyd, speaking in general terms on the issue because coaches cannot talk specifically about recruits who have not signed a letter of intent. “That’s probably the most recent example of a guy who stayed one year, who probably had the talent to leave out of high school, based on what we observed at Syracuse that year.
“If you can get one of those elite players who would translate into being a top-five pick in the NBA draft, he can have a profound impact on your program.”
Chris Dempsey can be reached at 303-954-1279 or cdempsey@denverpost.com.
