There was a time when college athletes who were draft-eligible had two options — turn pro or stay in school.
Today’s athlete has more to choose from with the transfer portal and the luxury of exploring the draft in basketball without necessarily leaving.
Of course, any time an athlete leaves early, there is some despair from the fan base. Not always though.
Sometimes the feeling is that we can understand why the player is moving on because it was time for him or her to try something else. It wasn’t working. Basketball player James White comes to mind.
Other times, we just want to tell them, “Well done,” and root for them at the next level.
Always remember that whatever these athletes choose to do, it’s their decisions and their lives. Whether they make the right or wrong choice is something they will have to live with.
It does affect the fans and sometimes can cause a coach all kinds of roster management issues. But it’s a new world in college sports.
That’s a long way of getting to the second part of our series on players who left early but were never vilified for the decision. We were happy to have them for as long as they were here.
Plus a few more that we wondered what the heck they were thinking.