June 26, 2006

I was thinking about this week's NBA draft and wondering if the new rule that keeps high school kids out was fair.

Well, the answer is no if you think about players like Greg Oden and Kevin Durant. These guys could have been lottery choices if they were in the draft. Is it right to stop someone from making a living?

The bottom line is this ... if a player has the talent of a LeBron James, Kobe Bryant or Kevin Garnett, they should be allowed to enter the draft. Those guys are exceptions, not the norm.

We are supposed to be in the business of helping kids. With that in mind, I have a plan that would help high schoolers with mega-talent, the college game and the NBA. Let's get the best minds in the sport of pro basketball together, guys like Jerry West and Pat Riley, and led them designate up to five high school players per year that are capable of being lottery picks.

Then allow those players to decide if they want to enter the draft. If they go in, so be it.

As for everyone else, let's go to the rule that baseball adopted, that players who go to college must stay there for three seasons before being eligible to be selected again. That would add stability to the college game and end the problem we have seen in recent years -- kids entering the draft early, not getting picked and ending up being basketball vagabonds.

Some kids get bad advice when they actually are not ready for the pros. This would give them an opportunity to grow and enjoy the prime years of college life.

Think about other sports. Athletes like Venus and Serena Williams, along with Tiger Woods, had special ability and deserved the chance to excel at an early age.

Why shouldn't a guy like Greg Oden get that same opportunity?

Dick Vitale coached the Pistons and the University of Detroit before broadcasting ESPN's first college basketball game in 1979. Send a question for Vitale for possible use on ESPNEWS.