So living in Lawrence, I hear all about Kansas basketball. I can tell you where Cole Aldrich does his grocery shopping and such and such. Last week though a co-worker who used to play football for KU told me he has heard the Xavier Henry has already quit going to classes. Since, he told me this, I've heard this same rumor from about 20 different people. I hope this isn't true because it makes Kansas look bad. I thinkif you're not attending class the played should be suspended for post season play. This is why I didn't like BJ Mullens.

I not sure this is true but, wanted to hear others thoughts on this.

Why should he have to go to class when he's about to go professional and make millions of dollars?

And please don't say because he's a student-athlete and student comes first. It's not his fault David Stern and the players association made this stupid ass rule that forces players who are ready for the NBA to have to go to a stepping stone school for a year and "pretend" like they actually wanna be there.

Technically he doesnt have to go to college. He could go to Europe and play for a year while making money. Then go to the NBA next year. I think thats what Jennings did with the Bucks.

If the school dumps money into a student athlete for a scholly, then the kid should finish a full year in class to respect the school....instead of just using the school.

i wouldnt go to classes either. not his fault the rule states players have to be one year removed from high school.

cats gone wild wrote: If the school dumps money into a student athlete for a scholly, then the kid should finish a full year in class to respect the school....instead of just using the school.

Oh he'll finish the class. I've had a class where the exams were all from the book and none from the lecture. I didn't go to one lecture the entire quarter, just went twice--once for the midterm, once for the final. Does that mean I'm not completing the class?

And get out of here with your last line "instead of using the school"

He's forced to go to the school for a year, so he's not using anything (it's actually the exact opposite.

If the schools weren't ok with the players doing this... then don't give them scholarships to begin with.

It's the NBA's fault for making up a stupid rule.

I wouldn't go to class either if I was about to go pro. Once they are ruled academically eligible following 1st semester grades in December, the 2nd semester is irrevelevant.

In the end, this merely makes Kansas look bad/hurts the program's academic numbers, etc. You can't really blame Xavier, though. He's playing the system like the system is playing him. It's all cyclical.

Beyond that, it's whatever.

reclegend22 wrote: this merely makes Kansas look bad

If KU was the only school that has this "issue", I'd probably agree with you.

When this happens with every one and done in the country, it doesn't make anyone look bad. Well it makes the NBA look bad actually, considering it's because of their stupid rule this is all happening.

KU doesn't care what classes this guy attends.. They only care about winning.. You're kidding yourself if you think otherwise.

It's not really a matter of them caring. The system allows this to be the case. Then again, it's another downfall of the one and done rule. Xavier Henry shouldn't even have had to go to college. Make them stay 2 years or let them go out of high school. It's pretty simple.

^^^^

This.

No surprise here. Wall and Cousins dropped their classes at UK too. Happens all over with these 1 and dones.

cats gone wild wrote: If the school dumps money into a student athlete for a scholly, then the kid should finish a full year in class to respect the school....instead of just using the school.

KU makes so much more money from the basketball program (and by extension, Xavier Henry) than they put in for his and his teammates schollies and whatever stipends they receives.

This also doesn't make KU look bad at all as it happens everywhere. I remember my freshman year here, Greg Oden was assigned to my lab group. He came to class the week before the Final Four, which was the first week of spring quarter. He was never there again. Naturally I was pissed because I missed out on having GO as one of my lab partners.

Pick6 wrote: Technically he doesnt have to go to college. He could go to Europe and play for a year while making money. Then go to the NBA next year. I think thats what Jennings did with the Bucks.

Didn't he say he hated it too and wouldn't advise anyone to do it that way?

Maybe not, thought I read that somewhere.

Not Henry's fault, don't think he should be suspended either. Like others have said, the systems sets it up that way. Don't hate the player, hate the game, as they say. I wouldn't go to class either--he didn't go to KU to go to class. Isn't college supposed to prepare you for the professional level? Class isn't the best preparation for a kid trying to play professional basketball.

Maybe schools should start offering Basketball Theory majors for athletes. Might sound funny, but why not? Could help them after their playing career as well--coaching, sports management, whatever. I just don't have a problem with things like this because the system causes it--many of us know it's stressful enough to be a college student, we can't fathom the extra pressure they have. And they get what? A few semesters of free tuition to make LOTS of money for the university--which, no matter how you want to spin it, is bound to make the college better for all of the other students.

Azubuike24 wrote: It's not really a matter of them caring. The system allows this to be the case. Then again, it's another downfall of the one and done rule. Xavier Henry shouldn't even have had to go to college. Make them stay 2 years or let them go out of high school. It's pretty simple.

Then the NCAA needs to make the rule. The rule is a good thing for the NBA IMO, and I don't think they care or should care about how it effects the NCAA. Like Pick6 said, players have other options--even if Jennings said he wouldn't recommend it to anyone. It's the NCAA responsibility to make this a rule if they feel it's hurting their institutions. The NBA doesn't care because the best players will eventually work their way there, the franchises just don't want them straight from HS anymore. And I don't blame them--many great players came straight from HS, but many players that never did shit did too. They're throwing too much money at these guys to only see them on the high school level.

Another reason to prefer high school athletics over college and pro sports.The kids in high school are still playing for the joy of playing the game. I have always enjoyed watching high school kids, with probably no chance whatsoever of playing in a top division college, much less the pros, hustle their tails off and dive on the floor for loose balls and hit a game winner. That memory will stay with them the rest of their lives and then their normal life in a normal job begins. very possibly, their sons and daughters will show up in that same gym in 15 or so years and the cycle plays through again.....and for me, it's just as special every time I see it. Sports can teach kids so much more than the idea that everyone is a college prospect and will go to the pros.

Don't blame the kid for this. Its what the system has created...and I can admit I would be doing the same if I were in their shoes.

First off, this isn't a "Kansas rumor" it is college basketball's dirty little secret. The Univiersty of Kansas has never had a one and done player before but Xavier will be its first. Some in Lawrence may be suprised by all this but around college basketball it is just the status quo. College basketball allowed this to happen so lets not make Kansas out to be a program doing something wrong. Cole Aldrich was an Academic All-American this year. The team GPA is high and the graduation rate is good. Coach Self and the KU program care about academics and graduating players but also care about these players doing what is best for them. Xavier is one and done and everyone knows it. He is finishing out his college career the same way Kevin Love, Derrick Rose, BJ Mullins, John Wall, and countless others have.

The rule is GREAT for the NBA. However, terrible for college basketball. The NBA isnt gonna change anything because it has made their league MUCH better. But the NCAA needs to change it and add a second year to it.