SPORTS ILLUSTRATED IS WRONG... AGAIN!

by E. Spencer Kyte, Bugs and Cranks

In his most recent article, SI NCAA scribe Luke Winn discusses the ridiculous situation of OJ Mayo, the USC Trojans and an "advisor" who received some serious coin for he and Mayo to live off.

Everything he says on Mayo & Co. is legit. In fact, I would even go a step further in punishing USC than Winn suggests. Never mind voiding their 2007-2008 season - void the whole damn program, SMU style! It'll never happen, but this same crap will continue until one program gets annihilated by the NCAA for "being unaware" of situations like this.

Where Winn and I differ, however, is on his contention that the NBA Age Limit is partially to blame for these events.

In theory? Sure - no age limit means Mayo goes prep-to-pros and gets paid with no problems for USC.

Realistically? Sorry Luke. This is an OJ Mayo problem, not an NBA Age Limit problem.

Mayo has been believing his own hype since it inexplicably started when he was three. Okay, maybe not that soon, but you get the point. Remember his finale last season as a high schooler? The self-alley-toss-the-ball-into-the-stands manuever? The NBA Age Limit didn't make OJ Mayo an egotistical punk who thinks rules and a code of conduct and ethics don't apply to him.

Instead of axing the age limit entirely, as Winn suggests, why not up it to two years like The Commish has hinted at over the last couple years? It may not solve the problem of the Rodney Guillorys and OJ Mayos of the world, but it takes care of a bunch of the other complaints people have with the one-and-done exodus from college campuses across the country.

K-State would have gotten two years of Michael Beasley.
Coach Cal would have The Future #1 Pick back for another season.
Guys like DeAndre Jordan who shouldn't be declaring but do in fear their stock may never be better are forced to spend another year getting better, forced being a very relative term.

Dropping the limit might limit the number of OJ Mayo situations in the NCAA, but it would only lead to even more Gerald Green situations in the NBA. Actually, to be 100% correct with that, it should read "Gerald Green situations while he sits at his Mama's house in Houston, unemployed at age 22 after going straight to the NBA after high school."

Then there is the little thing about what the rest of us go to school for - education. You can't blame the NBA for these kids going to college and coasting through courses as student-athletes in name only.

The onus there rests on the shoulders of the player, the institution and the NCAA. But we all know that very few coaches are going to put their careers on the line for a kid skipping Basket Weaving 101 and even fewer schools are going to risk the money that comes from success in major college athletics because their star combo guard has a 1.6 GPA and has only been seen in a classroom during Film Study Sessions and even that is a rarity.

Luke Winn's heart is in the right place. He is a fan of the NCAA, makes his living covering it for Sports Illustrated and wants to see the icky scum left on it by OJ Mayo and Rodney Guillory removed.

The only problem is that removing a rule that encourages kids to embrace the opportunity they are given and get a free education before gettin' paid isn't solution.