[Stardust]

Basketball elder statesman Terry Holland played point guard for Lefty Driesell at Davidson. He later became Virginia's winningest coach. He now works as athletics Director at East Carolina.

Oh yeah, he's also a nerd.

Holland, who turned 70 on April 2, is a nerd because he objects to so-called one-and-done players in college basketball. With five Kentucky underclassmen entering the 2012 NBA Draft last week, Coach John Calipari again defended the growing practice of players using college as a temporary stop en route to the NBA.

As a guest last week on the aptly-named Fox Sports Radio show Loose Cannons, Calipari said, "You had these players at a young age playing for each other and not themselves, sharing the ball, sacrificing their game for the good of the team, and every young player on the planet got to see it, including NBA players that thought that is neat. We all learned.

"Yet some nerd has got to say, 'Well it's bad for college sports.' Why? Because they're talented? Was it bad when Tiger Woods left Stanford? (Sarcastically) He ruined that university by leaving early! I mean what are you talking about?"

Calipari was labeling critics of one-and-done players nerds, not Holland particularly.

In an exchange of email messages, Holland explained his view.

Read more here: http://www.kentucky.com/2012/04/21/21598...rylink=cpy

[WideRight05]

2012 National Champs. Enough said.

[Stardust]

Alright, you guy's know my rooted feelings about Cal, but he's playing by the rules that are implemented. One and done is what rule is in place. I personally do not like the one and done rule, but it's what we have. The NBA needs to change their rule. I believe players should be eligible to enter the NBA out of High School. If you decide to go to school, you should be required to go a minimum of two years. If we get that rule, then it would appease a lot of people. But, if hired mercenaries are a part of the sport. then so be it. If it's not UK, then it's going to be another school, so these old-timers need to chill out about it.

[WideRight05]

^ Agreed, and Calipari is also for that rule. He wrote an article a while back on his website saying that he even disagreed with that rule. But out of curiousity, what are your feelings now toward Cal? I know you gave him a hard time last year on his X's and O's lol.

[Spud6]

I'm with WR05. National Champs baby!

[Stardust]

^ Agreed, and Calipari is also for that rule. He wrote an article a while back on his website saying that he even disagreed with that rule. But out of curiousity, what are your feelings now toward Cal? I know you gave him a hard time last year on his X's and O's lol.

I still have issues with his X's and O's. I still think he makes changes that make no sense. I also think that you can't lose with the talent he's had, thus, Billy Clyde may have even been successful when you put the best five players in the country on the floor three straight years. BUT, I will concede that his ability to get these players to buy into the "Team" concept is impressive!

As for my like/dislike, I can't say that has changed. Three years in, it has softened, but it still there. I still believe he is a snake, and being a true UK fan and recall the trash that he spewed in the 90's towards UK and Pitino, I still hold a grudge. It's like having a brother in-law that cheated on your sister all throughout their dating, and then when they get married, you accept him but you are waiting for the time he screws her over! :igiveup:

[RunItUpTheGut]

I just dont see why people are bitching about it when its the NCAA's rule.
When it changes so will we.
Until then they all need to STFU.

[Stardust]

I just dont see why people are bitching about it when its the NCAA's rule.
When it changes so will we.
Until then they all need to STFU.

Actually, there is no NCAA rule on collegiate athletes entering professional sports. It's the leagues themselves that dictate the legal age to enter. The NCAA would be in violation of discriminatory employment practices if they did. These rules are the same for foreign born athletes, and it's based on when they finish their last year of High School equivalent education.

[Amun-Ra]

Alright, you guy's know my rooted feelings about Cal, but he's playing by the rules that are implemented. One and done is what rule is in place. I personally do not like the one and done rule, but it's what we have. The NBA needs to change their rule. I believe players should be eligible to enter the NBA out of High School. If you decide to go to school, you should be required to go a minimum of two years. If we get that rule, then it would appease a lot of people. But, if hired mercenaries are a part of the sport. then so be it. If it's not UK, then it's going to be another school, so these old-timers need to chill out about it.

I agree with most of that. I don't like players going straight to the NBA out of high school. Yea there are some players that were able to do it, Kobe, LeBron, etc. but for everyone of those there are about 3-4 Kwame Browns. It saturated the draft with players who were simply not ready for the big time and in turn it hurt the NBA in my opinion.

[WideRight05]

Out of the players that have gone pro straight out of high school, there haven't been many in-betweens. It's either bang or bust. I believe Moses Malone was the first person to go pro out of high school, and obviously he turned out great. Then you also have guys like Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett, or LeBron James. And then, you have Kwame Brown and many others...it's just not worth it. Hopefully there will be a new rule put in like the football rule. Coach Cal gets a lot of blame on this issue that I don't think he should.

[Stardust]

I agree with most of that. I don't like players going straight to the NBA out of high school. Yea there are some players that were able to do it, Kobe, LeBron, etc. but for everyone of those there are about 3-4 Kwame Browns. It saturated the draft with players who were simply not ready for the big time and in turn it hurt the NBA in my opinion.

Amun-Ra, I think we are in total agreement here. I absolutely do not feel that High School athletes are ready for professional sports. Let's not limit it to Kwame Brown's. Look at the inordinate number across all sports. Much, much worse than the NBA is professional baseball. Not many people know the tragedy of teenagers in baseball. For every player who signs a contact for a MLB team, only 5% ever make it to a big league field. I haven't given you the best fact yet.

But we never ever here anyone complain about players getting drafted out of High School, signing a $5,000 signing bonus and playing for $300-$500 a week. Oh sure, we here about the guys in the 1st round who sign 6 figure deals, but is goes to nothing after that. Here's the best stat for you, in today's baseball, less than 1/2% of players signed out of High School ever play in a big league uniform. Kwame Brown was a bust, but he made enough money to pay for his education! I stick to my guns, I still do not believe there should be a limitation. Let the Kwame Brown's go straight to the NBA. Otherwise, we get the Melo's, Orton's, and Bledsoe's who don't even go to class and wind up putting there schools in jeopardy! Don't put kids who can't read and write (because they don't want to learn) into a situation that will only create problems! Those kids don't want to go to college period!

We haven't even talked about the 14 year-old tennis players, the 15-16 year-old soccer players, or the 16 year-old golfers, or Hockey players who are literally finishing High School with team tutors in the minors, who are not limited to age or scholastic in order to be a paid professional.