Originally Posted by
COYS
I agree that this could become a more common trend that will weaken the college game, but I think it's great for basketball. The more competitive the Euroleagues become and the more players they can attract from around the world, the more developed a game basketball will become. As others have noted on the thread regarded Calathes' move from Florida to Greece, American basketball and football are basically the only two sports that use collegiate athletics as their primary method of player development. College helps some major league teams, but the majority of MLB players are either drafted out of high school or are signed from other countries and immediately put in the minor league system. With the exception of the MLS draft in the United States, any soccer player who will amount to anything is already signed up in some sort of professional youth academy for a professional soccer team by age 16 or, in many cases, much earlier.
If this does become a bigger trend, which I think it will although I think it will happen very slowly and gradually, I think the benefit is that basketball will become a game played at a much higher level. More people from all over the world will play it and more people will have better training in the game. Top Euro teams will slowly but surely be able to secure more NBA caliber talent, even if they never reach the level of most NBA teams. Some players will opt to go pro in Europe immediately and skip college while others may decide to leave school early and take the guaranteed money in Europe instead of finishing out college. Either way, the overall talent level in college will take a bit of a hit although I don't think it will be enough to drastically change the popularity or importance of college basketball.