Originally Posted by
sagegrouse
Well, if you are comparing a HS student with a definitive offer from a high-major college with a college player with the metaphysical certainty of a multi-year NBA contract -- yeah, there is at least an analogy. But only 24 college players last year got guaranteed NBA contracts (out of 30 first rounders), and fewer players have a certainty of getting one. Whereas, 300 or athletes get offered scholarships at the top 75 schools (BCS, e.g.) plus over 1,000 for all the D-1 schools (347 x approx. 3).
But even there, there are differences. Playing at Oak Hill or DeMatha or (shudder) Mater Dei is different from playing at a plain-old high school and earlier entry to college will be an upgrade in coaching; and yeah, AAU ball may make a difference, if you happen to be on a team-oriented squad which actually plays some D -- surely there must be one or two. Also, there's medical care: Quinn had an injury at Oak Hill (where he went after DeMatha IIRC) that may not have been appropritely treated (100+ miles from a tertiary care hospital).
Silent G was "into Duke" enough to make Academic All-ACC.
sagegrouse