The saddest part is that LaMelo has now lost out on enjoying his last two years of fun basketball. He's a 16/17 year old that now has to go try to make it on a professional team, playing with adults fighting for their livelihood. This really isn't a good thing for him.
What LaVar was doing up until today was largely just a silly sideshow, mostly harmless (aside from putting a target on Lonzo's back in the NBA). This appears to be the first clear step he's actively taken in detriment to his kids' lives. It's a shame. Hopefully it doesn't hurt LaMelo. Kids don't deserve to carry their parents' sins.
Is there a chance that Lavar could accompany LiAngelo and LaMelo overseas?
Sage Grouse
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'When I got on the bus for my first road game at Duke, I saw that every player was carrying textbooks or laptops. I coached in the SEC for 25 years, and I had never seen that before, not even once.' - David Cutcliffe to Duke alumni in Washington, DC, June 2013
Except that athletes can request final amateurism certification and colleges can no doubt do so as well, prior to making an offer, or make an offer contingent on eligibility being certified.
Here's what reality looks like.
http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2...uture-overseasBut it may not be easy to find a fit. Most European club executives with whom B/R spoke want nothing to do with the Balls, simply because neither son comes with a proven track record. Francesc Solana, general manager of Spanish club MoraBanc Andorra, and a regular at the annual NBA Summer League in Las Vegas, was approached by the Ball family this week but remains skeptical of their intentions and credentials.
"LiAngelo and LaMelo were offered to our team, both kids, looking for a deal in Europe. Money isn't an issue to them, but they have zero experience, so it's difficult to take them seriously," Solana said. "I don't know what to do with the dad, LaVar Ball (laughs). This isn't a good or normal situation; I don't like it, we are not going to sign them."
Edit, as little as I enjoy B/R, that's a pretty good read. Most informative opinions I've seen from those that count.
Last edited by CameronBornAndBred; 12-07-2017 at 04:01 PM.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."
Yep. I don't think LaVar realizes how unlikely it is that his kids are going to wind up, together, in a good situation. I'm not even convinced that they can wind up together at all. But I suspect that if they can, the level of team/league that would be interested is probably pretty darn bad. I mean, we are essentially talking about two high school kids (one just 16/17, and the other not very good). It's hard to see a foreign team jumping at the chance to blow their limited American roster spots on them.
And on top of that, there is no "name value" to LiAngelo and LaMelo Ball outside of the US. I doubt teams in Romania are lining up to sign a pair of no-name high school kids who aren't all that great.
Thanks for that info, but I think my point still stands.
Top recruits are being offered and committing well before the April 1 before their Freshman fall semester. If I'm a top-tier NCAA program, am I giving up one of my scholarships and likely the opportunity to recruit another top-player at the same position for a kid who I may find out is ineligible long after I have the opportunity to replace him?If you plan to enroll in the Fall semester, you may login and request your final amateurism certification on or after April 1 of that year.
And it's not like anyone has been actively recruiting LaMelo since he's been long-committed to UCLA. So he'd basically be starting from scratch with a giant question mark slapped on him by his dad. I guess it's possible the NCAA would make known their position on LaMelo's amateur status much earlier than the final certification process, but we don't know that at this point.
Is it conceivable that colleges are unable to request certification for high profile athletes before April of the year of graduation when there are potentially disqualifying issues? Why would they have allowed such a rule? The rules also say that even students can get a preliminary certification in June of their junior year in high school:
If the college-bound student-athlete is on active Institutional Request List (IRL), the NCAA Eligibility Center will perform a preliminary certification using six-semester transcript.
• Great resource to know where college-bound student-athlete is academically; can help guide future course selection and/or academic effort.
Agree.
He has also overplayed his hand, I think, at the expense of the two younger kids. Euro basketball sounds difficult. Practice every day, 2 games at most per week, no questioning of the coach. The youngest Ball kid is apparently talented but he will get eaten alive by tough men who are older and stronger than him. The middle kid probably isn't good enough to play in any of the good Euro leagues.
Nolan Smith, a really good player and sound guy, encountered big problems in Turkey with his coach. I can't imagine any of the good Euro teams wanting these guys or putting up with LaVar and the uncles.
Sure, the European leagues are going to put up with a prima donna soccer-dad just to get the chance to sign a kid that wasn't good enough to play for an average college team and his younger brother who last played as a junior in high school.
Those two would get absolutely chewed up by the grown men playing pro in Europe.
Unfortunately, I don't have time to review that slide show in-depth, but two things come to mind: (1) does the preliminary certification relate to amateur status in the way we are discussing LaMelo, or is it an academic preliminary certification--it says preliminary certification is based on a review of a six-semester HS transcripts and is a great way to know where the athlete stands academically (EDIT: Oops. I just realized your post had this language quoted)?; and (2) would the NCAA certify LaMelo preliminarily at all if it can do an amateurism certification? I know you're better versed in the rules and have a greater understanding of this than me, so you may know the answers here. The slide show does refer to students providing "Amatuerism information," but I have no idea what that means or entails. Everything else seems to relate to academic eligibility requirements.
Obviously, I have incomplete information on my end, but my understanding from news reports when Lavar first announced LaMelo's signature shoe was that it is unclear whether it runs afoul of amateurism rules in the NCAA because BBB is his dad's company. So wouldn't it be likely that the response to a request for preliminary certification of his amateur status would be along these lines: "No, we cannot preliminarily certify LaMelo's amateur status because he has a signature shoe from his father's fashion company, and we need to fully investigate whether this disqualifies LaMelo as an amateur athlete."
Of course, you might be right that NCAA institutions may have a mechanism by which they can get an amateurism ruling from the NCAA earlier, but I have no idea if that's the case. My thoughts on the recruitment impact certainly change if programs would know early enough whether or not LaMelo will be eligible.
On top of that, they'd only get the pleasure of developing the kids, with the knowledge up front that those kids are coming back as soon as it is remotely possible for them to play in the NBA.
I mean, maybe there is some crappy team in Azerbaijan that is willing to sign them. But it doesn't seem like a winning strategy. I think Ball has really screwed over his kids here.
Q "Why do you like Duke, you didn't even go there." A "Because my art school didn't have a basketball team."