Go Pro?

[azmark]

I was curious on everyone's feeling if an athlete should go pro after high school? What would you do if you were the athlete and if you were the parent.

My cousin is a great baseball player and will be a senior next year in high school. He's been a top prep player and his parents think he can go in the first few rounds if he stays healthy.

One thing that concerns me is that he is as gifted in the class as he is on the field. He's already being hunted down by top universities in the west coast and two of them Stanford and USC. My opinion to his father (my cousin) was that there is nothing to make him go pro other than wanting to make money. I don't think he has ever had a GPA drop below 4.0 since he's been taking AP (Advanced Placement) classes. He wants to be an electrical engineer so my advice to his parents were to let him go to college and keep playing if he loves school more than baseball.

The good thing is that both his parents are supportive of his decision so I'm pretty confident there is no pressure for either choice.

 

[SpyvSpy]

I voted colege first. Nothing urks me more than a pro athlete that's dumber than a box of rocks.

 

[dklaiman]

Fortunately (?) I won't have that dilemna with my kids. However, I think I'd recommend that they go pro. If he's that successful a student, he'll be able to return to an academic track at any time in the future. It may be more difficult to have success as an athlete if he delays that pursuit, however. Also, I imagine that most people would regret the "what if" of not trying to make it as a pro baseball player than the "what if" of delaying academic achievement.

 

[dklaiman]

I voted colege first. Nothing urks me more than a pro athlete that's dumber than a box of rocks.

Sure, but this kid isn't dumb. He'll just be delaying a college education.

 

[texbilly]

College, especially since it sounds like he'd be accepted by any of the top baseball colleges (USC and Stanford would definitely be on that list). Get a degree and four years of top-quality ball under his belt. By then, he might not even spend much time in the minors!

 

[WastedResources]

Here's a good reason to stay in school:

My friend Scott dropped out of college his freshman year to play in the minors. After a few years of farm team, he finally got called up to play for the Royals. He only played a couple of games in MLB before an injury ended his career. The rest of his friends were now graduating from college, getting good jobs, and he was waiting tables, and contemplating returning to school. He became a really heavy drinker, and I eventually lost touch with him. Last I heard he was managing the restaurant where we used to work together. I'm sure he's just fine, but things could have been different. Scott wanted things to be different.

If you're good enough to go pro, you're good enough to get free school. College will give you a couple of years to improve your game and gain some maturity, but most of all it will give you a back up plan in case things don't work out the way you thought they would.

 

[Isaac]

Here is my take...

Pro and college at the same time. If he is offered a pro contract now, might as well make the absurd amount of money while he can. I had read a story about Steve Young, who while playing for the 49ers was still attending BYU and earning a Law Degree. He actually graduated with the degree while he was a millionaire football player.

I would say do college first, but if he is injured, that aspect will be there.

 

[TimmyBoston]

I played in college had I had the opportunity to go pro I absolutely would have. It would have been foolish to risk the injury to play while not being paid.

 

[TimmyBoston]

I voted colege first. Nothing urks me more than a pro athlete that's dumber than a box of rocks.

This is the funniest post I've seen at B&B in a loooong time!

 

[azmark]

Wow....what a lot of great perspectives.

I love academia and love the "student athlete" so I'm a little biased for him and any other student to go to college first.

I love the story of Steve Young and what he did. If I'm not mistaken I think Emmitt Smith did the same thing toward the end of his career with the NFL and finish his degree back in U of Florida.

I agree that anyone who goes to college have the "what if I went pro" but I think it goes the other way around too when an athlete skips college.

I guess this is on the same subject but do you think that the NCAA should change their rules on entering the draft in football and basketball?

 

[Isaac]

I really think it all boils down to ethic/morals. Most athletes are in college to reach the pros. Its a shame that in our society, we seem to pay people millions of dollars for a lesiture activity that has no real advancement to the social scheme. We pay a teacher 40k a year, and they are part of the fundamental building blocks or our society, yet we pay someone like Alex Rodriguez $250 million dollars to produce in the offseason, and he just barely did that last year.

Its disgraceful that these guys receive the amount of money they do, but then again, we the fans put up that money.

 

[WastedResources]

If we expect athletes to be role models, then one should need more than athletic ability to succeed in sports. Our athletes should be educated and informed in order to set a good example for the people who look up to them.

 

[DFrancis]

Go to school first, it's a good way to a free education and it is a good back-up in case of any injury. It will also help to build up their skills, the step to the NCAA is a big difference than the jump to MLB.

 

[Newfie]

I voted go pro. Basically, if a kid has a combination of sports abilities with the smarts and the drive to get to a decent college, he should have the smarts and the drive to know when his sports career is over and he needs to take some of that money and get an education. If, of course, he needs it. Some last long enough that their great-grandkids need never work, and at the salaries of some top rookies these days, not many years are required for that.

I've only known a few people who had the skills and the smarts to get a ride through school on sports, and none made pro, either because of injury or because booze and drugs got the best of them.

Those who didn't make it because of injury, may have made the big time, BIG TIME. Those who got caught up on booze and drugs, well, that's likely to happen anyway if they did get to the pros.

SNIP<<< We pay a teacher 40k a year, and they are part of the fundamental building blocks or our society, yet we pay someone like Alex Rodriguez $250 million dollars to produce in the offseason, and he just barely did that last year.

Its disgraceful that these guys receive the amount of money they do, but then again, we the fans put up that money.

You just spelled out the reasons I hate team sports. Thank you!!!!

 

[Amer]

I think it depends on the sport.

In baseball, you don't see...really anyone make the jump from HS to Pros. Several guys from my high school were drafted and they just languished in the minors until you've never heard of them anymore. One of them got a couple games in the bigs but now he plays in Japan.

Same with Football.

Now Basketball seems to be where most of the right out of high school stuff comes from. And still, relatively few jump from HS.

The overall question of money vs. school though, just depends on the situation. If you want to play professional sports, you have to do what is best for that career. That might be going to school, it might be going pro. I'm reminded of that kid from FSU who was projected to go first round in the draft and instead he missed a year of football and became a Rhodes scholar. I think he wound up falling to the 3rd or 4th round this year. He made a fraction of what he could have made and probably hurt himself by not playing football, which is apparently what he wants to do. If you want to play professional sports, no one is going to care if you're a Rhodes scholar. The kid wanted to be a brain surgeon and professional football player at the same time, just doesn't mix.

It's always nice to have something to fall back on, but frankly that's something I'd want to figure out after I gave professional sports a try. You can always go back to college and work your career from there. Even if you fail at professional sports you might be able to secure a job in the industry as well. The ages these kids are now in the pros, if you failed in the first couple of years there would still be plenty of time to change gears and go for it.

But really, for a baseball player, I'd go to college. He'll find out there if he's really as good as everyone thinks he is and he'll have the disciplined environment to become a better player.

 

[Leche]

I say school, especially if he can score a payed for education. A brand new ball player isn't going to make the big $ and will most likely go into the minors where a lot of people fizzle out. A lot of people. A career ending injury just killed all your chances including a scholarship (athletic). College/University he gets something out of that he can take into the real world and is a fall back if anything else.

An athlete is a race horse. They don't pay you because they like you, it's business. You get a check to perform and bring in fans (money). If you can't do that you're done.

 

[SalvadorMontenegro]

Depends on what he prefers.

It depends on a lot of things. If I'm Kobe Bryant and I'm guaranteed several million dollars right out of high school, I'm going pro, no doubt about it. What happens if he goes to college, tears an ACL and that's it? No NBA and you're stuck with what if? You can always go back to school.

If you're going to be drafted low, sent to a developmental league and you don't have much of a chance of getting a big paycheck, I'm going to school.

Pretty much what TimmyBoston said. If you've got the chance to make a fortune, do it.

 

[Doc4]

I was curious on everyone's feeling if an athlete should go pro after high school? What would you do if you were the athlete and if you were the parent.

My cousin is a great baseball player and will be a senior next year in high school. He's been a top prep player and his parents think he can go in the first few rounds if he stays healthy.

One thing that concerns me is that he is as gifted in the class as he is on the field. He's already being hunted down by top universities in the west coast and two of them Stanford and USC. My opinion to his father (my cousin) was that there is nothing to make him go pro other than wanting to make money. I don't think he has ever had a GPA drop below 4.0 since he's been taking AP (Advanced Placement) classes. He wants to be an electrical engineer so my advice to his parents were to let him go to college and keep playing if he loves school more than baseball.

The good thing is that both his parents are supportive of his decision so I'm pretty confident there is no pressure for either choice.

I hope you are right that there is no pressure. Talk of the parents expecting him to "go in the first few rounds" hints at some pressure (even if indirect) so let's hope not.

I chuckle when you say you are concerned that he has so many fantastic options. Maybe in the sense that no matter what he does, he'll be throwing away a fantastic opportunity (kind of like having two fantastic girls wanting to marry you ... you have to pick just one.) He's fortunate that he can follow his dream (whatever that dream happens to be.)

If he wants to be an electrical engineer, then that's what he should do! If he wants to try sports first, then he should do that. That't be my advice to the kid ... flavoured with a bit of "you can start being an engineer when you are 30 but you can't start being a pro athlete when you are 30.

 

[azmark]

I hope you are right that there is no pressure. Talk of the parents expecting him to "go in the first few rounds" hints at some pressure (even if indirect) so let's hope not.

I see what you mean and how knowing you can go early can seemed pressured but I think those estimations are coming from research they have done. I know they are not going in blind on both options so they are letting him know what to expect. And also his father is trying to find every excuse for him not to go to USC. I think Stanford is a heavy favorite since my brother works at the med school.

And I don't put a whole lot of weight on baseball drafts going early.

I chuckle when you say you are concerned that he has so many fantastic options. Maybe in the sense that no matter what he does, he'll be throwing away a fantastic opportunity (kind of like having two fantastic girls wanting to marry you ... you have to pick just one.) He's fortunate that he can follow his dream (whatever that dream happens to be.)

I really hope either way he is happy. He is a good kid, probably a little small at 6-0 but I think he plays baseball with intelligence. I would say more that I'm concerned because he isn't going to college and experience "college". He's a little sheltered a bit because school has always been first so he hasn't gotten out too much and he's responsible (or he hasn't been caught yet) to do the right thing.

If he wants to be an electrical engineer, then that's what he should do! If he wants to try sports first, then he should do that. That't be my advice to the kid ... flavoured with a bit of "you can start being an engineer when you are 30 but you can't start being a pro athlete when you are 30.

What I do kind of admire of the kid is that he knows what it takes to be an electrical engineer and has done some research on how long and what it would take. You can be an electrical engineer at 30 but I don't think his 529 plan is going to cover him anymore So hopefully he'll save up to pay for school again.

 

[Superfluous Man]

I voted colege first. Nothing urks me more than a pro athlete that's dumber than a box of rocks.

Going to college won't necessarily make him smart. However, most athletes are pretty bad with finances so if I were him I'd definitely be reading about how to keep money.