March 2001 Basketball Wiretap
According to the New York Post: "Not too long ago, players showed up to the adidas ABCD camp to prove themselves to college coaches. Well, things have changed.
"College is great and all, but the [NBA] is what everyone wants," said 6-foot-11 Sani Ibrahim of Decatur, Georgia, who will likely play at Oak Hill as a senior. "You have to think about that now."
And everyone does. From Ibrahim to Carmello Anthony of Baltimore to New York City's Lenny Cooke, high school stars everywhere are altering their sights because of what happened at the June 27, NBA Draft. That is clearly evident at the ABCD camp at Fairleigh Dickinson in Hackensack.
The Sacramento Bee's Mark Kreidler uses a jaundiced eye to look at various reports about Chris Webber's next team. "The free-agent period in the NBA -- any sport, really -- can be calculated in importance by the combined weight of the whoppers that get thrown out for public consumption every day. In the case of the Webber situation, you're going to need a truck scale." He then disects rumors about Chris and Houston, San Antonio, Indiana and Orlando.
Gary McCann of The Herald breaks down the 2001 NBA Draft, reporting that it was an unusual one (referring to four high schoolers and one foreigner being taken in the top 10). He also reports, with a High Schooler going first overall this year and three High Schoolers going in the top four picks (the other being a foreigner), that there will be more High Schoolers skipping college after Kwame Brown went #1 - opting for the dollars rather than the college experience.
'The top two picks and three of the top four in this year's draft were high school kids. More and more high school players will think they, too, can make the leap to big bucks instead of trying at least a couple of years in college. More and more will choose the lure of the quick dollar over the long-term security of a college education.' writes McCann.