Mudiay to skip college play in Asia

[Russ Smith]

Announced today he notified SMU he's taking a pro offer in Asia. Insists it's not academics, it's his mom, she needs money and he's tired of watching her struggle.

I've posted this elsewhere, call me a cynic but I am not buying it. he could easily get money if he wanted it, kids get paid all the time and he's a possible #1 overall pick.

He went to Prime Prep, they had 4 kids in one graduating class that got delayed by the NCAA because of shaky core classes and iffy curriculum. they all eventually got cleared IIRC but they had to sit out games and make up classes and all of them were only there 1 season. Mudiay has been there at least 2 years, my suspicion is the NCAA made it clear his transcript was going to be an issue, so he decided to turn pro.

 

[devilalum]

They should all do this and drop the charade of being "college students."

Its going to be interesting 10-15 years from now to see how many of these one and done guys go back and actually get a degree. My prediction is less than 5%.

 

[Russ Smith]

They should all do this and drop the charade of being "college students."

Its going to be interesting 10-15 years from now to see how many of these one and done guys go back and actually get a degree. My prediction is less than 5%.

It turns out this story is a reaction to a story Wojnarowski posted on Yahoo very early today. That Mudiay's brother was interviewing agents and talking contract in China because they had concerns the NCAA might not clear him academically and that the NCAA was now asking about amateurism too. So I think it's VERY likely he's going pro because he knew he'd miss a bunch of games if he cleared at all.

Brown says not true, he's admitted to SMU already but that's completely irrelevant, the NCAA hasn't cleared him yet they don't have to do that before the kids start summer school that often doesn't happen until August or later.

I think the kid realized if I sit out games it might harm my draft stock so I'm turning pro instead.

I agree about the educational sham going on, the things these kids do to get high enough GPA's and test scores to qualify is bad enough but his situation was particularly bad because essentially every kid that was at Prime Prep when he was there had problems, and he was there longer than they were.

 

[overseascardfan]

Brandon Jennings year in Italy didn't go as he had hoped as he had trouble fitting into the style of Euro basketball. Jeremy Tyler didn't exactly dominate for Tel Aviv in Israel either. Unlike Jennings & Tyler, Mudiay is considered the top player in next year's draft. His stock could take a hit if he has a so-so year in China. Jahlil Okafor could surpass him with more exposure playing in the U.S. for Duke this year.

 

[slinslin]

Jennings stock did not really take a hit.

Mudiay will be fine, he will have a lot more time to practice and learn valueable pro lessons. Going to europe instead of the NCAA is definitely a plus - more top prospects players should do this.

 

[Russ Smith]

Jennings stock did not really take a hit.

Mudiay will be fine, he will have a lot more time to practice and learn valueable pro lessons. Going to europe instead of the NCAA is definitely a plus - more top prospects players should do this.

He's going to Asia not Europe and reportedly in part because of Jennings' experience in Italy where he didn't play as much as he wanted to.

it's pretty apparent that like Jennings this isn't a decision based on wanting to get experience playing pro, it's a kid knowing he might not be allowed to play in college so he has to do something to get money for one year.

Jeff Goodman says there are all sorts of rumors this is related to amateurism in part because they started talking to agents when the academics issues came up knowing he might not clear. There's also talk his connections to Under Armour are being watched.

Meanwhile Jabari Parker is now a paid endorser of Skull Candy, having been a "family member" his entire time at duke. And Aaron Gordon's agent is the same guy who founded the AAU team Gordon played on. I guess at this point the NCAA is only interested in conflicts for kids coming in, not kids who are in college or left college a few months ago.