Arizona Basketball: Terrance Ferguson vs. College Basketball

“I’m taking my talents to South Beach (Australia)”—Why Terrance Ferguson’s decision to play overseas and sign with Young Money Sports could alter the landscape of College Basketball Recruiting as we know it.

Young Money seems like a fitting moniker for an 18-year old who is skipping collegiate athletics altogether to get a head start in his professional basketball career that will likely lead to millions of dollars after a lottery pick selection in the 2017 NBA Draft.

While we cannot fault Terrance Ferguson for choosing to skip his one obligatory year of college basketball, his decision to pick Lil Wayne and Young Money Sports as his representative agents for his professional career opens a valuable commentary and discussion regarding the current climate of college basketball recruiting.

Next: The State of College Basketball Recruiting

The State of College Basketball Recruiting

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In recent years, conversation as to whether or not high school or prep players should have to attend one year in college has surfaced to the forefront of basketball debates.

While some people believe that one season at a university does little for the “student” athlete’s education, schools reap considerable financial benefits from having these elite basketball players attend their schools for even one season.

This relationship and power dynamic between player and school become further complicated by the rule that players are not allowed to receive financial benefits from schools since they are already provided full-ride academic scholarships.

The one-and-done rule was implemented in 2006 and has altered college basketball recruiting ever since. For example, schools like the

University of Kentucky

have practically applied a one-and-done basketball culture that promotes a professional career over a four-year collegiate education.

I do not think there is anything inherently wrong with John Calipari helping these young men by encouraging their professional careers at a young age since they have the opportunity to become multi-millionaires before age 20; however, one-and-done culture is undeniably detrimental to college basketball in the sense that it blatantly tosses the value of a college education by the wayside.

Next: Arizona Basketball: A Player's Program

Arizona Basketball: A Player’s Program

Let’s not kid ourselves, though—Arizona has had its fair share of one-and-done players in the past, and Ferguson would have wound up as another teenaged Cat taken in the lottery if he enrolled at the University of Arizona.

Sean Miller has consistently done a terrific job in recruiting elite talent from across the country to the Old Pueblo, and as a result, Cats basketball has enjoyed a golden age of sorts regarding unprecedented regular season success.

Ferguson would have joined a stacked selection of guards at Arizona that could potentially terrorize a wide-open Pac 12 conference. Albeit, with or without Ferguson, Arizona still stands a solid chance at success in The Conference of Champions, but that only takes into consideration the success of the college’s basketball athletics program.

While Arizona has assumed the designation of being “A Player’s Program,” the title especially applies to the lesser recruited players who developed into NBA draft picks over multiple seasons of playing Wildcats basketball in Tucson. Ferguson has made it pretty clear with his decision to go professional now, so even if he did attend Arizona, he certainly would not have stayed longer than the one required year. As a result, he would miss out on this:

Next: Ferguson's Reality Check

Ferguson’s Reality Check

As it stands, Ferguson is already projected as an NBA first-round pick with the possibility of being drafted in the lottery.

That being said, fighting for minutes with Allonzo Trier, Kadeem Allen, Rawle Alkins and Kobi Simmons would do little to improve Ferguson’s draft stock. Rather, getting buried on the bench could be the worst thing that can happen to a prep star since he may fall out of a scout’s immediate recall memory when it comes to considering the current group of elite shooting guard prospects in the 2017 NBA Draft pool.

for an immediate example: the 6-9 Malian power forward was tabbed as a five-star recruit by many basketball recruiting websites before he enrolled at

Kansas

, became a mainstay on the bench, declared for the draft after his freshman season, and ultimately fell completely out of the first round in the 2016 NBA Draft.

Even though Diallo undeniably grew a thick skin after being slighted for a whole season by Kansas coach Bill Self, his treatment in a Jayhawks uniform lost him the opportunity of big(ger) bucks when it came to draft night. While playing at Arizona under coach Sean Miller may help Ferguson grow as a basketball player and ultimately as a young man, money talks and he would potentially lose out on millions if he fell out of the first round like Diallo.

While playing at Arizona under coach Sean Miller may help Ferguson grow as a basketball player and ultimately as a young man, money talks and he would potentially lose out on millions if he fell out of the first round like Diallo.

Next: The Decision

The Decision

In late June, Ferguson informed Coach Miller of his intention to play overseas instead of becoming a Wildcat. For many Arizona fans out there, this story brings back shades of Brandon Jennings, a New York Knick and Oak Hill Academy product who became the first American to skip college to play professional basketball in Europe, thus spurning legendary coach Lute Olson and his Wildcats program.

However, since Jennings, there have been a number of prep stars and high school athletes that have chosen to play overseas instead of enrolling in college for one season. Success stories like Emmanuel Mudiay and Thon Maker, players who were both selected in the lottery rounds of the 2015 and 2016 NBA Drafts, respectively, maintained their high draft stock while playing one year of professional basketball abroad rather than playing at the collegiate level stateside while receiving no financial benefits for the NCAA.

Mudiay, in particular, served as an example for Ferguson, which he cites in his Player’s Tribune announcement.

Next: Ferguson's Immediate Future

Ferguson’s Immediate Future

Don’t get me wrong: I do not blame Ferguson for spurning the Cats. While other media outlets and tabloids will try to spin the beginning of this 18-year old’s professional basketball career into the ultimate entry to the fast life by partying with Lil Wayne and going to prom with Young Money artist Stephanie Acevedo, he is clearly in a better financial situation by playing in Australia’s NBL for one season than playing at the University of Arizona for parts of two semesters.

The average NBL salary per season comes to approximately $70,000 USD, and while the money pales in comparison to the money that Ferguson would earn in the NBA, it is also $70,000 more than anything he would make at Arizona.

Next: What If?

What If?

The tricky part to Ferguson’s career choice is the idea of “what if”—What if this works out great for him? What if Ferguson enjoys a relaxing year down under, getting paid to play basketball for the Adelaide 36ers, partying with Young Money and Lil Wayne, before being drafted in the lottery of the 2017 NBA Draft and enjoying an NBA career of fame and fortune. Just as players started following the path of Brandon Jennings, one would think that high school athletes would try to follow the path of Terrance Ferguson.

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While I am not undermining nor discrediting the nobility of his fulfilled promise to his mother where he makes enough money to buy her a mansion through playing professional basketball, Ferguson’s promise was not the singular factor that weighed into his decision to play in Australia and join Young Money Sports. This precedent of young fame in hip-hop culture is certainly enticing for young athletes, but it doesn’t take much foresight to see how this precedent could spell doom for the future of college basketball.

However, in the time being, this entire discussion stands as pure speculation: maybe Ferguson doesn’t get drafted in the lottery. Maybe he really likes playing in Australia and decides to stay there. Or maybe he even drops Lil Wayne and Young Money Sports somewhere down the road. Who knows. But at this point, all we can do is begin to watch and follow the beginning of Terrance Ferguson’s potentially unprecedented professional basketball career and hope that it does not develop into a cautionary tale.

Next: Arizona Basketball: Kadeem Allen leads Pac-12 All-Stars in Loss to Australia

While we would have enjoyed seeing Terrance as another Arizona Wildcat taking home Pac 12 Freshman of the Year honors, we wish him nothing but the best in Adelaide.