Passing along this story that was posted Tuesday from Eric Prisbell of USA Today, one of our Gannett partners. He spoke this week with Arizona senior Solomon Hill.
Solomon Hill sees a future in which top high school players skip college. Photo by Chris Morrison-US PRESSWIRE
By Eric Prisbell, USA TODAY Sports
Solomon Hill is in his fourth season of college basketball, an elite player on an elite team. But on the eve of the early signing period for the sport’s next class of players, Hill expects that in the future, some of the best prospects will never go to college.
Hill, an Arizona forward, said he sees the day coming soon when some of the best high school players start skipping college and choosing instead to hire an agent, trainer and nutritionist and work out until the following June’s NBA draft, rather than risk facing investigations like freshmen Kyle Anderson of UCLA and Nerlens Noel of Kentucky experienced and UCLA’s Shabazz Muhammad continues to endure.
“It’s going to show future classes, ‘Okay, they’re going to put you under investigation, make you look like the bad guy just to make an example of you,’ ” Hill told USA TODAY Sports this week. “If you don’t want to be investigated, just don’t go to college. If you take money early, make the decision that you’re not going to attend college and you’re going to seek training. There’s nothing bad with that decision.”
Hill says he does not know if Muhammad – whose investigation centers on his family’s relationship with two financial advisers – accepted extra benefits. But he said if Muhammad, who remains ineligible from games pending an NCAA probe, is not cleared by December, “Why take classes? Go get a trainer. You’re going to be a top-five pick. Do what you love to do …
“I’m pretty sure there are a lot of guys out there that went to a program and took some type of benefits. You’re telling him that he has to go to college and now you’re going to sit him down because he did something? He is going to be a millionaire.”
Former North Carolina All-American Sean May, the MVP of the 2005 Final Four, said he would recommend that the vast majority of elite high school plays attend college, even if only for one season, otherwise it is”a huge risk they are making with their futures.”
But Muhammad is an exception.
“I would say he shouldn’t play because every time he steps on a floor from this point on he will be getting evaluated and critiqued,” May said in an email. “If he has an opportunity to be a top pick without school, as much as I think it would be wrong for a lot of players, I think it might be the right call for him.”