As of Tuesday night, Memphis' Derrick Rose is one-and-done. So are Kansas State's Michael Beasley and Indiana's Eric Gordon. The Lopez twins from Stanford will leave after two years in college, while UCLA's Kevin Love and Darren Collison are still undecided about their college/professional futures.
But, there was only one college player that surprised me, no scratch that, pleased me with their decision to go pro early. That was Candace Parker of the Tennessee Lady Vols. With a season of NCAA eligibility left on her scholarship, Parker decided before the NCAA Tournament even started to skip her last college season to play in the WNBA.
For one, rarely do you ever hear about women college basketball players leaving early to play in the floundering WNBA. Among the big names in women's hoops the past 10 years, Parker is the only one that did not play college ball for four years.
This makes what Parker did way more newsworthy than what Rose, Beasley and Gordon are doing. A lot of people thought Parker's decision to leave was premature since there was still a month left in the season when she made her announcement. But, since the WNBA Draft was one day after the women's national championship, she had reason to be hasty.
It's almost expected for good men's college basketball players to leave school early for the pros. More often than not, fans of the schools where these athletes played congratulate the men for making a good decision.
Meanwhile, on www.topix.com, a Knoxville television station's fan forum, Parker fans were describing her move to go pro as "stupid, stupid, stupid," and describing Parker herself as "lacking heart and just wanting a paycheck."
Why does she lack heart after bringing her school two national titles in three years and fulfilling her academic requirements in order to graduate in May? Meanwhile, Rose's and Beasley's heart and motives go unquestioned since everyone knows it's a smart move for the guys to take the money, right?
So what if Parker doesn't make as much money in the WNBA as the guys will make in the NBA. She'll at least make more money than a college student does. She's already been an All-American and two-time national champ. After graduating in May, what else does she have to prove on the college level?
Outside of All-American honors, none of the men basketball players leaving early can claim to have done half of what Parker has done, and she even redshirted her freshman year. If anything, she probably could have left after winning the title last season. She may not have gotten a college degree but neither did Magic Johnson.
Just because she doesn't stand to have a big salary doesn't make her decision less intelligent or less practical. If you were an athlete who was hyped as much as Candace Parker is, wouldn't you do everything you could to capitalize on that?
I know I would. Many think Parker will be the savior for the WNBA, doing what Michael Jordan did to the NBA in the mid-1980's. Maybe it's unfair to put that kind of pressure on a 22 year old, but Rose and Beasley are teenagers. Why are we still questioning the decisions of a grown, college-educated woman in 2008?
Meanwhile young men, 18 and 19 year olds, are only questioned when they pick Nike over Adidas. I'm not even a feminist in the traditional sense, and I think there's something wrong with that.
Maybe we should be less concerned with the only woman to leave college early for the pros and more concerned with the numerous male players that leave college early only to wash out in the pros. Remember, for every Kevin Durant, there is a Dajuan Wagner.
After being picked No. 1 in the WNBA draft by the Los Angeles Sparks, Parker will not only be okay, she will be golden. She will be playing alongside the most dominant player in WNBA history (Lisa Leslie) and play in the second largest media market in the country. She will also be closer to her NBA player fiance Sheldon Williams, who plays for the Sacramento Kings.
Yep, I think it's safe to say that Parker is one college basketball early bird we won't have to worry about. But just for the sake of argument, we should worry about the opposition she has to face that doesn't exist for men college athletes.
