Big time coaches don't make decisions on what the media wants.
From what I understand, Jackson should be a senior in high school so the point I am making is he is very young. I think I am reasonable about what to expect from a first-year player, but some people expectations will be through the roof as a result of the recruiting stars that Jackson has. I would ease him into the program and not put him front and center as a result of he may not meet everyone's expectations and might be unfairly labeled as a failure which could (if Jackson decides to play another year of college) cause Jackson to transfer from South Carolina.
Ease him into the program? If everything goes as expected, he won’t be here next year. You are looking at this from a 1980’s perspective. High level kids just don’t stay in a college program long unless they are a bust. Realistically, we are not getting three years out of Jackson. We probably won’t even get two. So, we may as well get as much out of this while we can.
Don’t want him to get the big head which he might already have. “Earning it” is a bad phrase in today’s world.
Before that happens we need to convert the scholarships to salaries and require that paid athletes be housed off-campus so as not to be a distraction to students who are pursuing degrees.
Don’t worry. The NBA will allow kids to enter the league out of high school starting in 2024. My point has always been why force kids into the college system who really don’t want to be there. Let’s be realistic. We know Jackson chose us because he has a better chance for quick playing time and touches in order to put up numbers and move on to the league. You may not like it, but that’s the reality of the situation. With that being the case, it only makes sense for our program to get as much out of this as possible. All a coach can do is hold the kid accountable for the mistakes he may make on and off the court for the short time he has him. Playing ego control games don’t usually work with these type of kids.
I thought that’s why they created the NBDL, the G league and that other league - so they didn’t have to go to college to develop and pretend to be students.
You may be referring to G-League Ignite. They only take about 3-4 High School kids a year. There is also Overtime Elite, but they are not connected to the NBA and don’t get as much exposure. One year of college is still the best route exposure wise, so most of the high level recruits still go that way. However, they are just using the college program as a platform to move on the next year. That will change in 2024. The top kids out of high school can just get drafted to the league then. However, that still won’t solve the issue with late bloomers. College programs will still have the issue of a late bloomer wanting to leave college after a year or two unless the NBA and the colleges work something out.
