By Mark Slane
ElevationMag.com Staff

Wonder why the US loses in Europe? Check out the 2007 NBA Draft prospects from the major prognosticators in the basketball media. A full 25% are European or Chinese. Now I’m talking, real foreign players, guys who learned to play in gyms more than a few blocks from 155th and Frederick Douglas Boulevard. Now about 75% of these guys are pushing 6-10 or more but that’s not the only reason we will be seeing them on the tube next spring. They have true talent and solid basics.

Now let’s compare this to our own NCAA Division 1 campus celebrities. These guys number over a thousand from more teams than I care to count. And, guess what, almost none of even the best of these guys will touch the pro hardwood unless they buy their tickets. Now we know that basketball isn’t in every overseas school and it’s fairly new to Asia and Africa where eating and just staying alive overshadow the big J, shamgod and the shake. Now in Europe, I’ll concede, that since its been more or less of a government sponsored activity and featured prominently in the old commies’ “How to beat the West” handbook, they are actually pretty well versed in the game. However, even though they play the game, it’s not universal like it is on the streets of the USA. That said; why is there a major disproportionate foreign representation in the Draft compared to the Americans coming out of college? What’s going on with D1 ball?

The D1 talent pool has become diluted. Too many teams, too many scholarships, and too many kids put to ‘work’ on the court for the college coffers. Okay, I said it – colleges are blowing scholarship dollars and wasting four years of a kid’s life just for the bucks. They know that these thousands of players don’t have a prayer of making the show, but they work them on the court, let them slide through college just for the price of a ticket or a big check from the networks. Hell they can do the math, they’ve actually ‘attended’ college and know exactly what they are doing. Now I’m not saying cut the scholarships, and don’t give a kid a break. What I am saying is that colleges should put the game in proper perspective. With the influx of foreign players, it should be obvious that it’s just going to get tougher and tougher to make the league. Just look at who’s playing in the D-League this year. Did you ever think UCLA’s Jordan Farmar would be flirting with a possible LA D-Defender D-League vacation?

So where does the influx of foreign players, the tremendous number of eligible NCAA players, and the lack of playing room leave us? It leaves us with a lot of disappointed D1 players, rich colleges, fired coaches and an excess of Americans heading to Europe or South America to make a buck playing the game they studied for four years. My vote, if I had one, would be to expand this league as soon as possible in the US, Canada, Europe and Puerto Rico (no taxes!!!). Since the league has an open door policy and seems to have a pass when it comes to handing out US work permits it’s just a matter of time before the lines between boarders gets totally blurred anyway. Just think about the next World Games, when its very likely that entire teams from Brazil, Croatia, and Lithuania will be NBA professionals and US residents at the time the games commence. It should be interesting, kind of like a reunion or alumni game of sorts. So if this happens who should we declare the winners of these NBA centric games, the USA, the NBA nation or the country these guys claim every so often?