I face the question every day, and every day I must tell people I don't know yet. Frankly, it gets annoying after a while. I don't yet know what I'm going to be doing next year. I keep telling people when I make up my mind, I'll let everyone know.
And all I'm doing is applying to law schools.
I can relax in knowing that at the very least, my decision affects few people. Some friends, my family, that's about it. Expectations are pretty reasonable. I mean, it's not like I'm declaring for the NBA draft or anything.
Yes, it's that time of year. Will Elton Brand and Will Avery stay? Will they go? One week after this year has concluded, and already it's all about next year. Who will still be wearing Duke blue next season?
The attention currently being focused on Messrs. Brand and Avery seems to have reached its peak after the season ended. National articles are being written and television pieces being produced on what these two talented young individuals plan to do next year. It's a decision that doesn't have to be made for another five to six weeks. And yet the pressure on the two sophomores is already building to monumental levels.
A typical example came from the Providence Journal last week. A story by Mike Szostak quotes Christian Laettner and Grant Hill talking about their decisions to stay at Duke for four years, before concluding that Brand and Avery "should listen to Hill and Laettner and come back for another season of college ball."
Hill is perplexingly quoted as saying "You know, different people have different situations," before concluding, "I benefited by staying in school. I think everyone else can as well and should."
There are two interesting questions at stake here: Why is everyone so determined to tell Brand and Avery what is best for them? And why does everyone seem to care so strongly?
Plain and simple, it's not right. And it's not fair.
I can't even imagine the annoyance Brand and Avery must feel at having their every word, expression and action scrutinized along those lines. Elton had the chicken burrito for lunch: Does that mean he's coming back? To their credit, neither Brand nor Avery has voiced too much frustration with the scrutiny of the process, not even after Brand was misquoted by The Washington Post in March as saying that he and his mother agreed he'd come back to Duke. In reality, Brand said, he and his mother were only talking about the trip to St. Petersburg.
There are a tremendous number of factors that enter into any player's decision to forego collegiate eligibility in favor of a life in the NBA-home situation, room for skills improvement, desire for education, etc.-and it's safe to say that neither I nor any other member of the media fully understands the individual characteristics of Elton's or Will's predicament. The first part of what Hill said was dead on-everybody has a different situation. So how can Grant still say that it would be best, no matter what, for Brand and Avery to come back just because he benefited from his fourth year?
There is no doubt that the college basketball world is drastically different today from what it was five years ago when Hill was graduating from Duke. Many more athletes come out early, and kids go to college with no intention of staying four years. The idea that one could simply transpose Hill's or Laettner's experience onto Brand or Avery is ludicrous.
There is also too much attention being placed on the fact that Duke has never had an athlete leave school early for the NBA. Did we really think this would last forever? Isn't there a natural tradeoff involved in maintaining that standard, that Duke will not be able to recruit many athletes who hope to use the college game as a springboard to fame and fortune? The decision to go for monster recruiting classes both two years ago and this year is predicated on the notion that not every player will play in Cameron for four years. It's simply a way of life that even Duke personnel must now accept.
Hill, Laettner and others are acting as though coming back to Duke is the only acceptable option. But I am reminded of a conversation I had with my roommate not too long ago. If someone today were to offer you a guaranteed $3 million per year over the next five years to leave school right now, would you? I'm only a month away from my Duke degree, and the decision isn't even close. If I never earned the Duke degree but would receive the $15 million, just show me where to sign. So let's not pretend that players are just supposed to naturally overlook the allure of professional basketball.
Furthermore, why do some seem to have such deep-rooted feelings about what Brand and Avery do? As a Duke basketball fan, I understand that people's emotional ties to the team are strong, and since what the super sophs do will affect the team, everyone has an opinion about what would be best. But is it fair for others, former Duke players or otherwise, to publicly vocalize their opinion as though Brand and Avery should take a poll before considering?
No. It's not right to play expert with what is best for other people to do with their lives. Nor is it proper to make Brand and Avery feel as though their decision will be affecting us to the point where we need to be a consideration. There is enough pressure at stake for these two without having to believe that 6,000 Duke undergrads are imminently awaiting word on their future plans. When you get right down to it, it's not any of our business. So let Will and Elton decide on their own. When they figure it out, they'll let us know. In the meantime, I have to go pick a law school.
Zachary Davis is a Trinity senior and associate sports editor of The Chronicle.
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