Kyle Kensing staff writer

DeShawn Stevenson. Korleone Young. Donnell Harvey.

Never heard any of these names? You're not alone.

These three hoop dreamers are just a few of the majority of high school players who counter the statistical basketball anomaly that is a LeBron James or Kevin Garnett.

NBA officials, including commissioner David Stern, have openly flirted with the possibility of instating a 20-year age limit for players entering the league.

The proposal has drawn the ire of some in the professional basketball community, most notably Indiana

All-Star forward Jermaine O'Neal.

O'Neal, a nine-year veteran who was drafted at 18, suggested that the proposal might be racially motivated.

The NBA offers young men an opportunity to earn an impressive salary - the league minimum is $300,000 a season - all while doing something they love. What 18-year-old would turn down a chance like that?

Had a sports publication offered me a six- or seven-figure contract for my services coming out of high school, I wouldn't have thought twice before accepting the position.

And therein lies the problem. Of course any teenager will jump at the chance to make millions pursuing his dream, no matter his race or chosen profession.

But once a teenager is in a position to gain instant fortune, how likely is he to have the maturity to handle it?

Where O'Neal sees a decision based on race, I see an issue of maturity.

Ask someone in his mid-20s if he is more mature now than he was at 18, and more often than not you'll hear a resounding "yes."

Those are formative years, ones in which many young men learn the skills needed in life, like financial and personal responsibility.

Teenage years are a constant learning curve, one in which people make mistakes. Considering the standards to which society holds athletes, there's little margin for error.

College gives budding star athletes an outlet for their development - on and off the court.

From an athletic perspective, collegiate competition allows players to apply their trade while developing physically.

The Minnesota Timberwolves' Ndudi Ebi could have taken that lesson.

A prominent prospect for Arizona entering the 2003-2004 season, Ebi instead declared for the draft. In two seasons tethered to the bench, the 6-foot-9, 206-pound Ebi has 40 career points in 86 minutes.

According to the U.S. National Library of Medicine Web site, the average person reaches his or her adult size at 18. Athletes who have just finished growing may fill out those newly acquired frames in strict workout regimens, and do so without the pressure of matching up with a veteran in his 30s like the Miami Heat's Shaquille O'Neal.

But what may be more important than the athlete's physical development is his personal development, which includes the variety of opportunities he will have at his disposal later in life.

NBA draftees are only given a guaranteed contract if they are one of the first 30 selections.

Now, consider Seattle Supersonics forward Rashard Lewis.

Lewis, a prep standout in the Houston area, slipped into the second round, which resulted in him not receiving a guaranteed contract. Had Lewis suffered a career-ending injury in preseason workouts, there would have been no million-dollar contracts, no adoring fans. Just a broken dream.

That's not to say Lewis or other high-school-to-pro hoopsters do not have other skills. However, with a college degree, they will be more likely to have a prospect atapplying those skills in the world.

Fortunately, such an injury scenario has yet to happen, but the danger is very real. Any time a teenager steps on the hardwood with grown men, he runs a high risk of injury.

With the foundation of a college education, a former athlete has more doors opened to him, as well as a place to learn adult characteristics.

It doesn't matter what race he is - the more opportunities a young manhas before him, the better.