Just let them play

Wildcat File Photo Arizona Summer Wildcat Dan Rosen

But the NCAA has just come up with a rule that says you can't play immediately.

Why? You completed high school with a diploma, got accepted into the University of Arizona and have a spot on the basketball team.

Well, the NCAA believes that by sitting out a year and getting acclimated to college life, your chances of graduating will increase.

Give me a break. If an athlete wants to leave early to go to the pros, he will. If an athlete wants to concentrate on basketball while managing his studies, he will.

No one tells you to go to class when you are in college, and no one tells you to study. That is the beauty of college, and that is what the freshmen have to learn.

The guys that were giving Lute Olson problems during the season were just learning. Now, after a year of playing, sitting, studying and partying, they have experienced what college, for them, is all about. They have learned through the mistakes they made, and now they are better on and off the court.

If you make freshman ineligible to play because you want them to get acclimated, then why not make freshman ineligible to rush a Greek house.

It is the same thing. They have to learn how to balance school with the new social life and pledgeship.

Their grades may slip, but they will go through a learning process that is second to none.

If they fail this learning process, the fault lies solely on themselves.

For the basketball players, it may be a bit tougher, but they didn't come here to sit out a season. They came here to play basketball and get better at it.

As NCAA officials consider this ridiculous rule, they must weigh the facts. One point that glares like the sun is that more players will go directly to the pros if the NCAA approves this plan.

As of now, a fair amount of players leave after their freshman or sophomore years. If the NCAA makes this rule, why would they go to college at all?

The guys that leave after a year or two are not going to college for school. Classes are secondary and something they have to do in order to play basketball. So, if they are denied a year of basketball to start out, then that becomes one more year where they can't make their millions.

You think Mike Bibby would have come here if he couldn't play his first year. Probably not.

Any which way, there are still only 115 days until Midnight Madness.