March Madness. One of the most chaotic, fun, awe inspiring and generally electric times of the year. Fans unite behind their favorite teams, brackets are mulled over and discussed as if they were the key to solving world peace and people who hadn’t watched one game during the regular season suddenly lineup in front of television sets as if they were lifelong fans of the game. All of this leads up to the Final Four where two days and three games determine the National Champion.

As much as I love the tournament and college basketball in general, this time of year brings out another side of the Final Four and the end of the college basketball season. The time when these players decide and announce their intentions regarding the upcoming, albeit not all that soon, NBA Draft.

Fans and coaches sit back and wait as the determination made by these kids could have a profound effect on next season’s team and beyond. Will our team be great because, surprisingly, our best player decides to stay another year or just "test the waters" without hiring an agent, or will potential and money and fame lure him to the NBA dashing all of our hopes for a Final Four run next year?

With recruiting the way it is these days where most kids sign letters of intent well in advance, unless the coach prepared and back filled potential draft picks with recruits, the loss of one player could mean the difference between being a contender or playing in the NIT.

This year is no different in terms of the rumors of who will go and who will stay, the announcements already of intentions and the nail biting going on throughout the country with people worrying about next year’s team. The big difference, however, is the fact that the new age limit was instituted in the NBA stating that players must be 19 years old and a year removed from their graduating class before being allowed to enter the draft.

The effect this had on the high school players and the college game for years to come is one thing, but the effect on the decisions of this year’s crop of collegiate players is a whole other story. Now, without Greg Oden and Kevin Durant coming out and being surefire top five picks, the collegiate players realize that this is their chance to come out and have a better shot at being a lottery pick.

Based on their team’s Final Four runs and their larger than life performances over the past couple of weeks, the two media favorites for the top pick in the draft are Tyrus Thomas of LSU and Joakim Noah of Florida.

To me, this is where the problem begins. As explosive and exciting and talented as these two kids are, it is almost impossible not to get swept up in the idea of their unlimited potential and future prospect in the NBA. The fans and the media, and these days the General Managers and scouts of NBA teams, become enamored with the "it" players and with potential and athleticism and all those other measurable things rather than becoming enamored with a players’ ability to actually play the game.

Don’t get me wrong, I think Thomas and Noah have the ability and heart and determination to become great players in the NBA one day, but that time just isn’t right now. The NBA has become a league, not of just basketball players, but of young players who supposedly have this great talent and potential, but truly cannot play the game at the level where a person playing in the greatest league in the world should be.

The NBA is not a training ground where you go to develop things such as defensive fundamentals, a consistent jump shot or an understanding of what it takes to lead and become a winner. That’s what playing in college and being a star on a team with aspirations is supposed to breed.

We watch the NCAA Tournament and a kid has one or two outstanding games and, all of a sudden, they reach a new plateau. Never mind the fact that some of these kids were completely inconsistent during the year and had people questioning various facets of their game.

What they need to remember is that the NBA is 82 games of seemingly non-important games. There isn’t the build up and excitement of the NCAA Tournament when you are an east coast team on the fourth game of a west coast road trip and you just got hammered last night in Sacramento and now have to play tonight in Portland. This is when players show what they truly are made of and where players move into an upper echelon.

You might say that these types of things won’t be expected of these young players coming in, but we all know that’s not the case. Expectations can be a hell of a thing and the slightest deviation from what is expected can have a player labeled a bust in a minute and bound to be included as a throw-in player in the next nine player trade the night of the trading deadline. Although, not to worry, because as long as they are selfish and have a big contract, Isiah Thomas will take them.

A few names come to mind who people don’t really know and don’t really mention when discussing the influx of young players into the draft. Guys like Kennedy Winston, Leon Smith, James Lang and Kelenna Azubuike had talent and potential and all of that. Today, however, they are now are traveling Turkey or Greece or are in Charleston, SC on a bus rather than being in school and improving their game and giving themselves a shot at being in the league for 10 years.

The media wants to talk about the Kobe’s and KG’s and T-Mac’s and talk about how successful they are now and how great they are in the league, but so easily forgets the wash outs or the guys that got the wrong advice and came out too soon. How about the fact that no player straight from high school or who came out after their freshman year ever seems to be the centerpiece of a team that wins NBA titles or even gets to the finals.

This is just a word of warning to guys like Thomas, Noah, Rudy Gay, LaMarcus Aldridge, Jordan Farmar and Josh Boone. I know the money and the fame and the women and the rest of the perks look really good right now, but realize that once you get to the league, it eventually becomes about production and business.

If you don’t have pride in your game or care whether you sit on the bench for the next couple of years or play with a team that wins less than 25% of their games, than the NBA is for you. If you want to work on your game and make sure that you get yourself to the point where you can come into the league and actually make a difference, than stay in school. There you can work on your game and realize that you could come into the league with an actual chance at making a difference and be better than a lot of these other kids who came out as athletes and now are just guys who look good in the airport.

Be someone who shows that they are worth a max contract because they produce on the court and, heavens forbid, makes their team better and wins some games. I know this might sound idealistic and no one will really listen and these kids will take the money and run and be happy being mediocre in the league. However, from a guy who used to love to watch kids grow into real ball players in college and then come into the league and grow with their pro team until they become winners, we all can dream.