Dr. Jessica Johnson

Dr. Jessica A. Johnson is an educator, columnist and researcher in Columbus, Ohio whose academic work centers on race and gender issues in sport history and popular culture. Her most recent scholarly article on the rioting that occurred after the 1910 Jack Johnson/Jim Jeffries heavyweight title fight was published in the Encyclopedia of American Race Riots. She has lectured in the Comparative Studies and African American and African Studies departments at The Ohio State University.

Dr. Johnson currently teaches English composition courses in the Communications Skills department at Columbus State Community College. She has been featured as a panelist on WOSU-TV’s Columbus On The Record and is a special correspondent for The Columbus Dispatch and an opinion columnist for The Athens Banner-Herald (Athens, GA).

Dr. Johnson is active in the community through her church, Support Ministries of Jesus Christ, Inc., where she is a musician for the praise and worship team.

Published on 06/3/2008

Elite high school basketball players should have the same choices as their baseball counterparts when it comes to choosing college or the pros.

The NBA needs to adopt a minor league system similar to Major League Baseball.

The recent allegations that former University of Southern California basketball phenom O.J. Mayo received $30,000 through a runner for a sports agent while in college and high school, has put the National Basketball Association's age-limit debate back in the headlines.

Mayo played just one year at USC as part of a talented generation of elite basketball stars known as "one-and-done" players. Since the NBA established an age limit of 19 for its players two years ago, athletes like Mayo, who would have skipped college for the pros, are forced to do what critics call "rent a college."

There are six "one-and-done" college freshmen who are expected to go in the top 10 during next month's NBA draft – Mayo, along with Michael Beasley of Kansas State, Derrick Rose of Memphis, Kevin Love of UCLA, Eric Gordon of Indiana and Jerryd Bayless of Arizona.

The Mayo scandal has prompted NBA Commissioner David Stern to look into possible solutions that may lessen the influence of college basketball's dark side. Among the possibilities are having the NBA monitoring agents' contacts with recruits, and even raising the NBA age limit to 20. The latter would work only if the NBA followed the model of Major League Baseball's farm system.

College baseball players seldom are referred to as frauds posing as student-athletes, because the majority of them actually want to be in school. Major League Baseball gives high school prospects a choice that their basketball counterparts don't have: After graduating from high school, players can sign a contract and play in the minor leagues while working their way up, or they can go to college. Once affiliated with a university, college baseball players must stay at least three years. Many of them opt to go on to earn their degrees, which gives them more professional opportunities if their athletic dreams don't pan out.

The NBA does have a developmental league, but to be eligible, players must previously have signed a NBA development league standard player contract. NBA teams can send first- and second-round picks to the D-League to refine their skills. This would be a reasonable option for elite high school basketball players who desire to bypass college.

Given the present culture of NCAA basketball, if the D-League was revised to mirror minor league baseball, it would not be the path taken by all basketball recruits. The main reason for this is exposure. The D-League has 16 teams, but how many basketball fans can name at least two squads in the three divisions, compared to those who can name the majority of teams that made this year's NCAA tournament Sweet 16?

The "March Madness" NCAA tournament is big business, too, as CBS will be paying more than $500 million to broadcast the games through 2013. The tournament is a huge stage for college players to showcase their abilities, and that's the reason many players opt to endure one semester of college courses.

If Mayo and the rest of his “one-and-done” freshman class had played in Michael Jordan's college era during the early 1980s, they would have been in school for three years. There still were crooked agents back then, but they were not as entrenched in high school basketball as they are today. Also, there was no Kobe Bryant or LeBron James in the '80s.

When Jordan signed with Nike after leaving the University of North Carolina, his contract was only $500,000. James signed for $90 million with Nike right out of high school. It's an entirely different ballgame today, because high school stars can project the millions they have the potential to earn.

As the NBA draft approaches, the age limit as well as the current age of "one-and-done" players will continue to be scrutinized. The NCAA is investigating the Mayo case, and if he is found guilty of accepting cash and gifts, USC could lose scholarships and have its entire 2007-08 season erased.

Yet, even if USC is sanctioned, that won't stop agents and runners from latching onto talented players. An NBA minor league system, one that would draft basketball stars right out of high school, would help alleviate the problem.