- One-and-Done is a way for America’s top-tier basketball talent—almost all of whom are African Americans—to reap financial and professional success.
Last week I finally got around to watching ESPN’s 30 for 30 documentary, “One and Not Done.” It’s an excellent piece of work and I recommend it highly.
ESPN promotes this Jonathan Hock-directed documentary as “the raw and wide-open portrait of the most controversial coach in America, John Calipari.”
Of that there’s no doubt. Calipari wouldn’t deny it either. But if you reframe his portrait–and I’ll do that here in two ways–I think you’ll see that controversy gives way to very different interpretations.
First, I look at John Calipari, the person. Whether or not you like him, Calipari is a robust example of a guy who picked himself up by the bootstraps and made a success out of life.
Second, I look at One-and-Done, the practice. Whether or not you think it’s a good idea, it provides top-tier African American players with a pathway to personal and professional success.
John Calipari, An American Success Story
Of modest means—his father a laborer at the Pittsburgh airport, his mother a school cafeteria worker—Calipari was raised to believe the sky’s the limit. He reached for it, too.
But there’s no LeBron or Kobe story here. With limited basketball skills, Calipari was good enough to get a college basketball scholarship — at an off-the-radar home court, D-2 Clarion University of Pennsylvania.
How did Calipari get from nowhere special to college basketball’s biggest stage? He did it the way that many people achieve success. He worked hard. He networked well. He impressed people enormously. He won.
Courtesy: ESPN.com
But Calipari wasn’t an overnight success. Calipari moved ploddingly from summer camp coach in hometown Pittsburgh, to part-time assistant coach at Kansas, to full-time assistant coach at Pitt. He moved around—just as many successful people do—as he moved up.
He worked his tail off. He performed well. And he was brash. Outsized in performance and personality, Calipari compelled attention. Some of it was good and a lot of it was bad.
Controversy followed him as head coach—from UMass, to the pros (Nets), to Memphis, and finally to Kentucky. Two Final Four appearances (UMass and Memphis) were scrubbed from the record books because of player misdeeds. The Nets fired him.
That’s an all-too-familiar script: meteroic rise is followed by stunning crash. But successful people know it’s not whether you fail (you will), it’s how you respond.
Calipari responded the way many successful people do–the way described in a popular Depression-era song. He “picked himself up, dusted himself off, and started all over again.”
Critics said he was done. They said he’d never coach again. They were wrong.
Memphis came calling, then Kentucky. Not only was Calipari back, he migrated all the way to the top.
Believe me, I’m not trying to deify the guy. All I’m saying is that Calipari’s bio fits a success narrative. At least give him that.
One & Done Enables Opportunities for Top-Tier African American Athletes
The NBA installed a new rule a decade ago. To enter the NBA a player must be at least 19 years of age or be at least one year out of high school. The rule opened the door to One-and-Done.
It didn’t take much time for critics to find fault with the change. Even the NBA expressed doubts (keep in mind that that players’ union, not the league, pushed for the rule change). Those doubts extend to this day. Consider an article published just a few days ago: “NBA Commissioner Is Ready For Change in ‘One and Done’ Rule.“
Courtesy: The Sports Bank
But amid all the controversy I think there’s one thing One-and-Done does quite well. It provides a pathway to the NBA for young and extremely talented African Americans.
A good share of those players would jump to the NBA right from high school—if they could–just as Kobe and LeBron did a generation ago. But they can’t because of NBA entry rules.
Given that rule–and the system that exists today–One-and-Done provides an alternative. Calipari knows that. He also knows that players are at risk financially if they stay in college more than one year.
Take the case of Dajuan Wagner, a high school superstar who ended up playing for Calipari at Memphis. Wagner left college after one year for the NBA, signing a $7 million+ contract with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Wagner had a great rookie season, averaging over 13 points a game. Then illness struck. Wagner underwent surgery and doctors removed half of his colon. Wagner’s NBA career was over.
Where would Wagner have ended up without One-and-Done?
So Calipari tells recruits and their families: “Come play for me. Play one year. Give it your all. Then graduate to the NBA. I’ll be with you all the way.”
Players and families win. Calipari wins. UK wins enough to make the approach workable.
I know there are those who think One-and-Done flies in the face of what a college education is about. I’d agree if it weren’t for one thing: what big-time college basketball has become. It’s a huge money-making operation that “just happens” to be affiliated with higher education.
To me it makes no sense to overlay on the existing system what you believe it should be. Unless … unless you start with that image and use it to overhaul the system. Reform the system so that major college basketball befits an undeniable connection to higher education. That would turn something far less pleasing into something of which we can be proud.
Wouldn’t that be worth the effort? Of course it would.
But let’s face reality: It’s NOT happening. There’s no appetite to make it happen. Those in charge like the system generally the way it is. They tweak a bit here. They change a bit there. But engage in major reform? The system puts too much money in the pockets of the NCAA, the universities, and the coaches to risk major change.
So–given the system we have and will likely have for the foreseeable future–here’s what I really like about One-and-Done: it channels big money in another direction — into the hands of players and their families. Front-line workers finally get a big piece of the pie!
That’s the reason I won’t criticize either John Calipari or the practice. Calipari has figured out a way to make the system work for players and their families, for him, and for his school. Give him credit.
And, let’s face another fact: many of those who criticize One-and-Done do so for self-serving reasons, including other coaches and schools, including UK’s competitors in the Southeastern Conference.
And for those who believe that Calipari is a staunch defender of One-and-Done, then you might be suprised to hear what he has to say about it. Watch this video to find out.
Life is lived in a context. In a different context I’d be against One-and-Done. But given the context of college-pro basketball today, the practice makes sense to me.
And there’s nobody better at it than John Calipari.
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Disclaimer: I do not have an affiliation with either Calipari or UK. I’m not a UK fan and do not follow the team.
