After the 2005 NBA Draft, the NBA prohibited new high-school graduates from entering the draft, mandating that all applicants must be at least one year removed from high school. This created the “one-and-done”, where highly regarded basketball prospects play one year at the collegiate level and then move on to the NBA. Recent examples include Andrew Wiggins, Karl-Anthony Towns, and Ben Simmons.
Others, such as Brandon Jennings, instead elect to play professionally in a different country. A total of 44 players were selected out of high school. Some, like Kevin Garnett and LeBron James, went on to have hall of fame worthy careers. Others, such as Robert Swift and Kwame Brown, busted spectacularly. If the ban had been in place before these players entered the draft, where would the best have gone to college?
7. Kevin Garnett
Garnett played 21 seasons in the NBA, averaging 17.8 points and 10 rebounds per game. His intensity on both ends of the court made him one of the league's biggest stars of the 2000's, and he is expected to be inducted into the hall of fame in 2021, his first year of eligibility. In an interview with Studen Sports Magazine in 1995, Garnett stated that “if I would have gone to college, it was going to be Maryland.” The Terrapins aren't known for their basketball program, but that would certainly have changed if they would have been able to land Garnett. A player of his caliber would surely have helped them recruit in the future. Barring a major injury or consistently abysmal play, Garnett would have been selected high in 1996 instead.
6. Kobe Bryant
Over his 20 seasons, Bryant averaged 25 points per game and won five NBA Championships. He is one of the most recognizable players in all of professional sports history, and one of the NBA's greatest players of all time. Bryants has been quoted as saying he would have played for Duke University or North Carolina. An interesting choice, given the two programs' intense rivalry. Had Bryant been forced to attend one of them, both schools would have recruited him intensely, and whichever team landed him would have had the upper hand in the rivalry for the next season.
5. Tracy McGrady
When healthy, T-Mac was one of the NBA's most electric players, once scoring 13 points in 35 seconds to lead the Houston Rockets to an incredible comeback victory. Injuries robbed him of what could have been an even more legendary career, but he was still able to play 16 seasons, leading the league in scoring twice.
Although he played 50 games or less in five seasons, he averages 19.6 points per game for his career. McGrady stated that he would have attended Kentucky if college was the path he had chosen. Another premier program that would've appreciated having a future NBA hall of famer.
3. Amar'e Stoudemire
Much like Tracy McGrady, Stoudemire was a player whose career was significantly hampered by constant injuries. Knee problems caused him to play fewer than 56 games in eight of his 15 NBA seasons. When he wasn't suffering the effects of these, he was one of the league's most prolific scoring big men, averaging a career-high 26 points per game in 2004-2005. Stoudemire committed to Memphis before recommitting to enter the 2002 NBA Draft. Memphis is well-known for producing NBA MVP Derrick Rose, and perhaps if Stoudemire had played for them, they could have attracted more high school players.
2. LeBron James
At 33 years old, LeBron James is showing no signs of slowing down. The three-time NBA champion and MVP recently became just the seventh player in history to reach 30,000 points and is in the midst of one of his best seasons. After starring at Akron's St. Vincent-St. Mary High School, James was selected first overall by his hometown Cleveland Cavaliers in 2003. Before the 2013 Big Ten Championship, James gave a speech before the Ohio State football team where he stated that he would have played for the Buckeyes had he attended college.
1. Dwight Howard
The Orlando Magic took Howard with the first pick in 2004, and he quickly became one of the NBA's premier big men. His athleticism, size, and skill made him a force on both offense and defense. He has led the NBA in blocks twice and in rebounds five times. Injuries and dysfunction have limited his effectiveness in recent years, but in the 2017-2018 season, he is playing as well as he has in years. Duke and North Carolina were his two biggest options, but Howard's website revealed that had Howard attended college, he would have been a Tar Heel. Ironically, he now plays for the greatest Tar Heel of all-time, Michael Jordan.
Although a college education gives individuals a better chance of earning a higher income, the decision to forgo post-secondary education worked out for these six players.
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