Open Court: All done with ‘one and done’

It’s tough to blame Lute Olson for feeling a bit burnt out.

Since Arizona’s Hall-of-Fame head coach returned to the fold nearly four months ago, he has watched Jerryd Bayless bolt for the pros, Emmanuel Negedu wiggle his way out of Tucson in favor of Tennessee and Josh Pastner chase greener pastures in Memphis.

Things, as they say, have been better.

Olson’s frustration with the current climate of college recruiting came to a head this week when hot-shot Oak Hill (Va.) star Brandon Jennings elected to take his game international instead of risking academic ineligibility at UA.

Even if Jennings did qualify to attend “Point Guard U,” he made it clear that he had no intention to stay longer than one season before pursuing his hoop dreams in the NBA.

Since the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement stipulates that a player won’t be draft eligible until he is one year removed from high school, college basketball is full of one-year “rent-a-players.”

Concepts like tradition, continuity and development have been rendered antiquated, and Olson doesn’t like it.

Olson, like most old-school college coaches, wants a return to the days when a top recruit would become like family. Players like Richard Jefferson, Luke Walton, Channing Frye and dozens of others are Wildcats for life, regardless of what NBA jersey they wear.

In an interview with the Los Angeles Times on Friday, Olson said he will no longer pursue a prep star who intends to leave after one year.

Is it an understandable position? Absolutely. Is it realistic? In today’s recruiting atmosphere, sadly, no.

This “one and done” circumstance has ravaged recruiting. It used to be if you found someone like Bayless, you wouldn’t have to worry about finding the next star point guard for a couple of seasons. These days, you have to recruit every position every year.

Olson is justifiably upset with this situation, and hopes to see the NBA amend its collective bargaining agreement. If a high-schooler feels he’s ready for the pros, Olson sees no reason to waste a scholarship on someone who’s counting down the days until the NBA draft. But if a player elects to attend college, he should have to stay for two (ideally, three) seasons in an effort to restore continuity to college basketball. However, the age-limit rule won’t be able to be altered until 2011.

I like Olson’s idea, but freezing out the “one and done” athlete means taking yourself out of the conversation for every elite recruit. Unless Olson is able to hit the jackpot with every “diamond in the rough,” he’s going to find that it will be tough for Arizona to regain its position among the nation’s best programs without top talent.

It’s far from ideal, but it’s the way things are.

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