King Kaufman's Sports Daily

Michael Beasley's one and done: When the going gets good, the good turn pro. Plus: Big Papi's buried jersey.

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April 15, 2008 | Kansas State freshman Michael Beasley surprised almost no one by announcing Monday that he'll enter this spring's NBA draft, where he's expected to be the first or second pick. Memphis point guard Derrick Rose, who is also reportedly ready to turn pro after the NBA-requisite one year in college, would be the only player likely to go higher than Beasley.

Beasley and Rose are by leaps and bounds better players than consensus Player of the Year Tyler Hansbrough of North Carolina, who at 22 is three years their senior.

Nothing against Hansbrough, an excellent college player who's got a chance to be a solid pro, but if they're retiring his number at North Carolina, they ought to be breaking ground for museums for Beasley and Rose at K-State and Memphis.

Beasley huddled with friends, family and advisors over the weekend as he struggled with the decision, according to press reports. That's a credit to him, that he gave a major life decision serious thought rather than just doing the obvious thing, which would have been to take the millions of dollars available to him the instant he declared for the draft.

That said, going pro was the obvious thing to do for a good reason. Millions of them.

Yes, that makes me a crass worshipper of the almighty dollar over education and all that, though I'd be willing to change my view for a few bucks.

Wait, that's not what I was going to say. I was going to say that Beasley, who has talked about taking the usually mythical "student-athlete" label seriously, can continue his education at any time for the rest of his life, including the time he spends in the NBA. Perhaps you remember Vince Carter taking time out from playoff preparations to graduate from the University of North Carolina a few years ago.

What Carter did isn't easy. It gets harder to go back to college every day you're away, especially when what many people mistakenly believe is the sole purpose of college -- preparing the student to get a good job -- is no longer a motivator because the student is taking naps on beds made of Benjamins.

But if you're going to face a hard decision, like whether to go back to college, might as well do it as a multimillionaire, don't you think? I think that and would like to try it sometime. But that opportunity -- becoming an instant millionaire -- might not always be there for Beasley. He could get injured during his sophomore year, or he could just lose his basketball mojo and have his stock drop.

Next page: K-State coach to Beasley: Go, go. Plus: The buried Big Papi jersey