McDonald's All American Darius Bazley Decommitted From Syracuse So He Can Enter...The G-League?
Yahoo- McDonald’s All American and Syracuse commit Darius Bazley — a projected top-10 selection in the 2019 NBA draft — has decided to turn professional and plans to sign in the NBA G League, Bazley told Yahoo Sports. Bazley, 17, told Yahoo Sports he has decommitted from Syracuse and will play in the G League after discussing several options with his mother, Lynnita Bazley, close family members and Princeton (Cincinnati) High School coach Steve Wright. Several players have set a trend of leaving collegiate commitments to play overseas, but Bazley’s decision to bypass the one-and-done format for the G League is unprecedented.
“This is a life-changing decision,” Bazley, one of the top players in the Class of 2018, told Yahoo Sports. “I put a lot of thinking into this with my mom and close circle, especially sitting down with her. It’s just like making the decision to which college you want to go to. Me and her did some talking, and I prayed on it. I talked to my high school coach, Steve, who played overseas, and then I talked to a couple of guys in the G League who have experience. Ultimately, playing professional basketball has always been my dream. It’s always going to be the dream goal, always going to be the goal until I achieve it. This is going to put me one step closer to doing so. “The G League will have the most to offer, considering that is the development league for the NBA,” he continued. “I will get more out of that than going overseas. The G League is the closest thing to the NBA. I see most guys now are spending time in the G League even after they went to school and the draft, so this gives me the chance to accelerate the process. There have been a lot of successful guys who have been brought up in the G League, and I’m confident that I will be one of them. “I’m self-motivated because I know this is what I want to do for the rest of my life. This is how I want to make a living. This is how I want to provide for my family, and provide for my love of basketball. I’m not playing any games with this. I’m attacking this straight forward. I’m not maneuvering around this, take any side steps. I’m taking this head on. This is the decision that I made, and I know it will work. I know what I’m capable of doing, and I’m going to do just that.”
NBA executives believe he can be one of the best players in the 2019 draft. At 6-foot-9, Bazley has the potential to be a dynamic playmaker, ball-handler in the open floor and defensive force. Bazley turns 18 in June and will then be eligible to formally sign a G League contract in September and enter the league’s annual draft in October.
You…you can just do that? I thought the reason players went overseas instead of college was because they couldn’t pass the SATs, got caught accepting money, or their dad was taking over the business world one $500 pair of shoes at a time. I didn’t know you could stay in the U.S of A, avoid the metric system, and make money for playing pro basketball less than a year after you graduated high school. Don’t get me wrong, I love this theory in principle. I know how wonderful of a feeling it must be to prop up 100 other sports at your university and be a STUDENT athlete. But this is fucking America. If you want to get paid for your craft, you should be allowed to do it once you think you are ready. And speaking of the Big Baller moves, who would want to play for Big Var’s JBA when they can go to the G-League, make money, and work with NBA scouts while not being contractually obligated to wear shoes that may snap your ankle in half?
Now I have to admit that while this definitely bums me out, it is in a weird sense bittersweet news. The shitty side of things is that I’m obviously a Syracuse fan and was thrilled about their team next season. I don’t know what the surprising tourney run will do to the roster. But based on everything Reags had told me, I could get excited about a stud like Bazley coming in, Jalen Carey as a legit shooting guard and Buddy Boeheim being a sharpshooter and the greatest definition of a coach’s son ever seen in Syracuse history. If Jim Boeheim can take a team that “shouldn’t have even been in the tournament” to the Sweet 16, can you imagine what he could do with a Sweet 16 team that may stick together along with those recruits? Nope, their best recruit decides to be a trail blazer (lower case) and go to the fucking G-League instead on snowy ass Syracuse. Most Cuse thing ever. So this hurts me as a Cuse fan. A lot, no matter how casual of a fan I am these days. Young Clem however would have been DEVASTATED by this news.
Fit = A++++++++++++++++++++ (repeating bar over the plus)
But the other side of this is how much I hate the NCAA. The shittiest, shadiest sports organization in the country. It’s FIFA, the IOC, and the NCAA for shittiest sports organization on the planet in my mind. Fuck them all. To have a top prospect pull this move and take some G-League money and experience over free tuition, some books, and a meal plan is delightful. And I love the tournament as much as everyone else. I may not enjoy college hoops the way I did 5-10 years ago, but the tourney always moves the needle even when it’s not sending me on free trips to Vegas. But I have prayed and prayed for the NCAAs downfall for years now. And maybe this is the move that ends up doing it. Not the JBA or the FBI. The fucking G-League. What an upset that would be.
The spinzone for me in all this is that Syracuse could now end up being a 9+ seed again next year, I draft them in #BudLightBusters, and next thing you know I am in Vegas for #DP42. JK, no way my wife lets me leave with 2 gremlins in the Casa de Clem unless Dave is a billionaire by this time next year thanks to the Tommy Smokes magic and flies my entire family on a private jet while giving us our own suite.
Also I would have to see how this all works, but doesn’t the G-League draft become Must Watch if other big prospects follow suit? And if so, how will the Knicks fuck up said G-League draft ? More questions than answers right now. I’m pretty sure Reags is flying to San Antonio right now or else I would have some semblance of a guru in my life. I’m sure there is much more on this to come.