The number of players who made the jump from high school basketball to the NBA without playing in college can be divided into four eras. Starting from Tony Kappen and Connie Simmons in 1946 through to Brandon Jennings here in 2009, prep stars have made an impact, both positive and negative, on the NBA. Let’s take a look at the history of preps-to-pros players:
PHOTO GALLERY: From High School to the NBA
1946-1962: In 1946, the inaugural season of the Basketball Association of America (which became the NBA in 1949 after merging with the National Basketball League), Tony Kappen became the league’s first player without any college experience. Later that first season, Connie Simmons joined the Boston Celtics as a teammate of Kappen’s and became the second player in the BAA without college experience.
Kappen played just that one season and averaged 6.5 points per game. Simmons, however, enjoyed a 1o-year career and finished with averages of 9.8 points and 6.2 rebounds a game. He won championships with the Baltimore Bullets in 1948 and the Syracuse Nationals in 1955.
Joe Graboski was a contemporary of Kappen and Simmons and was the third NBA player without college experience. Graboski played in the league for 13 seasons and and finished with career averages of 11 points and 8.1 rebounds per game.
***
PHOTO GALLERY: From High School to the NBA
1963-1994: In 1962, Reggie Harding became the first player to be drafted into the NBA directly from high school when his hometown Detroit Pistons took him in the fourth round. Harding, however, didn’t enter the league until the 1963-64 season. He averaged 9 points and 9.1 rebounds per game in four NBA seasons. His career was cut short by drug addiction and off-court problems. Harding died in 1972 at the age of 30 after being shot at a Detroit intersection.
After Harding, another player didn’t go from high school to the NBA until 1976. Moses Malone signed a letter of intent to play at the University of Maryland in 1974 but changed his mind after the American Basketball Association’s Utah Stars drafted him that same year. Two years later, the ABA merged with the NBA and Malone played until 1995, enjoying a Hall-of-Fame career that resulted with one championship and three league MVP awards. He remains one of the most successful players to make the jump from high school.
Darryl Dawkins and Bill Willoughby were two of Malone’s contemporaries, as both were taken in the 1975 NBA draft. Dawkins was the fifth overall pick and played until the 1988-89 season, but never fully lived up to expectations. He averaged 12 points per game for his career and his best remembered for being a ferocious dunker (video evidence below) who nicknamed his slams. Willoughby, the No. 19 pick in ’75, had a journeyman career, playing for six teams in eight seasons and can probably be considered as the first prep-to-pro player to be a bust, strictly based on his high draft position. He became the last high school player drafted for the next 20 years.
No high school players were drafted from 1975 to 1995. However, there were several players who enrolled but never played in college before turning pro. Shawn Kemp was by far the most successful of this group of players. Kemp committed to the University of Kentucky in 1988 but never played for the Wildcats, leaving before the season started because of academic trouble. He enrolled at Trinity Valley Community College in Athens, Texas, but arrived too late to be able to play. Kemp declared for the 1989 NBA draft and was taken by the Seattle SuperSonics with the 17th overall pick. He led the Sonics to the NBA Finals in 1996 and was a six-time All-Star during a 14-year career where he averaged 14.6 points and 8.4 rebounds per game.
***
PHOTO GALLERY: From High School to the NBA
1995-2005: This decade saw the number of high school players drafted rise dramatically, which undoubtedly influenced the NBA in its decision to enforce an age limit. The era of drafting based on potential was ushered in by the Minnesota Timberwolves when they took 1995 USA TODAY national player of the year Kevin Garnett with the fifth overall pick. Garnett gradually developed into one of the NBA’s best players and turned the Timberwolves into a perennial playoff team. A 12-time All-Star, Garnett has won an MVP award and a Defensive Player of the Year award while being a regular honoree on the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams. He won his first NBA championship as a member of the Boston Celtics in 2008.
In the years following Garnett, the list of preps-to-pros drafted has its fair share of stars:
1996
- Kobe Bryant (No. 13)
- Jermaine O’Neal (No. 17)
Analysis: Bryant is arguably the NBA’s best player and has won four championships, two scoring titles, and one MVP award. He is an 11-time All-Star and a regular member of the All-NBA and All-Defensive teams. Though his career started slowly because he was on a talent-laden Trail Blazers team, O’Neal hasn’t been too shabby himself. He is a six-time All-Star and has a career scoring average of 14.3.
Class rating: The only preps taken in ’96, both Bryant and O’Neal were well-worth their draft positions. Both have had embarrassing moments (Bryant with his sexual assault case and O’Neal for the role he played in the infamous 2004 brawl with fans in Detroit) but they’ve enjoyed a great amount of success. Two-for-two gives this class a 100% rate of success.
1997
- Tracy McGrady (No. 9)
- Stephen Jackson (No. 43)
Analysis: McGrady is a seven-time All-Star, has been named to seven All-NBA teams, has two scoring titles, and was named the league’s most improved player in 2001. Jackson averaged a career-high 20.7 points per game this past season and is a career 15.4 scorer.
Class rating: The biggest knock on McGrady has been his inability to win playoff series. In recent years he has also had to contend with injury problems. Jackson wasn’t ready when the Suns took him in ’97 and didn’t make his NBA debut until 2000 with the Nets. He has stuck around and prospered despite seeing trouble away from the court. He was suspended 30 games by the NBA for his role in the same brawl with Pistons fans that O’Neal was involved in (see video below). That incident was followed in 2006 with Jackson being charged in a shooting after a fight broke out at an Indianapolis strip club. Since we’re not judging character here, but only what a player brings to the table, 1997 also gets a 100% rate of success.
1998
- Al Harrington (No. 25)
- Rashard Lewis (No. 32)
Analysis: Harrington has been solid with a career average of 13.8 points per game, including a career-high 20.7 with the Knicks last season. Lewis, though, has been the most successful of the three preps taken in ’98. He is a two-time All-Star and averages 17 points a game for his career. The third prep taken that year was Korleone Young, at No. 40 overall by the Pistons.
Class rating: Harrington and Lewis are solid pros, if not borderline stars in the NBA. Young on the other hand, appeared in just three NBA games and if not for his lower draft position, would easily be considered one of the biggest busts among preps who tried to turn pro. Two out of three gives this class a 66.7% rate of success.
1999-2001
Analysis: Of the nine preps taken during this dry three-year stretch, none can really be considered to be among the upper echelon of NBA players. In 1999 we saw Jonathan Bender (No. 5) and Leon Smith (No. 29). In 2000 there was Darius Miles (No. 3) and DeShawn Stevenson (No. 23). Finally, in 2001, the five preps taken were Kwame Brown (the first prep to go No. 1), Tyson Chandler (No. 2), Eddy Curry (No. 4), DeSagana Diop (No. 8), and Ousmane Cisse (No. 46).
Class ratings: Bender never played a full 82-game season in an injury-plagued seven-year career, thus making him one of the biggest prep-to-pro busts. Smith didn’t actually play in the NBA until 2001, and even then only saw action in 15 games for the two seasons he was in the league. Behavioral and personal issues cut Smith’s career short. Miles has been OK, averaging 10.1 points per game for his career. He hasn’t played a full season since 2001-02 because of injuries and inconsistency, in addition to a variety of off-court problems. Stevenson has been a role player his entire career and has also seen his name on the police blotter. Brown remains the poster boy for high school players who were busts. Already with his fourth NBA team, his career average is just 7 points per game. Perhaps no other prep player was more unprepared for the NBA than Brown, as evidenced in this Washington Post piece. Chandler has carved a niche in the league as a rebounder and defender but hasn’t lived up to such a high draft position. The same can be said of Curry, who at 13.4 points per game is a solid scorer, but has struggled with conditioning and for someone who is 6-11, 285 lbs., he averages a paltry 5.3 rebounds per contest. Diop is a massive disappointment with a career average of just 2.1 points. Cisse never appeared in an NBA game.
This three-year stretch of bad draft picks caused heartache for many NBA owners and general managers. A lot of money was spent and very little was received in return. Perhaps nothing had a bigger influence on the NBA changing its policy than the disappointing return from these three years. Only because Chandler and Curry are serviceable starters, this three-draft class is two-for-nine for a 22.2% rate of success.
2002
- Amare Stoudemire (No. 9)
Analysis: Stoudemire was named the Rookie of the Year and is a four-time All-Star. He was named to the All-NBA First Team in 2007 and averages nearly a double-double for his career.
Class rating: Though he recently suffered a serious eye injury that will require the use of protective goggles, Stoudemire is a superb talent at power forward. Since he was the only prep taken in ’02, the class gets a 100% rate of success.
2003
- LeBron James (No. 1)
Analysis: James (AP photo) won Rookie of the Year, a scoring title in 2008, and was named league MVP this past season. He is a five-time All-Star and regular honoree on All-NBA teams. Preps drafted with James were Travis Outlaw (No. 23), Ndudi Ebi (No. 26), Kendrick Perkins (No. 27), and James Lang (No. 48).
LeBron James, who appeared on magazine covers before he was a senior in high school, is probably the best example of a preps star who was ready to play in the NBA right away.
Class rating: James’ name comes up in every conversation about who’s the NBA’s best player and his top-pick status was definitely warranted. Ebi and Lang played in a combined 30 NBA games. Outlaw is an integral, if not spectacular, player for the Trail Blazers who has averaged double figures the last two seasons. Perkins, known more for his rebounding and defense than his scoring, won an NBA title with the Celtics in 2008 and is their starting center. James, Outlaw, and Perkins give this class three out of five for a 60% rate of success.
2004
- Dwight Howard (No. 1)
- Al Jefferson (No. 15)
- Josh Smith (No. 17)
- J.R. Smith (No. 18)
Analysis: Howard is a three-time All-Star and was named the NBA Defensive Player of the Year this past season. Jefferson’s scoring average has gone up with each season, including a career-high 23.1 this past year. The Smiths are double-figure scorers and play key roles on their respective teams. Joining this class were Shaun Livingston (No. 4), Robert Swift (No. 12), Sebastian Telfair (No. 13), and Dorell Wright (No. 19).
Class rating: Howard’s game gets better each year as he asserts his place as the NBA’s best center. Jefferson suffered an ACL injury that ended last season prematurely but should have many bright years ahead. The Smiths should continue to have value wherever their careers take them. Livingston has had an injury-marred career thus far and has averaged just 7.3 points per game, making him a bust thus far. Swift is an even bigger bust and has never played more than 47 games in one season. For a 7-1 center, his averages of 4.3 points and 3.9 rebounds don’t justify his high selection. Telfair has started his fair share of games but poor shooting and turnovers make him an average point guard at best. Wright was slowly showing signs of improvement but spent most of last season injured and remains a bit-part player for the Heat. This class hit on four of the eight picks so it gets a 50% rate of success.
2005
- Andrew Bynum (No. 10)
- Monta Ellis (No. 4)
For an in-depth summary on how the class of ’05 turned out, read this earlier post. When healthy, Martell Webster (No. 6), Bynum, C.J. Miles (No. 34), and Ellis are starters for their teams. Louis Williams (No. 45) has averaged double-figures off the bench last two seasons and is primed to start for the 76ers this upcoming season while Gerald Green (No. 18), Andray Blatche (No. 49) and Amir Johnson (No. 56) will need to show more. Thus, this class hit on five of the eight picks for a 62.5% rate of success.
***
PHOTO GALLERY: From High School to the NBA
2006 and beyond: Since the NBA changed its draft eligibility policy beginning with the 2006 draft, 26 of the 240 picks (or 10.8%) in the last four drafts have been one-and-done players. If we count sophomores as underclassmen, which they are generally viewed as, then 58 of the 240 (24.2%) picks, or one out of every four have been spent on players with two or less years of college experience. The percentage would be even higher if we were to count foreign players, many of whom start playing professionally as teenagers.
One player did not figure into the above tallies. Who is he? Brandon Jennings, of course. The No. 10 pick by the Milwaukee Bucks in this year’s draft, Jennings opted to take a different path to the NBA, and one that many more players will consider in the future. After being unable to pass an entrance exam in order to play at the University of Arizona, Jennings decided to bypass college and play in Europe for one year before entering the NBA draft. He signed with Italian team Lottomatica Virtus Roma and made over $1 million during his one season abroad according to adviser Sonny Vaccaro.
Already, the ripple effect from Jennings’ move is being seen. Earlier this year, Jeremy Tyler, a standout from San Diego, announced that he was skipping his senior year of high school to play in Europe for two years before entering the NBA draft. In July, Latavious Williams, a preps star from Humble, Texas, backed out of a scholarship to play at Memphis to announce that he too would pursue an opportunity to play overseas. This is only the beginning and the flow of American youngsters overseas will only continue until the NBA and NCAA confer and come up with an age policy that can benefit both their institutions and the talented players involved.
Arin Karimian
