Tyler Cook Invited to G League Elite Camp

Some notable names Iowa fans have seen play:

Coffey, Amir (Minnesota)
Cook, Tyler (Iowa)
Cumberland, Jarron (Cincinnati)
Happ, Ethan (Wisconsin)
Palmer Jr., James (Nebraska)
Shayok, Marial (Iowa State)
Wigginton, Lindell (Iowa State)
Wooten, Kenny (Oregon)

G League notable players:

Haas, Isaac (Salt Lake City) - Purdue
Jok, Peter (Northern Arizona) - Iowa
 
It’s crazy how many underclassmen leave early. You have to wonder if they are getting bad information at some point.
 
I try to look at it from a player’s perspective. Me, I’m staying in college until I’m a first-rounder or am out of eligibility. In reality, that’s just one approach. Some guys just don’t want to be in college. TC wanted to leave last year. He just doesn’t want to be in college. He’s not alone, as evidenced by all these guys leaving early. But also believe some get bad advice or are being pushed by unrealistic expectations from people around them.
 
Many of these kids have been told they would be stars in the NBA since they were in middle school. Nearly none of them will actually achieve that, but all of them sadly believe it. I recall going to an elite camp my junior year in high school. Larry Bird came to speak and he told the campers that only one, perhaps two of them would ever play a game in the NBA and to make the most of their ability to get an education that would support them throughout their lives. Nearly every kid there just thought he was being a jerk, but he was completely correct. Fyi Indiana forward Daryl Thomas was a teammate of mine at that camp. He was drafted by the sacramento kings and never played a game in the NBA.
 
Very interesting that Cook, Shayok, Wigginton, and Jok are all there fighting for a chance to be considered for the NBA.
 
NikeHawk21 said:
It’s crazy how many underclassmen leave early. You have to wonder if they are getting bad information at some point.
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I'm sure they are getting some bad information. I think NFL draft prospects get bad information too. But as Rob said, I think a lot of it comes down to not wanting to be in college anymore and many have been trained to believe colleges are taking advantage of them.

For me, I loved everything about college outside of being poor. But I understand if others feel very differently. Sometimes I wonder if the fact they all of these prospects are given scholarships and college is a free thing to them and they are given every advantage that a student can have, they just don't see the same value in it that regular students do.
 
RobHowe said:
I try to look at it from a player’s perspective. Me, I’m staying in college until I’m a first-rounder or am out of eligibility. In reality, that’s just one approach. Some guys just don’t want to be in college. TC wanted to leave last year. He just doesn’t want to be in college. He’s not alone, as evidenced by all these guys leaving early. But also believe some get bad advice or are being pushed by unrealistic expectations from people around them.
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Part of it to me is there is currently this cultural push that the NCAA only exists to exploit these kids for money.

Now I’m not here to sit here and say the NCAA is perfect, far from it, but there are benefits to playing at the college level which include, quality coaching, playing against top level competition, top notch training facilities, exposure on a national stage. Those things are outside of receiving an education. For some reason those things never get mentioned when these arguments come to the forefront.

Sadly my guess is many of these guys when they look back on it many years later are going to say dang why didn’t I stay in college another year, that was the best time of my life.
 
Not saying it’s the case with TC. I don’t know. But I think a decent percentage of these guys view the educational part as a distraction. They don’t want class interfering with working on their games.

I would want to take advantage of the free education but that’s just not the way everyone thinks. They see and they’re being told that the window is small. I think there were two seniors invited to the draft combine.
 
The minimum salary for an undrafted NBA rookie this year was $838k. That's a good reason many of them chase the dream. Many of them just want to give up the facade of being a stutdent-athlete when they don't really care about the student part, never did.

There are so many good basketball players in the world today. It is really hard to make an NBA roster, period.

I think about Peter Jok. By all accounts he had a good 2nd year in the G League with the Northern AZ Suns. He averaged 14.3 ppg, shot 40.9% from deep, averaged 30 min/game, had a bunch of double-doubles and never once got got called up to the parent Suns. Will he follow Jarodd Uthoff overseas after two years in the G league? We'll see. At least Jarrod got a cup of coffee in the NBA before likely seeing the writing on the wall and going for the international money.

I never knew this G League camp existed until this post but it seems just about the right level for Tyler Cook at this time. I wish him the best.
 
BryceC said:
I thing Wigginton from ISU knows exactly where he stands. He just wants to go at the NBA a different way. I don't blame him at all and if these guys can get one of the two way G League contracts it's probably worth it for them.
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Wigginton's first game against the Hawks I thought he was NBA caliber
 
Malcolm Brogdon is a good example of a four year college guy that made the league and is making noise in the league. They are pretty few and far between though.

The thing of it is though there are very few 2nd round or undrafted guys who make it out of the G league and the G league salaries are garbage. The NBA is just a brutal league to crack.
 
If you guys remember, the "draft and stash" was a thing for awhile as well.

This article is a little dated, but still interesting. If you scroll down to Washington, you'll see a familiar name:

LINK
 
RobHowe said:
Not saying it’s the case with TC. I don’t know. But I think a decent percentage of these guys view the educational part as a distraction. They don’t want class interfering with working on their games.

I would want to take advantage of the free education but that’s just not the way everyone thinks. They see and they’re being told that the window is small. I think there were two seniors invited to the draft combine.
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This has to be the thought process for these kids. Many P5 athletes are in majors that won't get them a job when they leave school and they don't care in the here and now because they chose that major that is easier so they can put more time into their game. Its interesting to me that so many are up in arms on this board about kids leaving early from football and basketball teams but the baseball team regularly has incoming recruits and non seniors leave for the MLB. Those kids are getting paid pennies to play in the minors. Yet they do it for a shot at the pros and because their time that they can compete professionally is limited.

I think that many people want kids to stay in school so they can have a better team to root for instead of wanting what's potentially best for the kids. G League players earned a minimum base salary of 35k plus housing allowance and health benefits. That's not at all a bad way to make a living for 5 months of work. And that's if they want to stay in the US. Players can make a solid salary overseas.

I do wish that the NBA and NFL would go the route of the MLB and have the draft and let players decide after the draft if they want to signal contract or go back to school. It will never happen and the drafts would have to add more rounds to compensate for some players turning down a pro contract. But it would be better for the players. But as the system currently is I'm all for kids trying to make a living by leaving college early.
 
PCHawk said:
Its tough to justify staying 4 years when the NBA thinks so little of seniors.
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You would think that a year or two in age difference wouldn't be that big of a deal. But it is the difference between being labeled with "upside" and "potential" or being labeled a guy with "limitations".
 
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