Published: March 28, 2009
Following up on my interview yesterday with the President of the NCPA, today I have a chat with Dr. Russell T. Wigginton, Vice President of College Relations at Rhodes College in Memphis, and the author of “The Strange Career of the Black Athlete: African Americans and Sports.”
I was able to chat with Dr. Wigginton about:
* The hypocrisy of ‘One and Dones’
* How the NBA’s current policy is disproportionately harmful to underprivileged African American youth
* Why the NBA and players union should reevaluate its eligibility rules for young players. In baseball, an individual can declare for the First-Year Player Draft if he has graduated from high school. Players from four-year colleges can enter the draft only if they have completed their junior or senior years, or if they are at least 21-years-old. I talked with Dr. Wigginton about why this could be a great model for the NBA to use.
* He provided his thoughts on Brandon Jennings heading to Europe to play basketball
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