KU, KSU Basketball Stars Face Impending Obscurity

By CHRIS RASMUSSEN

It is impossible to feel sorry for multimillionaire teenagers. That said, consider the plight of Big 12 graduates selected in the NBA Draft. First, college is a form of indentured servitude, as the NBA deems 18 year olds mature enough to enlist in the military but not play for the Grizzlies. Then, bouncing ping pong balls used to determine the draft order decide their vocational future (as opposed to the whims of middle managers from human resources, like most employers).

So here’s an overview of the NBA Draft Lottery implications for local college basketball stars, as this might be the last time you hear their names in Kansas City.

Michael Beasley, Kansas State. Chad Ford believes he will be selected No. 1 by the Chicago Bulls. Jayhawks Heinrich and Gooden could be his teammates in Chicago, which becomes the only place in the next decade in which a Wildcat outperforms a Jayhawk on a basketball court.

Darrell Arthur, Kansas. HoopsHype has Arthur falling to No. 16 and Philadelphia, where Sixers fans will lustily boo his inability to utilize the Pythagorean Theorem.

Brandon Rush, Kansas: Projections show him selected by Seattle at No. 24. According to NBA Draft Net, his major weakness is that he is old for a NBA rookie. He is 22, old enough to remember when Seattle last fielded a successful basketball team.

Mario Chalmers, Kansas: HoopsHype does not have him drafted in the first round, meaning he might return to college, where he will be cheered for breathing.

J.R. Giddens, New Mexico: He has been stabbed, suspended and transferred from future national champion Kansas in five years. Giddens is projected to be selected in the second round by Seattle, where authorities are on alert.

Bill Walker, Kansas State: Projected to go to Indiana in the second round, causing horror and dread in Pacer equipment managers.