A statistic that I recently read points out that there are approximately 60 million people in the world who play basketball.
As an example, in America, the No. 1 sport played by school age girls is basketball. I know, it’s another story about basketball from Fantauzzi— sorry. You have to understand the game has been my passion since I was about 12 years old. There are so many stories that relate to the game, in general, that I can use as an analogy for life’s adventure.
The dream of every kid, and some parents, is that there will be the pot of gold at the end of the proverbial rainbow of athletic scholarships, or even a million dollar professional sports contract. Okay, let’s look at basketball. See what I mean? I can use the game of basketball as an overall example to make my point. There isn’t a sport that you can’t use as a comparison to life’s path! Sorry for my redundancy!
There are 346 Division I college athletic programs in the country, and they have so many allotted athletic scholarships for all sports, not counting the rules they must follow, especially when it comes to recruitment.
Here are some athletic scholarship facts that relate to men’s college basketball: NCAA D-I teams get 13, D-II schools get 10 and junior colleges get 15. The women get a couple more at NCAA Basketball’s D-I spot, but all is equal on the other two levels.
All NCAA sports are known as head count sports, which means: if there are three graduating seniors, then the coach only has three scholarships for incoming freshmen and/or transfers for next season.
Let’s go a step further. If a player has aspirations of playing in the NBA, or the WNBA, the differential of the number of pro basketball players, compared to college hoopers, is astronomical!
In the NBA, there are 30 teams with a total maximum number of 450 players and minimum of 360. There are only 143 women in the WNBA, which has 13 teams. Many young basketball players have that dream of becoming a pro player, but in reality it’s like winning “Power Ball.”
This will give you a better perspective of how good a basketball player Jimmer Fredette, of Glens Falls is. Last season, he went from the Sacramento Kings to the Chicago Bulls and is now a free agent.
Look around the area. How many former local high school and college basketball players play, or played, in the NBA? We all know Pat Riley, who played at Kentucky in the mid-’60s, was a first team D-I All-American, in 1966, and had a career in the NBA during the ’70s and ’80s with the L.A. Lakers. He later became a very successful Lakers’ and NBA coach.
His former high school teammate, Barry Kramer (now a state Supreme Court judge), who was also a First Team D-I All American in 1963, played at New York University (NYU) when it was a D-I school. He went on to play for the Knicks. In the early ’60s, both Riley and Kramer played together at Linton High School (Schenectady High). Riley was a sophomore and Kramer was a senior.
Here’s the short list of more former NBA and ABA players from this area: Ticky Burden, Phillip Schuyler High, Albany; Lionel Chalmers, Albany High; Sam Perkins, Shaker High; and Luther Rackley, Troy High.
There are a couple of dozen, or so, who play or have played professional basketball overseas.
Let’s do some math. Whoops, that was quick! It all equals to be a very low percentage of local basketball stars that made it to the big time.
I really feel that every kid who has a dream of becoming the next LeBron, or Jimmer, has to do a reality check of his or her chances to accomplish such a feat. What’s really important is playing for the love of the game, whatever game it is, while still having the dream, but preparing for the future.
The key is to have a perspective of that reality, along with the benefit of playing sports and the many positive learning experiences that can help kids.
A message to budding scholastic athletes, keep in mind that the sum of this mathematical equation is the reality in the field of dreams, but no matter your goals, you must be willing to work at your game.
