FALSE DREAMS : Rude Awakening Often Awaits the Players Who Choose to Leave College Early to Enter NBA Draft

The National Basketball Assn. will hold its annual college draft Tuesday, and a dozen of the young men hoping to be picked are leaving college before completing their eligibility. All, obviously, are convinced that they can play in the NBA.

Norris Coleman’s case, however, illustrates just how tough it is for those players who leave college early to survive in the big show.

Coleman, a 6-foot 8-inch forward from Kansas State, thought he was ready to move to the pros after playing only two years of college ball.

Coleman applied for early entry into the NBA last year, renouncing his final two years of eligibility.

He was selected in the third round of the 1987 draft by the Clippers and made the team after playing well in training camp.

Coleman’s dream, however, soon turned into a nightmare. The Clippers waived him midway through the season.

“It was a rude awakening,” Coleman said of his brief NBA career. “I was as good as anybody in college, but with the Clippers, I didn’t have the freedom to play like I did in college. I played power forward in college, but I had to play small forward for the Clippers, and they had too many small forwards.

“But if I had to do it all over again, I’d still do it the same way. I spent five years in the Army before I went to college and I was getting too old to play in college.”

He eventually signed with the Pensacola (Fla.) Tornados of the Continental Basketball Assn., averaging 20 points and 11 rebounds in 16 games.

Coleman, however, still clings to his dream.

“Even though I’m not in the NBA, I know I can play in the NBA,” he said. “Deep down in my heart, I know I’ll be back.”

He may be. Right now, he’s in Jacksonville, Fla., playing for the Jacksonville Hornets of the United States Basketball League, a 10-week spring-summer league that has become a testing ground for borderline NBA players. Alumni of the USBL who moved on to the NBA include Spud Webb, Manute Bol and Tyrone (Muggsy) Bogues.

But Coleman, who averaged 29.5 points and 9.5 rebounds for the Hornets in earning a spot in the USBL All-Star game, has decided to play in Europe next season before trying to return to the NBA.

He said he rejected several non-guaranteed deals from NBA teams to sign a tax-free contract for $175,000 with a team in France.

Coleman has made out better financially than he has on the basketball court. The Clippers paid him the NBA minimum salary of $75,000 and he earned $18,000 more in the CBA and USBL.

His experience in the NBA, though, is hardly unique. Only one player who left college early has made a big impact in the NBA in the last three years--forward Karl (Mailman) Malone, who helped lead the Utah Jazz to within a game of eliminating the Lakers in the playoffs this season.

And even in his case, there was an extenuating circumstance. “Karl Malone came out early, but he had already been in college for four years,” said Coach Frank Layden of the Utah Jazz.

Nine players left college early last year for the NBA draft. Five were selected, and three, including Coleman, made an opening-day roster. Just two, however, lasted the entire season--Derrick McKey and Olden Polynice of the Seattle SuperSonics. And both of them were selected in the first round.

Among the 12 players who have declared early for Tuesday’s draft are five name players, guards Rex Chapman of Kentucky and Rod Strickland of DePaul, forward Jerome Lane of Pittsburgh and centers Tito Horford of Miami and Charles Shackleford of North Carolina State.

Before 1976, a player had to demonstrate a financial hardship to be considered for the draft before his class had graduated. A court decision abolished that hardship rule.

Now, there are only two requirements for early entry, according to the rules that were established under a joint agreement between the NBA and the players’ association: Athletes can’t apply until their high school class has graduated, and they must notify the NBA in writing 45 days before the draft.

Under that new system, 98 players have applied for early entry into the NBA, 74 were drafted, including 46 in the first round, and 34 are still active.

You could fill an All-Star team with players who left college early--Magic Johnson and James Worthy of the Lakers, Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, Akeem Olajuwon of the Houston Rockets, Adrian Dantley and Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons, Mark Aguirre of the Dallas Mavericks, Dominique Wilkins of the Atlanta Hawks, Charles Barkley of the Philadelphia 76ers and Malone.

But Marty Blake, head of the NBA’s college scouting service, said the extraordinary success experienced by superstars such as Johnson and Jordan has motivated players who would have benefited by finishing college to leave early for the pros.

“I always feel kids should stay in school,” Blake said. “Last year we had nine come out and seven failed. My policy is to try to keep kids in school. They’re not ready in most cases. Even the seniors aren’t ready.

“I had a kid call me from Chicago the other day who said that he wants to try out for the NBA because he says he’s ready. Most kids watch the games on TV and think they’re better than Magic Johnson. We’re a victim of the instant gratification syndrome.

“We don’t want the (early entry) rule and we had nothing to do with putting it in.”

There is strong support for Blake’s viewpoint.

“I advocate staying in school,” said ESPN and ABC commentator Dick Vitale, a former college and NBA coach. “The kids have false dreams. They’re hallucinating when they think they’re going to make it in the NBA. They don’t really know how tough life is. Look at how many great players are sitting on the bench.

“But when you’ve never had anything in your life and you see guys playing in the NBA and driving a new Mercedes, it’s tough not to chase that dream.”

Said Layden: “I think they should keep them in college for four years even if they don’t get their degree. Most kids have the ability to play in the NBA when they come into the league, but they don’t have the maturity.”

Said University of Miami Coach Bill Foster, who lost Horford to the pros this year: “I guess it all looks appealing. But for everyone who makes it, nine don’t and typically they don’t go back to college to get their degree. They have a hard time shaking that frustration.”

David Falk of Pro-Serv, a Washington-based agency specializing in negotiating contracts for first-round NBA picks such as Jordan and Patrick Ewing of the New York Knicks, discourages players from leaving school early.

“Sadly, guys like Magic and Michael Jordan are the exceptions,” Falk said. “It’s hard to replace your senior year of college.

“We advise a lot of players not to come out before they graduate,” Falk continued. “Even if you are physically ready to play, you may not be emotionally ready to play. It takes a high level of maturity to play in the NBA, look at Chris Washburn.”

Washburn who left North Carolina State after his sophomore season to go through the 1986 draft, has not fared well in the NBA.

He was selected third by the Golden State Warriors but had drug problems and entered a rehabilitation clinic midway through his rookie season. He later was traded to Atlanta, where he continued to struggle last season.

Other players who have left college early have also had problems:

--Center William Bedford, who left Memphis State after his junior season in 1986, also floundered as a rookie with the Phoenix Suns. Bedford, the sixth player selected, was implicated in a team drug scandal. He testified before the grand jury but wasn’t indicted. The Suns sent Bedford to Detroit last summer, and he is undergoing drug rehabilitation at a clinic in Van Nuys.

--Center Benoit Benjamin, who left Creighton after his third season, was the third player selected in the 1985 draft. He has shown flashes of brilliance but overall has been extremely disappointing with the Clippers.

--Guard Dwayne (Pearl) Washington, who left Syracuse after his junior season three years ago, was a disappointment for the New Jersey Nets, who let him go to Miami in Thursday’s expansion draft.

Of the 12 players choosing the draft over college this season, scouts say that only four are good enough to make the NBA.

Scouts, however, sometimes make mistakes.

“This is an inexact science,” said Blake, the NBA’s chief scout. “Look at Karl Malone. There were 12 teams which bypassed him before the Jazz took him.”

Chapman, a 6-4 guard who left Kentucky after two seasons, is regarded as the best undergraduate in the draft and is expected to be among the first seven players selected, despite his poor showing at the U.S. Olympic basketball trials last month. Chapman is playing with the U.S. Select team, which is on a European tour, and may still make the Olympic team.

He is from a basketball family. His father, Wayne, is the coach at Kentucky Wesleyan.

Chapman thought that his market value would be higher this year than next season because next year’s draft is expected to be stronger, with such players as Sean Elliott of Arizona graduating.

Said Vitale: “Rex Chapman has great star potential. He’s solid gold! He’d be perfect for the Clippers. Teams would be making a major mental mistake if they evaluate him based on what he did in the Olympic trials.”

Vitale also thinks Strickland, Lane and Shackleford can make it as pros.

Strickland, a 6-3 junior guard averaged 20 points and 8 assists last season for DePaul. Lane led the nation in rebounding as a sophomore and averaged 13.9 rebounds as a 6-6 junior forward at Pitt. Shackleford, a 6-10 junior, was the top rebounder in the Atlantic Coast Conference last season.

Vitale rated Horford, a 7-1 sophomore center from the Dominican Republic, a maybe, at best and added: “Horford’s not ready for life in the NBA. There’s so much he has to learn.”

The remaining early entry players are longshots.

Lloyd Daniels, a 6-8 forward who withdrew from Nevada Las Vegas in 1987, has a troubled past that includes a drug arrest.

Marvin Alexander, a 6-7 junior forward, and Sylvester Gray, a 6-6 sophomore forward, left Memphis State after being ruled ineligible after signing with an agent.

Mike Jones, a 6-7 junior forward, left Auburn because of academic problems.

Dwayne Lewis, a 6-5 junior from Marshall, left college because of academic problems.

Hernan Montenegro, a 6-10 forward from Argentina, withdrew from Louisiana State after playing four games last season and went to Europe.

Eddie Pope, a 6-10 swingman, hasn’t played college ball since he left Southern Mississippi in 1985. He played in France last season.