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Message: [QUOTE="BlueMAB, post: 3523032, member: 920"] You used perhaps the worst player to demonstrate your point. 1) that list you provided dates back over 20 years, but during roughly 15 of those years no HS kids could be drafted. So it's not very useful. 2) It includes very high profile players who weren't good enough to have gone straight to the pros. Guys like Allen Iverson was never going to that contract straight out of HS. 3) Of the one and dones, Zion got far and away more money than anyone else. 4) The point is Zion doesn't need to be the #1 prospect. He's a highlight reel. He's going to attract eyeballs regardless of whether he goes to Duke, Kentucky, UConn, Kansas, or UNC. He was going to be huge and was going to get a ton of money because of the wow factor. Did going to Duke get him more money than going to Kentucky would have? Or Kansas? Or UNC? How do you know/prove that? What about UConn? Would he have only gotten $20 MM? How do you quantify that? It's all speculation on your part. People keep saying he's not the best prospect in his class. So what? He was still the number one draft pick, and got the second highest rookie sneaker contract ever. That wasn't because he went to Duke. RJ Barrett went to Duke, was the number one player in his class, and signed with Puma for an undisclosed amount. But he just can't do the things Zion can, and doesn't attract as wide of an audience. So even though he's probably the better player, he was drafted after Zion, and (by all reports) got a lesser sneaker deal than Zion. Guys like Zion don't "need" any leverage from any college brand. Any of the blue bloods will help, but they aren't needed. Guys like Marvin Bagley stand to benefit far more. [/QUOTE]

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