By HENRY ORTA
Staff Writer
First and foremost, LaMelo Ball is probably the most famous high school basketball player since LeBron James. Unfortunately, Ball may not be eligible to join the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) because he has a shoe brand named after him at a very young age. The NCAA does not allow that according to their rules. It is not fair for a student athlete like LaMelo to be banned from NCAA because he is good at what he does.
NCAA Article 12 dictates that, “an individual loses amateur status and thus shall not be eligible for intercollegiate competition in a particular sport if the individual; a). Uses his or her athletics skill (directly or indirectly) for pay in any form in that sport; or b) accepts a promise of pay even if such pay is to be received following completion of intercollegiate athletics participation.”
As good as Ball is, he can sell tickets and have the TV ratings incease if he plays. That is how valuable he is to the game and to the fans. But, NCAA will not allow him to play because of his shoe brand and the profit he receives from the sales. That is truly unfair and very unfortunate for the sports world.
In order to play basketball for one of the biggest university or college teams, you would have to have a good reputation during your high school years. Meaning, the student athlete cannot afford to get in trouble with the law outside of school or do anything bad. Therefore, Ball has a good reputation. Not only he is good basketball player but he is also a good businessman.
There are many excellent universities for basketball such as, Duke, Kentucky, California Los Angeles, and Ohio. There are many student athletes that would like to join the team at one of those universities due to their prestigious basketball reputation and record. But, they would have to either be the best player on their high school team or the best player in their city which is very hard to do.
Well, in this case, Ball was already committed to play at UCLA. His older brother, Liangelo, is already a university player at UCLA. He is currently in either his first year or second year there. His oldest brother Lonzo left UCLA and now plays shooting guard for the Los Angeles Lakers.
LaMelo Ball is the real deal, according to USA Today High School Sports. He might just be the most famous 16-year-old basketball player of all time. The article also states that he is possibly the most famous high school player anyone has ever seen. He may be behind one super star when it comes to that category and his name is LeBron James. It is very sad that LaMelo may not be eligible to play for college since he is promoting his shoe brand, Big Baller Brand.
Ball’s father and CEO of Big Baller Brand, LaVar Ball, has a sneaker named after him. The “MELLO BALL 1” is now available for sale on BBB’s website for $395.
His oldest brother has a shoe named after him as well, “ZO2: SHO’TIME” which sells for $495. But he is already a rookie for the Los Angeles Lakers, so he is living his dream.
While for LaMelo Ball, it is clearly obvious that UCLA wants him, but the NCAA could stand in the way. His shoe brand could prevent him from complying with a NCAA rule, Article 12.
This is the reason why he would not play for college ball because of his shoe brand that he has promised to promote. Ball’s father states, “If LaMelo isn’t eligible to play college basketball because of his shoe brand, I’ll still train my son with the goal of helping him reach the NBA.”
Do you think Ball should be able to play for UCLA or do you think the NCAA should change their rules?
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