Check out this great column from Kareem Abdul-Jabbar about the differences between his college experience and, presumably, Shabazz Muhammad’s. Interesting take from a guy who has a unique vantage point. Especially loved this part:
“When I left high school, I could not play professionally in the NBA. It had a rule that prohibited me from playing until after the year that I would have graduated from college. For me to have played pro ball I would have had to play overseas or for the Harlem Globetrotters (which I never seriously considered, because college was my goal). I chose to go to UCLA, which had just won back-to-back NCAA championships. The rules of the NCAA stated that freshmen were ineligible to play varsity. My freshman team was very good, so good that we beat the varsity team in the season-opening freshman-varsity game. So to begin the 1965-66 season, the Bruins varsity was No. 1 in the country but No. 2 on campus. Coach John Wooden had an embarrassment of riches.”