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I actually think he might come sooner if he reads the room or is cut (which does happen).
Alex Condon (Future Cat B Candidate?)
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76woodenspooners
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He’s in the US to go to college (university) to study, and happens to be part of his college’s basketball program. Just like Cox who studied engineering and was part of his college team (IIRC he ended up not good enough to play mens, but was on the sparring team for the womens)
Obviously they take college sports a bit more seriously in the US than we do here with our mixed-netball-on-Thursday-nights socials. But it’s all tertiary education.
The only way he comes back within 3 / 4 years is if he dunces out or decides to drop out of Uni.
I'm not sure if I've misread this, or if you're just kidding, but surely he's gone to America to try and make it to the NBA?! I doubt the study is all that important to him, and would have thought he could have gone to University here if that was his priority! It seems obvious he wants to make it in professional sport, and that's why he's lined up a fallback option with Collingwood in case things don't work out with the basketball. So there has to be quite a decent chance he heads home well before his college stint is due to end, if he can see that his NBA hopes aren't looking good, as he wouldn't want to find himself too out of touch with the Australian game if he was to start playing it again. Being so long out of the game didn't work out well for Tom Wilson (who was a very highly rated junior footballer), so I hope he keeps that in mind!
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i wish i had you guys planning out my life when i was young. The level of analysis is far beyond what i put in...I would have been in great hands. I might have made something of myself.
Err... pretty sure he's there to become a professional basketball player ?
The Royal Sampler
Floreat Pica, Bitch!
We’re planning for him to fail so not sure we’re the best career counsellors to be honest.
Apex36
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I’m not so sure about that. He’ll get a pretty good indication from scouts/coaches etc on his chances of making the NBA over the course of the next 24 months. If the feedback is that he’s unlikely to get drafted then I doubt he’ll hang around rather than coming back to a guaranteed contract in the AFL. 4 years in the college system without getting drafted leaves him in no man’s land in terms of footy. He’ll get that cat B spot but the odds of him making it in footy become tougher the longer he’s out of the system.
Apex36
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You’re taking the piss here right? Condon went to the US on a basketball scholarship, he doesn’t just “happen to be” a part of their program. Comparing him to Cox in that regard is like apples and oranges.
College ball is literally the traditional NBA pathway program, it’s the equivalent of our u18’s (NAB/Coates/Colts etc) for the AFL.
If you think that Alex has travelled all the way to the US for an education, and just happens to be playing ball over there too, you’re out of your mind. His degree is secondary, and if it’s important to him he can easily go to uni in Australia.
Apex36
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But in here the negative news is positive news and the positive news is negative news.It’s one of two threads I actually hope/want to read negative news in
It’s a bizarro thread.
The Royal Sampler
Floreat Pica, Bitch!
We should change the thread title to “Death Riding Alex Condon”.
76woodenspooners
Brownlow Medallist
Of course …
… but both things coexist.
He’s getting a Uni degree and having a chance at a basketball career.
If he doesn’t get into the NBA, he’ll still have his Uni degree. And he’ll still be able to shoot hoops with his mates on the college basketball team. And he’ll still have Collingwood in his back pocket.
Apex36
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Why would he shoot hoops with his mates in America when he could be playing football in Australia and earning really good money, surrounded by friends and family? Because of his college degree? We have some of the best universities in the world on our doorstep, if his education is that important to him (which I seriously doubt it is, I’d be interested to know what degree he’s doing, probably Arts or some nonsense).
neilk
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The degree he will get in the US won't cost him a cent with his scholarship. It will be handy as a plan B if NBA/AFL doesn't work out. We still pay for our university education here.
76woodenspooners
Brownlow Medallist
I get that the AFL and Collingwood is so awesomely awesome.
And experiencing the world is not for everyone.
But, IMO there’s a decent chance that his mind is being blown by the new experiences he’s having that he just wouldn’t get in Australia. And the facilities at his college would be far superior to anything our modest little provincial AFL competition has. And the Florida blondes find his ‘Ossie’ accent charming.
He’s from WA? It’s hardly as if he’d be surrounded by his friends and family at Collingwood.
And besides, he’d be making new friends where he is.
Melbourne is #34, Monash is #44.
And he’s got little chance of getting a ticket into either of those on a Basketball scholarship?
As I said, both things coexist. Even if he doesn’t make it into the NBA, he can still play ball and get an education and life experience.
And I get that I’m applying my own flawed values by not being able to fathom why any 19 year old would choose to play for Collingwood for any money, when they can instead get a ticket to the US to play college basketball and get an education. Even if it’s in Florida.
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76woodenspooners
Brownlow Medallist
+ handy post sporting career. A degree is for life. A sporting career is fleeting. He’ll still be young and fit and able to have a good crack at AFL when he’s finished his degree.
Just thought I’d butt into the debate here to point out the worth (or, more accurately, the worthlessness) of many degrees awarded - or handed - to the majority of star college players who are just focused on going on to a professional sports career, has long been seen as something of a running joke in the U.S.
The article below is just one example of dozens of similar articles on the web about the relative uselessness of such degrees, specifically designed for non-academic athletes just to get them through college -
www.sbnation.com
”… The NCAA's argument ignores the fact that some degrees are worth far more than others. Athletes are routinely clustered into majors that don't set them up to succeed later in life, mainly because those majors are easy enough for athletes to focus on their sport.
If an athlete majors in interdepartmental studies or general studies, either because that's all they could handle or the coach tells them to, has the school done that student a service? Is that athlete really going to have a "degree to fall back on" if sports don't work out … If all degrees were treated equally, that argument would have at least some legitimacy. Given how the academic experience for many athletes actually works, it could not be further from the truth.
… However, many schools recruit athletes who are in no way able to do college work (the latest examples have come at Oklahoma State and North Carolina). … The result is a focus on eligibility rather than education. That isn't to say schools are committing academic fraud to keep athletes eligible, just that they put them in easy majors — and things that really aren't even majors, like general studies. These majors allow players to get easy degrees that give them little chance of finding a job consistent with their peers …”
The article below is just one example of dozens of similar articles on the web about the relative uselessness of such degrees, specifically designed for non-academic athletes just to get them through college -
Athletes get degrees, but what does that mean?
The NCAA brags about giving athletes the opportunity to graduate, but it ignores the fact that many of those degrees are relatively worthless.
www.sbnation.com
”… The NCAA's argument ignores the fact that some degrees are worth far more than others. Athletes are routinely clustered into majors that don't set them up to succeed later in life, mainly because those majors are easy enough for athletes to focus on their sport.
If an athlete majors in interdepartmental studies or general studies, either because that's all they could handle or the coach tells them to, has the school done that student a service? Is that athlete really going to have a "degree to fall back on" if sports don't work out … If all degrees were treated equally, that argument would have at least some legitimacy. Given how the academic experience for many athletes actually works, it could not be further from the truth.
… However, many schools recruit athletes who are in no way able to do college work (the latest examples have come at Oklahoma State and North Carolina). … The result is a focus on eligibility rather than education. That isn't to say schools are committing academic fraud to keep athletes eligible, just that they put them in easy majors — and things that really aren't even majors, like general studies. These majors allow players to get easy degrees that give them little chance of finding a job consistent with their peers …”
It is extremely hard for college players to be drafted. Typically around 60 draftees per year to go to the NBA from the thousands that play around all colleges around America. But NBA isn't the only league that pay players incredibly well, the EuroLeague pay around 20Mil for their rostered player per team. Even coming to the NBL, their roster cap is about 2.5M and this os supposed to be climbing. I feel like it's actually a long shot to make it to Collingwood.
Condon has gone to America to try and make the NBA, he's also signed with Collingwood as a backup plan. This suggests he's pretty strongly set on a professional sporting career.
Maybe he really likes learning, but on the available evidence I'd say sport is his priority. Given that, I think it's more likely than not that he'd cut short his college time in favour of his sporting career. Anyone think he'd knock back the NBA if he got drafted this year? Not a chance. Similarly, if the NBA hope was looking too unlikely and cutting short college would help his chances of becoming an AFL player, which of course it would, I think he'd do it.
Four years of college and then deciding on AFL greatly reduces his chances of making it in the AFL. Given he's already thought about AFL as an option, I don't think he'd want to be hurting his chances to that degree.
Maybe he really likes learning, but on the available evidence I'd say sport is his priority. Given that, I think it's more likely than not that he'd cut short his college time in favour of his sporting career. Anyone think he'd knock back the NBA if he got drafted this year? Not a chance. Similarly, if the NBA hope was looking too unlikely and cutting short college would help his chances of becoming an AFL player, which of course it would, I think he'd do it.
Four years of college and then deciding on AFL greatly reduces his chances of making it in the AFL. Given he's already thought about AFL as an option, I don't think he'd want to be hurting his chances to that degree.
Apex36
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You’re not seriously trying to suggest that he can’t experience the world while living in Australia playing AFL…?
And? All the gloss of that stuff will be worn off within 12 months. If he’s there for a couple of years and is told he has no chance of playing in the NBA he’s not going to hang around for another 2 years because of nice facilities and the local girls.
Fair enough.
That puts them in the top 1-2% of universities worldwide iirc. I’m sure that paying for a uni degree like every other regular person isn’t going to stop him from coming back to Australia. Any qualification he gets overseas will likely have to be supplemented by a local degree anyway so he’ll pay regardless.
If that was his intention then why had he already committed to Collingwood as a backup plan?
Yes, you are applying your own flawed values. None of what you’re saying makes any sense in context of the actions Alex has already taken in regards to his potential basketball and football careers. You’re simply saying what you’d do, not what he’d logically do under the circumstances. It seems you’re not really on top of this circumstances either given your opening argument was that he was incidentally playing basketball like Cox while getting his degree, when that was just blatantly untrue.
Apex36
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What degree? Do you even know what he’s studying?
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