Who should stay and who should go

In basketball big men need to practice every day against top flight competition. Greg Oden is better off riding the bench for Portland (made Jermaine O'neal an all-star) than coming back and dominating the Big Ten because he needs to learn how to play the pro game and there's nothing more college has to teach him. Mike Conley, on the other hand, is better off going back to college because the skill set for a PG is different from a C. Conley can dribble and pass just fine but what he needs to learn is how to win games and that's best done on the college level I think.

Which is why I was shocked--shocked!--by the Washington Post reporting that Roy Hibbert plans to return to Georgetown! Dude, you're a top 10 pick! I think he may be the 2nd most ready-to-play-right-now player in the draft (behind Kevin Durant). I'm all for guys staying in school. I love college, I'd recommend it wholeheartedly to every kid in the world. But ultimately the whole point of school is to help you get a better job, make more money, to make future professional contacts, etc. Roy Hibbert, you're pretty much already at the peak of your profession and the chance to make a whole pile of money and have the career you want is right in front of you. I'd say right now that the chance that Hibbert comes back next year as a top 5 pick is pretty strong but certainly not set in stone. Hibbert needs to come out and go pro because that's where his skill set lies and he's plenty ready to move on to the next level.

Oden and Hibbert need to go pro because that's how they will get better. Mike Conley needs to stay in school because that's how he will get better.