tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6517695.post-10080776741735552482009-05-29T08:28:00.004-04:002009-05-29T08:51:55.344-04:00After two years at Clemson, Terrence Ogelsby will play basketball next year in Europe. A Florida player with NBA level talent, Nick Calathes is also leaving school after two years to play in Greece. These are the only two college players mentioned in <a href="http://www.thestate.com/tigers/story/804542.html?RSS=sports">this discussion</a> (Frederick has completed his eligibility at South Carolina), but I expect this will become more common in the years ahead. Ogelsby's dad played in Europe, and Calathes is a native of Greece, so they are well enough informed to blaze the trail to Europe for underclassmen. As basketball institutions improve across the pond and information spreads, playing for a scholarship won't seem such a good deal alongside the opportunity to earn a few hundred grand, or more. <br /><br />Institutions change slowly, but the improvement in world basketball is a long term trend that is plain as day. College basketball has imported top foreign talent for some time, but economic forces imply that the flow will reverse. I doubt college basketball will soon mirror college soccer (where the best talent flows to the money centers fairly early, and skips college), but that is the direction it is headed.<div class="blogger-post-footer"><img width='1' height='1' src='https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/tracker/6517695-1008077674173555248?l=thesportseconomist.com%2Findex.html' alt='' /></div>Skip Sauernoreply@blogger.com