Student-athletes now being allowed to profit off of their name, image and likeness has brought a lot of things to college athletics — not all of them great. But one undeniable positive is that some talented players are remaining in school longer than they probably otherwise would.
Mark Sears is an obvious example.
After an incredible senior year that culminated in Alabama’s first ever trip to the Final Four, Sears, in a different era, would’ve likely entered the NBA Draft and remained in it given that he’s already a 22 year-old college graduate with little else to prove or accomplish at this level. In a different era, it would’ve probably been time to be a professional and earn a paycheck in whatever form. But in this era, where some student-athletes are literally making millions of dollars while playing college basketball, it makes sense for anybody who isn’t guaranteed to be a first-round pick in the NBA Draft to weigh the amount of money they project to make as a professional against the amount of money they’re being promised to remain in school. And when Sears did that, it’s reasonable to assume he concluded that it was more profitable to remain at Alabama than leave it.
So he stayed in school.
And now Sears has been voted a CBS Sports First Team Preseason All-American alongside Duke’s Cooper Flagg, Creighton’s Ryan Kalkbrenner, Kansas’ Hunter Dickinson and North Carolina’s RJ Davis. Like Sears, Kalkbrenner, Dickinson and Davis will all be playing a fifth year of college basketball, an opportunity that was afforded every player who competed in the 2020-21 COVID-influenced season.
Sears was the only unanimous member of the First Team.
The Second Team features Auburn’s Johni Broome, Arizona’s Caleb Love, UConn’s Alex Karaban, Purdue’s Braden Smith and St. John’s Kadary Richmond. The Third Team features Houston’s L.J. Cryer, Wake Forest’s Hunter Sallis, Marquette’s Kam Jones, Texas A&M’s Wade Taylor…
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