In a recent Rolling Stone interview, Mark Cuban proposed that professional sports teams should be more proactive about “red flagging” college athletes with possible character issues in order to prevent future problems once they turn pro.
Some people at Ohio State, however, are unsure if this would help to completely alleviate the problem.
In the wake of the recent controversies surrounding athletes such as Ray Rice, who was released
by the Baltimore Ravens after video surfaced of him punching his then-fiancée in an elevator,
and Adrian Peterson, who is currently suspended by the NFL after pleading no contest to child
abuse charges, Cuban is one of the many people who have attempted to come up with solutions
to prevent these kinds of issues from reoccurring.
Christopher Spartz, basketball recruiting coordinator at OSU, said he feels like the evaluation process already in place is quite thorough.
“I know that the combines, the interviews that are done with football, as well as the basketball,
are pretty extensive,” Spartz said. “The amount of people that these NBA teams are reaching out
to—not all of these people have anything to gain from these kids going pro.”
Spartz added that the coaching staff meets with professional evaluators to go over not just a
players’ performance, but their character as well.
“It’s not only our reputation, but it’s the university’s; it’s the well-being of the kids that we’ve
helped raise over the past x-amount of years that they spend here,” he said. “So, our opinions,
when asked, are as honest as possible.”
A similar comprehensive evaluation is also conducted on a high school level, according to
Spartz.
“Most of these kids are winners, so what we’re doing is we’re evaluating whether they’re the
best fit for Ohio State and whether the best fit for the other guys who are already here on
campus,” Spartz said. “And are they coachable?”
Tim Moody, sports editor for The Lantern, said that although it could put schools in a position to
reveal a lot of personal information about a player, Cuban’s concerns are valid.
“He does make a good point…that it would help their pro careers because you do see way too
many people get to the NFL or the NBA or whatever sport they’re playing and just flame out
because of off-the-field issues,” Moody said.
But even without red flags raised by a player’s college, most teams already have a good idea
about a player’s issues off the field after their evaluations, he continued.
In some cases, however, like that of Rice, it’s harder to determine character issues, Moody said.
“I don’t know that he has necessarily had red flags in college,” he said. “He’s been, up until this
year suddenly, kind of a model citizen off the field from what everyone knew.”
Spartz also wondered how any issue with Rice could have been previously detected, citing the
fact that Rice is a one-time offender.
“Was it a character flaw in the past?” Spartz pondered. “I don’t know. I really don’t know.”
Ultimately, Moody believes that if being more proactive about red-flagging athletes helps them
down the road, then colleges should take on that responsibility.
“I think…colleges should be doing anything they can to allow their players to have a shot at the
next level,” Moody said. “So if it was proven that, yeah, red-flagging these kids gives them a
chance at a longer, better pro career, then yeah, I think they should do it.”