Fort Worth Star Telegram Logo

Myles Turner’s dream of playing in the NBA will have to wait | Fort Worth Star-Telegram

×
  • E-edition
    • Customer Service
    • Mobile & Apps
    • Newsletters

    • Local
    • Fort Worth
    • Arlington
    • Northeast Tarrant
    • Texas
    • Crime & Courts
    • Politics
    • Elections
    • Bud Kennedy
    • Databases
    • Nation and World
    • Cowboys
    • Rangers
    • TCU
    • Mac Engel
    • Colleges
    • Mavericks
    • Motorsports
    • Stars
    • High School Sports
    • Scores & Schedules
    • All Sports
    • Football
    • Baseball
    • Softball
    • Volleyball
    • Boys Basketball
    • Girls Basketball
    • Editorials
    • Letters
    • Submit a letter
    • Cheers and Jeers
    • Submit a Cheer or Jeer
    • Bud Kennedy
    • Michael Ryan
    • Cynthia M. Allen
    • Other Voices
    • Business
    • Growth
    • Restaurants
    • Arts & Culture
    • Movies
    • Things To Do
    • Music
    • Nightlife
    • Party Pics
    • Horoscopes
    • Comics
    • Contests
    • Puzzles and Games
    • Food & Drink
    • Arts
    • Health & Fitness
    • Indulge
    • The Keller Magazine
    • Neil Sperry
    • Social Eyes
    • Dear Abby
    • Weddings
    • Arlington Citizen-Journal
    • Keller Citizen
    • Star-Telegram Northeast
    • Mansfield News-Mirror
    • Weatherford Star-Telegram
    • La Estrella
    • Locales
    • Noticias
    • Deportes
    • Entretenimiento
    • Contáctenos
    • Media Kit
    • Today's Obituaries
    • Obituaries in the News
    • Submit an Obituary

    • All Weddings
    • Announcements
    • Bridal Show
    • Contact Us
    • Inspiration
    • News & Advice
    • Vendors
    • Hispanic Heritage
    • Cancer Awareness
    • Healthy Lifestyle
    • Dining, Entertaining
    • Breast Cancer Awareness
    • Think Green
    • Money Matters
    • All About Pets
    • Careers and Business
    • Health and Wellness
    • How To...
    • Women Today
    • Family and Parenting
    • Easy Living Tips
    • Lawn and Garden
    • Giving Back
    • Men Today
    • On the Road 1
    • On the Road 2
  • Public Notices
  • Local Deals
  • Cars
  • Jobs
  • Moonlighting
  • Homes
  • Classifieds
  • Mobile & Apps

Mac Engel

Myles Turner’s dream of playing in the NBA will have to wait

By Mac Engel - tengel@star-telegram.com

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 27, 2014 07:40 PM

His size-19 shoes are slightly ripped along the sides, and it would appear that Myles Turner is ready to grow and break through just about everything, from his clothes up to and including high school basketball.

Depending on what scouting service you believe, Euless Trinity’s Turner is the second-best high school senior in the nation.

He is 6-foot-11, 230 pounds and can play basketball anyplace he wants next season — Duke, Kansas, Ohio State and Texas have all offered. He just can’t play in the NBA. If the new NBA commissioner gets his way, there will never again be a straight-to-the-NBA path and the one-and-doners will become extinct as well.

Selfishly, it would be wonderful to see college basketball loaded with its best players staying for multiple seasons rather than the one-and-doners who have changed the game. Then you meet Turner and his father and you get it.

Sign Up and Save

Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

#ReadLocal

“You have to go get it while you can get it,” Turner said. “If I were blessed enough to be put in a lottery position, I would have to go to the NBA as well.”

You can’t blame him. In his sophomore season, he suffered a broken ankle. In that moment and during the hours of rehab the thoughts of having it all gone entered his mind.

“The difference is the broken ankle,” said David Turner, Myles’ father. “He knows how fast it can go away.”

It used to be “get an education to fall back on,” now it’s become “grab it while you can, and then get your education if you need it.”

With David Stern retiring after 30 years as commissioner, his successor, Adam Silver, almost immediately announced his intention to raise the NBA’s age limit to 20. That would likely mean college programs would have their soon-to-be NBA stars for two seasons rather than one.

The NBA requires its players to be 19, or one year removed from their senior year of high school, before they can enter the draft. The earliest Silver can address this divisive issue is after the 2016-17 season, when the league’s agreement with the players union can be reopened.

The rules began in 2006 and immediately put a stop to the scores of high school players skipping college in favor of the pros. One of the aims was to put a stop to sports agents and other “representatives” littering high school games, lobbying high school kids to represent them once they turned pro.

One Division I coach said, “There are more [agents] now than I can ever remember.”

Trinity coach Mark Villines said he received a call last summer from one coach, “And he asked me if Myles had an agent yet.”

And this from Turner’s dad: “People were spreading rumors that we had agents, and we were accepting money. I worked every day of my life. I’ve had the same job for 27 years. My wife works. So when I heard that, I was like, ‘Wow.’ ”

The straight-to-NBA jump worked pretty well for LeBron James, Dwight Howard, Kevin Garnett, Monta Ellis, etc.

The jump did not work so well for Kwame Brown, the No. 1 overall pick in 2001 by Michael Jordan’s Washington Wizards. Or did it?

His averages of 6.6 points and 5.5 rebounds suggest he is a monumental bust. He is also in his 14th NBA season and has signed contracts in excess of $60 million. Bust is a relative term.

Turner is not some dumb kid. He is bright and would attend college without basketball. Turner wants to be good. Both he, his dad, his mother and his coach all say he wants to earn a college degree.

“My goal is to go to the NBA,” Turner said. “A degree is important to me — that is all my family talked about.”

Turner is the highest-ranked remaining senior who has not signed. His finalists are Kentucky, Texas, Oklahoma State, Arizona, Kansas, Ohio State and Duke. He also has visited SMU.

“It’s going to be a win-win wherever he goes,” David Turner said.

The program that signs Myles Turner knows he will go as fast as he can.

He is scheduled to visit Kansas on March 5 — Senior Night. Ironic since, if things go right, Turner will never celebrate a Senior Night at college.

Follow Mac Engel on The Big Mac Blog on www.star-telegram.com/sports/.

  Comments  

Videos

Mac Engel New Year’s Mean Tweets

Mean Tweets, Texas Tech Red Raiders Edition

View More Video

Trending Stories

Video shows alligator killing dog in Trinity River; authorities investigate

February 15, 2019 04:53 PM

Jury finds 14-year-old Fort Worth girl guilty of killing her best friend

February 14, 2019 04:10 PM

And here it comes: Fans are irate at Rangers’ ticket pricing plans for new ballpark

February 14, 2019 07:00 AM

Worried Texas Republicans call for more national help in 2020

February 14, 2019 04:00 AM

A 14-year-old Fort Worth girl was sentenced to 25 years for killing her best friend

February 15, 2019 05:05 PM

Read Next

And here it comes: Fans are irate at Rangers’ ticket pricing plans for new ballpark

Mac Engel

And here it comes: Fans are irate at Rangers’ ticket pricing plans for new ballpark

By Mac Engel

    ORDER REPRINT →

February 14, 2019 07:00 AM

The Texas Rangers are slowly rolling out their price plan for their new ballpark, and the increases are leaving some fans disgusted.

KEEP READING

Sign Up and Save

#ReadLocal

Get six months of free digital access to the Star-Telegram

SUBSCRIBE WITH GOOGLE

MORE MAC ENGEL

Colin Kaepernick and the XFL? League is open to it as long as he abides by its rules

Mac Engel

Colin Kaepernick and the XFL? League is open to it as long as he abides by its rules

February 13, 2019 11:06 AM
Born with a cleft palate and legally deaf, she is one of the best basketball players in Texas

Mac Engel

Born with a cleft palate and legally deaf, she is one of the best basketball players in Texas

February 11, 2019 07:00 AM
For one night, TCU was a basketball school. But the Frogs still have a ways to go

Mac Engel

For one night, TCU was a basketball school. But the Frogs still have a ways to go

February 11, 2019 10:38 PM
Will Rogers Coliseum is worth visiting, mostly because it’s a dump. A charming dump.

Mac Engel

Will Rogers Coliseum is worth visiting, mostly because it’s a dump. A charming dump.

February 09, 2019 08:00 AM
Stoops insists he was not forced out at Oklahoma; now lends brief legitimacy to XFL

Mac Engel

Stoops insists he was not forced out at Oklahoma; now lends brief legitimacy to XFL

February 07, 2019 04:53 PM
Recruiting stars don’t always align: A look back at TCU’s 2014 signing class

Mac Engel

Recruiting stars don’t always align: A look back at TCU’s 2014 signing class

February 07, 2019 02:00 PM
Take Us With You

Real-time updates and all local stories you want right in the palm of your hand.

Subscriptions
  • Start a Subscription
  • Customer Service
  • eEdition
  • Vacation Hold
  • Pay Your Bill
  • Rewards
Learn More
  • About Us
  • Contact Us
  • Newsletters
  • News in Education
Advertising
  • Information
  • Place a Classified
Copyright
Commenting Policy
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service


Back to Story