by Jeff Goodman

Comment

Sonny Vaccaro pushed and prodded big man Jeremy Tyler — who announced he was dropping out of San Diego High late in his junior year to take a shot across the waters for a year or two.

But those were both orchestrated by the Godfather of Summer Hoops, Vaccaro.

Now comes word, in the past week, that two well-known college basketball players will leave the country where basketball reigns supreme and head overseas.

First it was Florida star Nick Calathes, who will not only sign with a team in Greece, but in a baffling move, will actually withdraw his name from the NBA Draft in order to do so.

Calathes isn't a sure-fire first-round pick, but several NBA executives told FOXSports.com that he had a 50-50 chance of getting a guaranteed contract in the $1 million per season range by being picked in the first round of the June 25 NBA Draft.

But Calathes won't get an opportunity to find out whether Dallas would have chosen him at No. 22 overall or some other team was enamored with him enough to take him with their first-round selection.

Then came the news that blindsided Clemson coach Oliver Purnell on Tuesday morning when sophomore Terrence Oglesby informed him that he was leaving to play pro ball in either Italy or Spain.

Oglesby averaged 13.2 points per game last season for the Tigers and wasn't even an All-ACC player.

No, this won't spark a trend of big-time college kids leaving campuses to earn a paycheck in a foreign land.

Calathes and Oglesby were both dual citizens — Calathes of Greece and Oglesby of Norwegian descent — which makes them more attractive to team owners in Europe.

Calathes will, according to a source close to the situation, sign a deal in the neighborhood of $1.1 million per season with Panathinaikos.

Oglesby, according to sources, is hoping to command somewhere in the vicinity of $500,000 per season. While money was a factor in Calathes' decision, Oglesby said the financial end was of no concern in his ultimate decision.

Oglesby told FOXSports.com he wants to be able to practice twice a day, work out six hours per day and become a more well-rounded player than the somewhat one-dimensional shooter that he has been in two seasons with the Tigers.

He has a point.

The NCAA needs to allow college coaches to work with their players in the summertime. The current NCAA rule prohibits college coaches from working out their players beginning the week before final exams and ending when school begins again in the fall.

It's one of the worst rules in college basketball and makes no sense.

Right now, kids are paying money to so-called workout gurus and being coddled by agents and runners instead of getting instruction from their college coaching staffs.

I'm not saying that the college coaches should be allowed to work out the kids for two or three hours daily, but there should be a certain amount of time set aside — maybe 10 hours per week with the entire team — so the kids receive legitimate instruction.

Who knows whether Oglesby truly left because he wanted to spend more time in the gym or because he was unhappy at Clemson.

There will certainly be another who follows in his path, but don't expect the floodgates to open.

I'll miss watching Calathes in the NBA and Oglesby in college.

Truth be told, they were two of my favorite players. Calathes knew how to make his teammates better while Oglesby's range began the moment he stepped over half court.

But these were different circumstances.

Jennings wasn't cleared academically by the NCAA and had little choice. Vaccaro was instrumental in Tyler's decision and Calathes and Oglesby were dual citizens who had some prodding from their parents.

"It'll be interesting to see what happens, but all four of these situations were unique," Clemson coach Oliver Purnell said.

Kids dream of playing here when they are dribbling in a playground, not in Italy, Greece, Spain or anywhere else.

Even those who don't grow up here.

"Eventually, I'd like to go overseas, but I'd like my career to start in the NBA," said Maryland junior guard Greivis Vasquez, who hails from Venezuela. "But I have no pressure.

"Let's make something clear," he added. "I'm not going overseas."

No one missed Jennings, no one will miss Tyler and few care whether Renardo Sidney or Lance Stephenson — two high-school seniors thought to be contemplating playing overseas next year — show up on a college campus next season.

They are the exception — and that won't change anytime soon.