Editor’s note: The following column from the Best of West collection was first published in the Port Arthur News on May 23, 2001.

For better or for worse, and the prevalent opinion seems to come down on the side of worse, no sport in America has changed as much in the last decade as basketball.

Agents, street hustlers, shoe companies, AAU programs, television exposure and, of course, the lure of NBA millions, have all been a major influence in eroding college basketball’s place in the big picture. As a result, an increasingly rare site in the NBA these days is a star, like Duke’s Shane Battier, who played four years at the collegiate level.

Even more disturbing to some is the escalating number of high school players who opt to go straight into the NBA draft. An all-time high six schoolboy seniors made that choice this season, topping the record of four set last year. Speculation is that two thirds of this year’s schoolboy crop will be lottery picks.

That’s good and bad. Good for their financial status but bad for immature kids thrown into a world for which most don’t have the coping skills. Bad too for the veterans who will lose jobs, the coaches who must baby-sit and a game suffering because too many of its players are ill prepared in the needed fundamental skills.

It is a situation which angers NBA commissioner David Stern, disgusts Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and concerns former Georgetown coach John Thompson. All three bring different agendas to the table, but all three are in agreement that steps desperately need to be taken to stem the rising tide of youth.

Thompson probably makes the most compelling argument because, unlike Stern and Krzyzewski, he is not directly impacted by the NBA’s teenager trend. As a strong advocate for some sort of agreement establishing 20 as a minimum age for NBA players, Thompson frets about the long-term impact upon educational values.

In a Sunday column written for the New York Times, Thompson said: “When asked by those opposed to the NBA’s proposed rule that would deny entrance to anyone younger than 20 by what right I would deny a 19-year-old (or a 15-year-old) his immediate shot at the NBA, I answer by the right society has to improve itself by encouraging education.

“The impact of not drawing the line goes far beyond the 58 players selected in the NBA draft,” Thompson continued. “The impact of denigrating the importance of an education will be felt in the thousands of young people who strive to emulate their heroes.”

Giving the entire issue a local slant is Beaumont Ozen coach Andre Boutte. The former Lincoln mentor has the pleasure, and the responsibility, of grooming rising star Kendrick Perkins.

A junior-to-be, the 6-11 Perkins led Ozen to a 36-0 record and the 4A state championship last season. Smooth, versatile and polished beyond his years, there seems to be little doubt that Perkins will have the option of becoming the first Southeast Texas schoolboy to enter the NBA draft.

Boutte’s gut feeling at this point is the Perkins is more likely to choose to attend college for at least a couple of years. He feels that way because Perkins does not have an ego that’s out of control, is not in a desperate financial situation and is not subject to the kind of outside influences that kids in bigger cities are.

The X factor, though, is the exposure, attention and temptations that are going to come his way through AAU basketball. Perkins is the top player on the Houston Hoops AAU team which, by Boutte’s estimate, will play some 100 games before school starts again in August.

Some of those games will take place in high profile tournaments in cities like Las Vegas, with arenas overrun by college coaches and blood-sucking opportunists who prey on vulnerable kids. Sadly, some of those leeches infiltrated AAU programs and position themselves as defacto agents and advisors to elite players.

Boutte, however, is not worried about any of that with Perkins.

“Overall, I think what the AAU does is good,” Boutte said. “There have been problems in some places, like on the East Coast and cities like Chicago and Detroit. It hasn’t been as bad in Texas. Maybe we are a step behind. The main thing is you have to be careful to make sure that whoever is over the program has the best interest of the kid at heart.

“I know Kendrick’s coach. His son and my son played together on a team that I coached. He knows what I expect, and that’s not only with Kendrick but any of my kids playing AAU. The first thing college recruiters ask is how much influence does the AAU coach have. With my kids, it’s none. If I ever find out anything under the table is being done, that’s it. The kid is out of there.”

Although Boutte sounds like he hopes Perks goes the college route, he won’t tell the youngster what to do.

“The decision is not mine,” he said. “It’s with Kendrick and his grandparents. My job is to have him prepared to make an intelligent decision. If he wants to go to Duke, it’s my job to make sure he has everything he needs to go there. If he wants to go to the NBA, it’s my job to do as much as I can to have him mentally and physically prepared.”

In the meantime, one thing seems certain. With Perkins leading the way, and Boutte calling the shots, Ozen may well be unbeatable the next two years. National acclaim and a winning streak in excess of 100 games do not appear to be out of the question.

Sports editor Bob West can be e-mailed at rdwest@usa.net.