A couple weeks ago, I saw Shane Battier (co-captain of Duke's 2001 NCAA championship men's basketball team) in the checkout line of a local health food grocery. He chatted amiably with the clerk while buying a fair quantity of organic vegetables. There have been hundreds of stories written about Battier and how he stayed in college for four years and how he is bright and thoughtful. Not only that. He earned his degree in religion and can easily relate his personal life experiences with thoughts and ideas that he's gleaned from actually attending class. Interviews with him are spiced with his own takes on pieces of Hinduism, Buddhism and other religions. He doesn't repeat platitudes; he actually seems to understand and synthesize the material he's read.

Watching him that afternoon at the Wellspring, I can tell you the stories are most likely true. Yes, Battier was in his element, basking in glory at a grocery story sitting across the street from Duke's East Campus, but he does seem like an exceptionally self-possessed person. Based on my encounter of less than a minute (being a courteous person, I simply observed him and didn't scream "Ohmigoditsshanebattier!"or beg him for an autograph. Neither did anyone else--we're cool here in Durham), I couldn't tell you anything definitive about Shane Battier except that he's tall. Very tall. And astonishingly good-looking. Nonetheless, I think it is true that you can read some things from body language. Shane Battier is the kind of guy who walks into a room, surveys it and then decides what he's going to do. He doesn't let the world get on his shoulders. He takes on the world. With a big smile.

The NBA draft is approaching quickly. A large number of high school students and college graduates have declared, possibly shutting themselves out from future NCAA college scholarships. Battier, widely considered the best college basketball player in the country this past season (with the possible exception of his younger teammate Jason Williams), could go as low as tenth in the draft. His take is what you'd expect it to be, something along the lines of "Let's see, I get to play on a decent team and still get paid millions. I don't see the problem." Gotta like a level head. But many of the same reporters who lionize Battier--and will privately say they're glad he's going to play for Seattle or Denver or Boston or some other team one or two good players from the playoffs--excoriate the "kids" who will be drafted before (and after) Battier as greedy fools "just chasing the almighty dollar." Shame on them.

The bad guys here are not the kids. The bad guys are not the agents. All of the blame has to fall on the shoulders of the men (and they are all men) in charge of the game: the head honchos of the NCAA and the NBA owners. Those are the ones in control of the game, and they're the ones who have rigged it in their favor.

Consider baseball. Most of the players picked in the Major League Baseball draft are high school students (recently graduated seniors, I mean). If a high school graduate signs with a major league team, he is guaranteed one year of college tuition for every year that he plays in the minors or majors. That's a pretty fair scholarship program, especially when you consider that at most, a Division I NCAA school can award a total of 11.7 baseball scholarships per year. MLB and the NCAA have an agreement that players who decide to go to college will not be drafted until after their junior years, but in reality, very few "hot" prospects go to college. Yes, Roger Clemens and Paul Molitor and Albert Belle and some other great players of recent years went to college, but the percentage of college players in "the show" is very low. The NCAA doesn't make much, if any, money on college baseball, so it doesn't worry about losing high school talent.

But college basketball is the NCAA's bread and butter. The NCAA has made billions (billions with a "b") from the March NCAA tourney over the years, and it is justifiably concerned about losing some of the best young talent to anyone, especially the NBA.

And those NBA owners and GMs who pick these kids, knowing that at best it will be three years before such young draftees might become prime time players, are the men who should fully share in the guilt. These are the idiots who whine "We shouldn't have to take chances on unproven talent" and then go out and draft the likes of Korleone Young.

The NBA is starting a developmental league. There are also a number of minor basketball leagues across the country. If the NBA really wanted to, it could organize those leagues much the same way the baseball minors are structured. Kids right out of high school could give playing a shot, and if it doesn't work out they'll have some scholarships if they want to pick up a college education and make something of themselves. Also, the NCAA could drop its silly restriction barring any high schooler who declares for the draft. If the kid doesn't get drafted, let him play ball in college. The concept of the NCAA as a benevolent institution is utterly facetious, but still, someone in charge has to be looking out for what's best for the kids in the equation. Locking kids out of college isn't a "tough love" solution. It's unconscionable, particularly coming from those who wish to perpetuate the myth of the "scholar-athlete."

Shane Battier is a bright, capable, inquisitive, charming young man who also happens to be the best college basketball player in the country. He has been a true scholar-athlete and deserves to be celebrated as such. Very few people have Battier's combination of brains, personality, physical gifts and determination. It's simply not fair to judge anyone next to him.

People make mistakes. Sports columnists are paid to comment on those mistakes. I accept that. But don't criticize the kids for being "greedy." I mean, we've got a president whose mantra during his first four months in office has been "if it makes a profit, it must be right." There's plenty of room to spread the blame. As far as I'm concerned, this situation is an avalanche caused by a sneeze at the top of the mountain.

Jon Worley knows full well that a "hooptie" has nothing to do with basketball but is, in fact, a jalopy. He just likes the onomatopoeia.