Friday, February 29, 2008

Candace Parker, an all-American women's basketball player, has announced that she will skip her final year of college hoops at the University of Tennessee. Parker, who is 6 feet 4, can dunk and averages about 20 points and 9 rebounds a game. She thinks she's ready to join the pros in the Women's National Basketball Association.

Sound familiar? Lots of men skip some of their college years to go pro. Three of the National Basketball Association's biggest stars -- Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett and LeBron James -- went straight from high school to the NBA.

To Parker's credit, though she has a season of eligibility left as a player, she is on schedule to graduate this spring.

Some fans might think that a player skipping a college season is progress for women's sports. After all, what's good for men ought to be good for women, right?

I'm not so sure.

I don't think it's a good thing that so many men leave college early for a shot at the pros. Some super-talented guys can do it, and they should have the chance to try.

But too many young men bank on becoming professional athletes. Getting to the pros is a long shot. Most athletes -- male or female -- are better off getting a good education just in case their dreams of sports stardom don't come true.

There are other things about men's sports that the women should not look to copy. While some female athletes use illegal and dangerous steroids, it is mostly males who take these performance-enhancing drugs. Recruiting violations, in which college coaches and teams break rules to get top players, are another thing the women should be careful to avoid. In men's college athletics, too many players and coaches will do anything to win.

This happens even in high school. A study of 4,200 high school athletes by the Character Counts! Coalition found that boys were far more likely to engage in illegal or unsportsmanlike conduct than girls. Do we really want female athletes to be more like male athletes when it comes to sportsmanship?

I coached boys and girls in recreational sports teams for years. Most of the girls I coached did not take the games as seriously. I thought that was a good thing. The girls enjoyed sports, but after practice or a game they went back to other things they liked, including school, friends, music and reading.

It's great that Candace Parker has the opportunity to turn pro. It also will be great when she gets her degree. There are not many 6-4 dunking machines in women's basketball, and she should have the same options that men do. But I hope that when it comes to other female athletes, women's sports do not become just like the men's.

Fred Bowen writes KidsPost's sports opinion column and is an author of sports novels for kids.