Subscribe to the NCSA BlogIts a Lifelong Decision
June 17th, 2009 - byWhy is choosing the right school so important? Because it’s not just about getting an athletic scholarship. It’s about getting an education, graduating and ultimately finding a career that is fulfilling.
Most college basketball fans remember Ed O’Bannon who led UCLA to the 1995 National Championship, but most don’t know where he ended up. Despite being the National player of the year his NBA career was a brief two years. He then headed to Europe before retiring from basketball at the age of 31.
Despite having saved his basketball earnings O’Bannon had the rest of his life ahead of him and wound up working at a Toyota Dealership owned by Cliff Findlay a former basketball player at UNLV who hires other former athletes. The Washington Post profiled how difficult the transition has been.
Early on, O’Bannon was befriended by a soft-spoken Findlay salesman named Eric Ludwick, who could understand his pain like few others. Ludwick, who had been at Findlay for two years when O’Bannon showed up, was a former UNLV pitcher who spent parts of four seasons in the major leagues. Like O’Bannon, he entered pro ball as a phenom — he was a second-round draft pick in 1993 and was once traded for Mark McGwire — and like O’Bannon, he had been forced to go overseas, in his case to Japan, to make a living after flaming out in the United States.
At one point, observing O’Bannon’s struggles, Ludwick pulled him aside.
“He says, ‘Look, this is what you are. You’re a salesman. Who cares?’ ” O’Bannon recalls. ” ‘Whoever is reading those [newspaper] stories isn’t paying your bills. And you have to come to grips with [the fact] that’s just what you are. Whether you’re a plumber or a trashman or a salesman, you have to be that. And you have to be proud of it.’ He said he had the same kind of problem when he started.”
Ludwick, 37, said it took him about two years — two dark, depressing years — to make the adjustment, and it came at a steep cost.
“My marriage was pretty much wrecked because of it,” he said. “I wasn’t fun to be around. You grow up from age 4 or 5, playing T-ball, and you’re always the best player in your league, and in Little League you’re always the best, and in high school and college. Then you go to the minor leagues, and you’re this bonus baby. When it all gets taken away — it really didn’t hurt my ego. I just felt like people give up on you. It was almost anger, like, ‘How could you do that to me?’
I’ve gotten to the point where it’s so far in my past I can go about my day-to-day life without thinking about it. But there was a point when it consumed me. It’s something I probably should have talked to someone about, because I spent nights just laying there and thinking about it. By losing it all, I figured out how to conduct myself on a daily basis with other human beings. And I’m happy about that.”
O’Bannon still considers the lecture from Ludwick one of the critical moments in his transition from basketball star to salesman.
Ed was lucky enough to find a career that he that he enjoys, but many athletes fall on hard times after their playing career is over. Many don’t even see their scholarship to a completed degree. Understanding the importance of your college decision is the first step to making sure the rest of your life is more successful than your athletic career.
