“It’s a very personal and very important thing. It’s a family motto. Are you ready Jerry? I want to make sure you’re ready, brother. Here it is: Show me the money,” Cuba Gooding, Jr. said in Jerry Maguire.

The mindset of present-day sports players, particularly in the NBA, is skewed toward this statement.

Players today are undermining the importance of college by skipping it for NBA dollars. They should accept these institutes for higher learning and the scholarships they offer. Athletes who skip college for the pros have talent that could enable them to go to any college in the United States.

However, their mental state-of-mind is nonexistent. They need college.

The fight that broke out between the Indiana Pacers and Detroit Pistons, last season, was the biggest embarrassment in the history of sports. Two of the primary individuals in the fight, Stephen Jackson and Jermaine O’Neal, didn’t attend college.

These athletes should marvel at the possibility of playing in a Duke-North Carolina game. These athletes should embrace the opportunity to play at a basketball-rich school, where the passion is in the game and the fans. Not in the paycheck.

Look no further than a basketball-rich school like ours, the University of Kansas. KU standouts, such as Danny Manning, Raef Lafrentz, Jacque Vaughn, Kirk Hinrich, Nick Collison, Wayne Simien, Keith Langford and Aaron Miles played basketball here for four years. Paul Pierce and Drew Gooden left early for the NBA, but even these players stayed three years.

That’s much better than what’s happening now. In the past five years 20 high school players were taken in the first round of the NBA draft. In the 2001 NBA draft, three of the first four picks were high school players.

These athletes should consider the benefits of going to college instead of taking a direct step into the NBA. College offers invaluable experience that people of any age, gender or race can take with them the rest of their lives. Plus, what if basketball is not these players’ calling? A college degree has become a requirement for just about any job – outside the NBA.

Danny Manning helped the Jayhawks win the national title in 1988. The Los Angeles Clippers drafted him with the first overall pick in the 1988 NBA draft. Manning was selected first overall because of his college accomplishments, not his high school performances, where the success of a move to the NBA was completely unknown.

Not every high school player is LeBron James. Not every high school player has immediate impact in the pros. Kobe Bryant didn’t.

NBA Commissioner David Stern attempted to improve the problem this summer. He instilled a minimum age limit of 19 to enter the NBA as part of a collective bargaining agreement.

But players should not be forced to go to college for one year as part of this plan. They should want to go to college. The age limit will only make recruiting tougher for NCAA coaches. How do they know that their star freshman won’t head straight for the pros after his first year?

There was a similar scare with departed guard J.R. Giddens after a successful freshman year. There were draft rumors in Lawrence during the offseason. Would that have been the right decision? You make the call.

So instead of rushing your lives and showing you the money, come to a place like the University of Kansas – it won’t bite.