Congratulations, Marreese Speights, you're about nine days away from getting paid.
After signing with agent Andy Miller on Thursday, Speights has forgone his final two years of eligibility and will remain in the NBA Draft.
It was the right decision.
Most mock drafts have the St. Petersburg native going between No.16 and No.24 overall, with the consensus being that he will end up drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers with the 16th pick.
The sophomore averaged 14.5 points and 8.1 rebounds per game last season and produced a team-high 49 blocks and 10 double-doubles.
It would have been foolish for Speights to turn down a multi-million dollar payday to return to UF.
There is no guarantee that returning to school for his junior season would have done anything to improve his draft stock.
And unlike Joakim Noah and Al Horford, he more than likely wouldn't have been competing for a national championship.
In a world where franchises spend millions of dollars on kids based on nothing more than potential, going back to school just may have cost Speights more money than it would have made him.
Don't forget that, had Noah left after his sophomore year, he would have possibly been the No.1 pick in the draft.
Instead, he returned to UF and subsequently fell to the ninth pick the following year.
This is especially true for a player like Speights, whose heart and effort seem to be the only downside to NBA scouts.
ESPN's Chad Ford compared Speights to Elton Brand without the conditioning or motivation.
But the same things were said about Glen Davis when he came out of LSU last year.
After a year with an NBA strength and conditioning coach, Davis has put those concerns behind him.
Why risk your financial future by returning to school when all signs point to a first-round selection and a considerable amount of money?
USC's Nick Young earned nearly $1.5 million last year after being taken with the 16th pick in the draft.
Not bad for a single season of work.
Why give scouts another year's worth of tape to criticize when they already seem to be pleased with what they see?
From all accounts, the Sixers have fallen in love with the size, athleticism and flawless jump shot of Marreese Speights.
If he and his advisors, one of whom is Billy Donovan, feel comfortable with his draft position, then there was no reason to not stay in the draft.
Speights can continue to develop just as fast, if not faster, than he could in college by facing NBA competition every day.
The notion that college athletes need to spend a significant amount of time in school in order to be ready for the next level is no longer a valid argument - not in today's world of year-round AAU basketball and sneaker-sponsored scouting camps.
Speights, along with everyone else that will be drafted this year, has been on the NBA radar since they were in high school.
And for some, even before that.
They knew the path that they were on and are prepared for it.
Just like Michael Beasley and O.J. Mayo, Speights was in school for one reason - to pass the time until he was able to be drafted and make the jump to the NBA.
If some other major newspaper offered me millions of dollars to leave school early and start writing professionally, I would go in a heartbeat.
And everyone would probably agree that it would be the best career choice for me.
There's no reason to stay in school if someone is offering you your dream job.
Why should an athlete be held to a different standard?
