Sonny Vaccaro Quotes

#1. One-and-done is the most damaging thing in college basketball. It brings money into the college game, because it kickstarts the bidding war. When you know a kid can't turn pro and is going to go to school for one year and then go pro, that's when you see everyone going to games and courting players.

Sonny Vaccaro

#2. What would be wrong with letting a kid go pro, and if it doesn't work out he can come back to college? What's the harm in that? The reason is the word "amateurism." The NCAA has to protect colleges' tax exemption.

Sonny Vaccaro

#3. People will always go to games. And not just Duke versus North Carolina. Even Appalachian State against Chatworth.

Sonny Vaccaro

#4. There's Brandon Jennings. The NBA told him to go to college for a year, and he said, "Screw that. I'll go to Europe and make a million bucks and then come back." And he's proven to be a pretty damn good player. He's done as much for the game as Michael [Jordan] by forging a different route.

Sonny Vaccaro

#5. Kobe [Bryant] had the biggest contract for a high school kid. He was the first one to get more than a million a year.

Sonny Vaccaro

#6. Beginning in 1978, Nike paid coaches to put their shoes on the team.

Sonny Vaccaro

#7. After the NBA and ABA merged, players could come out after high school. Still, there were only a few cases prior to Kevin Garnett coming out in 1995, so Nike and the other companies were only involved in the college game.

Sonny Vaccaro

#8. Now the kids are portrayed as dirty when they talk to an agent, a shoe guy, some hanger-on. Well, it's only natural that people are circling them - there are millions of dollars involved.

Sonny Vaccaro

#9. In terms of my work with Nike, obviously signing Michael Jordan to a $500,000 contract in 1984 set a new precedent for the business side of the game.

Sonny Vaccaro

#10. NBA has a selfish rationale. It saves the owners money by delaying the time a player gets to a second, more lucrative contract. Even the player's union is on board. There are only 450 jobs in the NBA, and the one-and-done protects veterans' jobs.

Sonny Vaccaro

#11. Very unfairly, there's a negative image of the kid, which really stems from the greed and selfishness of the NBA and NCAA. They're forcing these kids to go to school.

Sonny Vaccaro

#12. Paternalistic is a very good word. They think they have to look out for these guys? Don't worry about it. Why? Because of history. Kevin Garnett, Tracy McGrady, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant. They did okay.

Sonny Vaccaro