There’s been a lot reported on the recent swarm of high school players jumping straight to the NBA and skipping college altogether. It’s widely frowned upon when an

impressionable teen-ager makes an ill-advised decision and dumps what is left of his childhood to become a professional basketball player.

But why?

When the same decision is made almost daily and without second thought by hundreds upon hundreds of high schoolers who play baseball and hockey, it seems there’s an obvious double standard.

Some argue that in baseball, hockey and other sports, there are developmental leagues for the players if their jump to the pro ranks doesn’t work out. For instance, baseball has three different minor leagues for players to elevate their game.

“The major difference between the major and minor leagues is that the players are playing with kids their own age,” said NIU baseball coach Dave Schrage. “There is a big difference in lifestyle. With basketball, the players get a million dollars in their pocket and they are living like a king, but in the minors for baseball, the players are not living much different than my guys here, driving around on team buses.”

While the NBA does have similar developmental leagues, they, unfortunately, have not caught on as much as the baseball minors.

The Isiah Thomas-led CBA tried miserably to be the unofficial NBA developmental league, but it’s now extinct. The ABA still is lingering around, but has not shown enough affiliation with the NBA to become attractive enough to top players coming out of high school and college.

“In a lot of cases, the kids aren’t ready, but because of the demand and money, they are going [to the pros] anyhow,” said NIU basketball coach Rob Judson. “I think it’s a concern because not all of the situations are working out.”

Indeed, it’s not working out in most instances. For every Kevin Garnett and Kobe Bryant, there are plenty of Taj McDavids (Williamston, S.C.) and Ellis Richardsons (Sun Valley, Calif.) who miss success and are strung out with limited options and no college diploma.

Schrage argues that many D1 baseball programs are just as competitive as some minor league baseball teams. Schrage likely will see his first recruit & LaSalle Peru’s Brock Keffer & skip NIU to go to the majors this year. Keffer already has committed to NIU, but Schrage thinks he’s been throwing well enough to be picked up by the pros out of high school.

Often in baseball, even if a player has his mind set on going to the majors out of high school, he’ll sign with a college anyway. By doing this, the player can use his signing as leverage in negotiating a minor-league contract.

Basketball is more cut and dry. If a player declares for the NBA Draft and is selected in the first round, he will be set financially for the rest of his life.

Even if a player slips through the first round, he still has a solid opportunity to prove his worth. Selected by Seattle in the second round, current NBA starter Rashard Lewis has worked his way up the ladder to be a mainstay with the Sonics.

Twelve prep athletes have been selected in the NBA Draft since Kevin Garnett marked the return of the trend in 1995, and there’s a possibility that the number could be increased by five players after this June’s selection. Already proclaiming that they will bypass college are California’s Tyson Chandler and Illinois’ own Eddy Curry.

Chandler is unusual in that he runs the court like a deer and has a feathery, soft touch, all while exceeding most NBA centers’ heights at 7-foot-2.

Curry is a player possessing Shaqesque features at 6-foot-11 and 320 pounds. At times his demeanor on the court could be mistaken as sluggish or lazy, but the pro scouts are drooling over his enormous potential. Wrongly, some say.

“Curry never dominated in AAU ball,” said Milford Baker, the head of the AAU, which pits the best high school players in the country against each other. “I don’t have a problem for anyone going professionally out of high school. You’d have to be crazy not to with all of that money. But if you throw him on some of these NBA teams, what is he going to do? Kevin Garnett’s immediate success was a unique situation as far as I’m concerned.”

Potential seems to be the key ingredient for NBA scouts. But where will draft entrants’ ages stop dropping like the Titanic?

If anyone gets a chance, tell Chicago Bulls general manager Jerry Krause that I have a little cousin with a killer three-point shot and a silver-quick first step. He’s contemplating bypassing his final year of junior high to enter the draft.

Then tell Krause to stop his drooling.