According to the Tampa Bay Times, a professional basketball team in China offered 17-year old Tampa Catholic star Kevin Knox $1.4 million to take his talents to the land of 1.4 billion people.
“I didn’t put much stock into the offer,” said Knock’s father. “We politely said thanks but no thanks. He’s going to college.”
The big question is, “What college?” The Knox has narrowed his list to Duke, North Carolina, Missouri and Florida State. He’s expected to make an announcement in the next few weeks and since I’m a FSU alum, I’m hoping Knox doesn’t break my heart the way Andrew Wiggins did a few years back.
I’m also curious to how many other top prospects are being contacted by teams in China. In 2014, Emmanuel Mudiay took $1.2 million to spend a season over there, came back to the states and was the 7th pick by the Nuggets. And after watching a player like Jimmer Fredette aka ‘The King of Loneliness (that’s his nickname in China)’ put up 2007 Kobe Bryant numbers over there, I’m surprised a few top high school talents aren’t willing to take the money now as opposed to taking the money under the table at a college (I’m kidding…sort of).
Back to Knox, besides being one of the most talented players in the country, he has a 3.5 GPA, which means if he goes to North Carolina he can actually take the tests himself (Sorry, I couldn’t refuse that joke. What’s up Rashad!).
