I'm guessing quite a few people tuned in to watch Michael Beasley, the stud Kansas State forward, battle it out with fellow freshman star O.J. Mayo in the NCAA Tournament on Thursday night. And for some, that might have been the first -- and last -- time they got to see Mayo suit up as a USC Trojan.

His team lost, and Mayo's projected as a NBA lottery pick, so it's highly likely the talented combo guard will make the jump to the pros.

The same goes for Beasley, who's the consensus bet to be the No. 1 pick. The same goes for guards Derrick Rose of Memphis, Jerryd Bayless of Arizona and Eric Gordon of Indiana. They're all freshmen who are considered hot NBA draft prospects.

And the same might apply for freshman big men Blake Griffin of Oklahoma, Anthony Randolph of LSU. DeAndre Jordan of Texas A&M and Kevin Love of UCLA.

It's mostly speculation at this point -- much will defend on who makes the jump and who doesn't. But there seems little doubt that freshmen will dominate the upper portion of the draft.

Some of the other top prospects are 7-foot sophomore Brook Lopez of Stanford, sophomore point guard D.J. Augustin of Texas, 7-3 sophomore Hasheem Thabeet of UConn, 19-year-old Italian star Danilo Gallinari, and 19-year-old French standout Nicolas Batum. Hasheem Thabeet.

So it's possible that there might not be a senior -- or even a junior -- among the top 15.

So what does this all mean?

It means we'll hardly get to see a lot of these guys before they turn pro. A lot of them will do quite well as pros, but even if they do, they could get lost in a crowd brimming with other young players just as talented as themselves.

And college hoop, meanwhile, continues to lose a little luster and legitimacy, as phenoms use college as Class AAA -- a place where they can hone their skills for the pros -- and not as a place to get an education or achieve team goals.

You can't really get too down on anybody for this.

It's hard for anyone to turn down the type of money the NBA's offering. And the colleges would rather have a superstar for one year than not at all.

But it's not good for those who love college basketball.

NCAA stars used to be larger-than-life figures in American sports, and most of the time, they stayed in school for a while (even Michael Jordan and Larry Bird stayed for three seasons). Playres could become legendary before even entering he pros.

Now, we get a Michael Beasley, who's undoubtedly a terrific player.

But his Kansas State team will face a tough matchup vs. Wisconsin on Saturday. And if the Wildcats fall, it means Beasley's NCAA career will be over before most of us know who the heck he is.

Sure, Beasley will go on to the NBA, where he'll do fine.

Kevin Durant, last year's No. 1 pick, is surely doing fine. He skipping out of Texas after his freshman year and is playing for the Seattle SuperSonics. But I'm not sure if America knows him any better than it did last year.

Wouldn't it have been interesting if Durant had stayed another year in college, and led his Texas against Beasley's Kansas State crew in Big 12 Conference play? That would have been something to see.

But we won't see it, or much like it. Because the brightest stars are gone in a hurry.

(March 21, 2008)