For several years now, there has been much debate on the subject of college or high school athletes skipping out on college to play professionally.

I have always been a supporter of leaving college a little early, probably because this is my fifth year.

Some of my favorite players have left early and fared pretty well for themselves. There are others who are just not ready for the prime time, and they either ride the bench for the Clippers, or they just fall completely off the map.

For example, the other day I was watching a rerun from the McDonald’s All-America slam dunk championship a few years ago. Who do I see but the next big high school stud who was supposed to dominate the NBA, if he decided he didn’t want to deal with the hassle of midterms and finals — Corleone Young. This guy was huge, and was supposed to be better than Kevin Garnett.

But where is he now?

The NFL has a rule that a football player cannot enter the league until they are three years removed from their high school graduation.

Ohio State freshman phenom Maurice Clarett had contemplated challenging the rule when everyone was jockin’ him in the beginning of the season. Then he had a couple bad games when they faced some actual competition, so he backed off.

To my disgust, Ohio State won one of the best football games ever played and earned the national title. Now, Clarett will be back to defend the crown next year, his sophomore season.

The reason I am bringing this up is because I have pulled a 180 on my stance of athletes leaving early. After watching Monday night’s NCAA Championship game, I think there needs to be a rule that keeps athletes in college for at least three years.

The way that Syracuse’s freshmen played was phenomenal. Carmelo Anthony had a bad back and still nearly managed to pull off the second triple-double of this year’s tourney. Another underclassman, Marquette’s Dwyane Wade, actually pulled one off, too.

Last week I said the Orangemen’s young bucks would be too scared to play well enough to beat the experience of Kansas. But, following in the fashion of most of my other predictions this semester, I was way off. Anthony and fellow freshman Gerry McNamara were just too much to overcome.

Now, my reasoning for saying that athletes should be forced to stay in school is right there. Syracuse has a damn good team built around some young kids, so just think how good they would be if they stayed in school for four years, like Kansas’ Nick Collison and Kirk Hinrich.

Another reason for wanting athletes to stay in school happened right here at Iowa State. I’ve said it before, and I’ll keep saying it. If Marcus Fizer would have stuck around for one more year, we would have a national champions banner hanging from the rafters at Hilton Coliseum.

Now there is some proof to why some guys don’t need to stay in school. Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson left early, just to name a few. But they also waited until they won championships in college before they bolted for the bright lights and big cities.

Then there is the recent group of guys who have skipped college, like Kobe, T-Mac and Garnett, but how long did it take for them to elevate their games to the level they currently play at? Instead of sitting on the bench and watching, they could have been working on their games and leading teams to the Final Four. I know those guys sat down and watched the games on Saturday, as well as Monday night, and saw how much fun it would be to win the national championship, or hell, even just playing in the Final Four.

When I was a kid, I went to the state tournament and watched former Cyclones Fred Hoiberg and Hurl Beechum battle it out at Vets Auditorium, and I dreamed of getting to play in a game like that, with the kind of atmosphere that you can only find during the tournament. The best I got to settle for was playing a single half of a game at Drake’s Knapp Center during the CIML Jamboree.

Not quite what I would call a fair trade.

Well now that the college basketball season is over, I can make a few more predictions. Carmelo Anthony will leave college, go pro and be the No. 2 pick in this summer’s draft, behind everyone’s favorite high school player, except mine, LeBron James.

The Orangemen will fall back into the depths of a 10th-seed, first-round cake walk in future tournaments. Roy Williams will return to his alma mater and coach North Carolina, and Michael Jordan will turn down the opportunity to become the general manager of the Chicago Bulls, replacing Jerry Krause as the most hated man in the Windy City.

But hey, I could be wrong.