Money can mean lots of things to different people. To some it means happiness. To most college students it means the unachievable.

To the 18- and 19-year-olds entering the NBA these days, or even to the student-athletes that put a degree before basketball, it means a change in lifestyle – or a whole new style all together.

Think about it. I bet Kevin Garnett didn’t wear two diamond earrings the size of walnuts at Farragut Academy High School. It’s all about style, man.

The player that jumps out at me, and actually gave me the idea to write this column, is Scot Pollard. This guy definitely has a unique sense of style. Currently, he looks like he should be in a Mark McGrath look-alike contest instead of the NBA.

In his four years in the league, he’s had his hair bleached, pony-tailed, spiked and he even cut it all off once.

His haircut would look better on a five-year-old than on him – minus the goatee, of course.

Pollard made $4.3 million this year. If he was working at your neighborhood Wal-Mart, would he look like he does today?

Maybe, but I think the money has something do with his appearance.

All I remember about Pollard in his college days at Kansas is that he didn’t look like that.

At least when he was there he stuck with the lamb-chop sideburns for a while.

Maybe Jayhawk head coach Roy Williams has team rules about appearance?

I’m not saying this guy can’t play. He’s in the NBA, which speaks for itself. Plus, I remember him playing against the Cyclones back in the day. He didn’t beat us, but sometimes he helped. The point is, if there were fashion police in the NBA, he’d be serving 10 to 20 years.

If you want another example, look at Allen Iverson. Iverson is one of my favorite players in the game, but it’s not because of the cornrows, or the tattoos with special meaning.

It’s because he’s only an inch taller than I am and he can still put up huge numbers.

When he was at Georgetown, he looked a lot different.

Now, I’m sure I would change my style if I could ball like the above mentioned.

I’d probably go out and get a new car – maybe a new house if I had enough left over.

Who knows, I might go all out and just buy the university.

I could, you know, after a few years making Shaquille O’Neal’s $21 million annual salary.

My lifestyle would change, naturally, but I wouldn’t go out and make myself a new person by way of appearance.

Thank God for John Stockton.

I’m not a big fan of Stockton, nor the Utah Jazz for that matter, but this guy doesn’t seem to care what anybody else thinks.

He just does his job, and does it well, night in and night out.

He wears his shorts short, and doesn’t seem to have changed very much since his days at Gonzaga.

When I watch him, I think maybe NBA Commissioner David Stern should implement a rule about shorts that are too short instead of too long.

Still, I respect the guy, and he can pass the ball and see the court as well as anybody in the game today.

The days of 19-year-old millionaires are upon us.

I’m not opposed to it, but I think it’s interesting that these people can change so much from one year to the next.

These guys are my age and they’re set for life.

I’ve got seven dollars in my wallet.

Jeff Raasch is a junior in journalism and mass communication from Odebolt. He is sports editor of the Daily.