Odds are if you aren’t a die-hard college basketball fan, you haven’t heard the name Jamal Sampson.

Let me introduce you.

Sampson plays basketball at California. As a freshman, he averaged 6.7 points and 6.5 rebounds per game.

The 6-foot-11-inch Sampson also blocked 54 shots while starting 31 of Cal’s 32 games last season.

What makes Sampson so unique is his strength and size for a young player, and if things play out right, he should be a player to watch these next few years at Cal.

Only one problem – he’s not coming back.

Sampson is looking for his big break instead, leaving school behind for the riches of the NBA.

Although he’s not projected as a first-round pick, he’s given up his education for a slim chance at money.

Just listen to what espn.com’s Andy Katz has to say on the early-draft entry.

“He’s got size, which can’t be taught, but he’s not refined enough as an offensive threat or a defensive stopper to be in the first round,” Katz said. “He should go back to school or face the embarrassment of not being drafted or landing late in the second round.”

So why is he even chancing it?

The same reason JaRon Rush, a former prep star who left UCLA in hopes of NBA stardom, chanced it – the money.

Gone are the days when a student-athlete goes to school to get his degree.

These days, the major is basketball and the degrees are stamped with the letters N-B-A.

Just ask Mississippi State’s Mario Austin – another name probably only college basketball fans have heard of – what will be on his degree.

Austin, who led the Bulldogs in scoring (16 points per game) and rebounding (7.6 average), originally said he was coming back to school, but changed his mind a week later.

Immediately following his decision, he dropped out of school and started working out in Philadelphia in preparation for the NBA-sponsored Chicago workouts in early June.

“I changed my mind and feel I’m ready to expand my game to the next level,” the 6-foot-9-inch 255-pound Austin said.

“This is my decision and I’m not going to change my mind. I’m staying in the draft.”

While it’s becoming easier to leave for the NBA, it’s becoming harder and harder to justify it.

Why risk a degree and a career in college basketball if you’re not ready for the NBA?

Why make that mistake?

Austin may be one of the lucky ones.

If early indication holds up, he’ll be drafted somewhere between the mid to late first round of the two-round draft (58 picks total).

But Austin being drafted means someone else will be looking for a job later this year instead of working on getting an education and preparing for the upcoming basketball season. Someone like Sampson.

Emily Arthur is a junior in journalism and mass communications from Clark, S.D. She is the assistant sports editor at the Daily.