Darius Bazley may have foregone accepting his Syracuse University scholarship and attending college to gain the NCAA experience. Instead, the OKC Thunder rookie opted for the well documented internship with New Balance.
In hindsight, his decision held him back in terms of spending time on the hardwood with his peers and developing his game via input from college coaches. Yet, there are always two sides to everything and in this case, the positive takeaway for the rookie is he gained some advantages over his peers.
By interning at New Balance he gained a ton of transferable skills which other rookies missed out on while at college.