I don't know what size shoes Trent Plaisted wears -- at 6-foot-11, must be 14s or 15s, right? -- but I do know this: Walking in those shoes right about now would be a lot of fun.

Plaisted, who threw his name into the NBA Draft pool last month, has hired an agent, making him ineligible to return to BYU. It's official: He's now a professional athlete.

Cougar fans are split: One group wants him to come back because he's really good and BYU needs him to break that 15-year NCAA tournament drought. The other group thinks he's not ready to play in the NBA and doomed to fail.

Surely Trent could have benefited from returning for his senior year at BYU. He needs to develop something that resembles a jump shot and a hook shot where he doesn't double pump (you're almost seven feet tall: extend your arm!). And he's a Hack-A-Shaq waiting to happen at the foul line. But no question he's big, and powerful, and athletic. He's made some of the more spectacular dunks in BYU history.

Then again, what if he gets hurt playing college ball next year? Then what?

Think back to when you graduated from college. What were your job opportunities? Me, I worked at a restaurant, Macey's, R.C. Willey, a video production company, another restaurant, Aztec Copy, Ultimate Electronics (the Orem store is closed now), a software company, back to Ultimate Electronics and two corporate computer companies before I was hired full time at the Herald.

Believe me, I didn't get rich working at all those other places (count 'em, it's 11 different jobs) and most of the time I was miserable because I wasn't doing something I loved.

Plaisted has an opportunity to do what he loves -- run up and down a basketball court in short pants - and can make a very comfortable living doing it. Whether he plays in the NBA or Europe, it doesn't matter. He's nearly finished with his degree (he's an economics major) and appears to be ready for his next phase of life. There's always going to be a good job available for an athletic almost 7-footer.

Yep, Plaisted's life would be really exciting about now. I mean, you go to college to get a good job, right? Isn't playing basketball for hundreds of thousands of dollars (if not millions) a pretty good job?

Loyalty? To what? BYU? It was pretty apparent when Plaisted arrived on campus four years ago he was looking at college as a springboard to the NBA. With the Mountain West Conference's lousy television contract, he wasn't seen nationally that often. But his two games last November against Louisville (21 points, 12 rebounds) and North Carolina (24 points, 17 rebounds) were carried on ESPN and Plaisted flashed some pretty awesome potential.

Did he live up to that potential this year? No. Is he ready for the NBA? Probably not. Is he talented enough for some NBA team to take him in the first round of the draft next month?

Maybe.

This is a big-money business, and if Plaisted signs a big contract a lot of people -- agents, trainers, lawyers -- can make some serious bank. You can only hope he's not being fed a line of bull about how much teams are interested, or how much money he can make. There are plenty of stories about college players who overestimated their NBA value and ended up on the street.

Trent won't end up on the street. If all else fails, he'll come back to finish his degree and use his BYU connections to get another good job.

Plaisted would have had a great senior year. If Lee Cummard returns (he also put his name into the NBA Draft pool), the Cougars should still be pretty good in 2008-09.

But Plaisted won't be a part of it.

Instead, he's moving on with his life. Nothing is guaranteed, just like it wasn't for the rest of us when we graduated from college and were trying to figure out what to do with our lives.

There have always been haters who've tried to tear Plaisted down and scoffed of his chances of playing in the NBA. But Trent's a grown man and he can take it. He's done everything in his power to make an informed decision.

Trent is taking the money.

Who can blame him?

• Daily Herald Sports Editor Darnell Dickson can be reached at 344-2555 or by e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it