When is it time to give up basketball?
Community college athletes have a unique perspective.
As the clock ticked down on Hostos Community College’s men’s basketball season, Tionne Palmer knew the next time he’d step on a court to play organized basketball might be in Indonesia.
Hostos, located in The Bronx, lost on March 4 in the second round of the NJCAA Region XV Tournament to Nassau Community College. The Caimans’ loss meant the clock began for the sophomores to figure out their next steps before their graduation date in May.
Palmer grew up in Harlem and went to high school right next to Central Park, but without a scholarship on the table, continuing to play structured basketball after Hostos likely meant moving to a different country to join one of many professional leagues abroad.
If he chose to give up basketball, his transfer application was already accepted at four different colleges in New York City. He takes pride in the fact that he’s the first member of his family to attend college, and he could choose to go further in his goal of becoming a physical therapist by committing to one of those four landing spots. But a friend who plays in the Indonesian Basketball League told him about an upcoming combine that would act as a tryout for the league. He could earn a full salary and be labeled an international professional basketball player. Palmer’s mind was made up: in June he would attend the combine, and if he received an offer he would take it.
One day after the men’s team lost their semifinal game, the Caimans’ women’s basketball team saw their season end in the Region XV tournament as well. Dimon Walker, a 5-foot-4-inch sophomore point guard who won Hostos’s 2022 Scholar Athlete of the Year award, watched the time run out in the team’s 56-74 loss to Monroe College, wondering if she would even get the chance to play again.
While Palmer set his mind on continuing with the sport one way or another, the idea of playing basketball overseas never presented itself for Walker. If she received a scholarship offer, she’d take it. Otherwise, she planned to work full-time after she finished her associate degree. She already managed to do that alongside basketball and her academics at Hostos, working as a paraprofessional that helps a teacher manage a classroom.
The two players reflect some of the most crucial decisions all athletes face: how far should you go to keep playing your sport, and when is time to walk away from the game you love? For community college athletes, they have a unique approach due to the nature of the position they’re in.
If you’re doing what you love, do it as long as you can.
Just one month before graduation from Hostos, the paths for Palmer and Walker changed.
After months of waiting for the combine in Indonesia, Palmer found out in April that if he received an offer, it wouldn’t be fully guaranteed. If a team signed him, they’d be over the foreign player limit meaning they could void his contract at any time. It was enough of a deal breaker to make Palmer change his mind.
But around the same time in April, he received a scholarship offer at Lincoln University: a Division II historically Black university. They needed a big man who could shoot threes to space the floor—exactly what Palmer gives at 6 feet, 8 inches tall, drawing playstyle comparisons to former NBA player LaMarcus Aldridge. He found an easy connection with the coach and the campus and verbally committed as soon as possible.
“Looking at it now, I wasn’t too excited about leaving the country and starting over with my social life,” Palmer said about the Indonesia path after committing to Lincoln. “On top of that, I would be doing basketball full time and that’s not something I feel I’m ready to jump into just yet. There are still things that I want to figure out about myself before I’m ready to be a professional.”
Walker, meanwhile, didn’t receive any offers after the tournament loss. Before Hostos, she attended Nazareth Regional High School in Brooklyn and communicated with a DII program for a basketball scholarship, but the start of the COVID-19 pandemic led to a coaching change at the college which caused the offer to fall through. She considered herself done with basketball and wanted to pursue her longtime goal of becoming an EMT. Her plans changed when a former coach at Nazareth Regional, Dwight Shaw, became the head coach of the women’s team at Hostos and convinced her to join the program.
But without any scholarship offers and her second basketball season at Hostos finished, Walker again decided that the game had run its course. This time she went full steam ahead with her goal of becoming an EMT. She joined the FDNY’s EMT Academy summer program which she expects to lead her to another year-long program and eventually a full-time job in the field.
“I did a little soul searching and I realized that I should start a career while I can, while I’m younger,” Walker said about ending her basketball career. “The program opened up and I figured, why not do it now?”
Dimon Walker dribbles on her home court which is nicknamed 'the swamp.' | Photo via Hostos
Dimon Walker dribbles on her home court which is nicknamed 'the swamp.' | Photo via Hostos
Only colleges with Division I and Division II programs give athletic scholarships. Division III schools do not.
According to the NCAA, boy’s high school basketball saw 540,769 participants in 2018, with just 11,033 continuing on to play in DI or DII straight out of high school. Girl’s basketball saw 399,067 participants in 2018 with 9,821 playing in DI or DII. Of those student-athletes, only a maximum of 60 will be drafted into the NBA, while 36 will be selected in the WNBA draft. There are other professional basketball leagues in the United States, but with so much competition, a realistic outcome for somebody who wants to continue to play basketball after college is to find a contract in a foreign country.
So when is it time to stop playing?
“If you’re doing what you love, do it as long as you can. You know it’s time to let go when that goal is no longer being accomplished,” said Marquee Poole, Hostos men’s basketball head coach and assistant athletic director. “A basketball career doesn’t last that long. Unless you’re LeBron James, you’re not going to play until you’re 40 years old. Not everyone is going to make a living out of playing the game. When you get a good job or when you find your career, you start realizing that it might make more sense for you financially to give up basketball.”
The decision to give up basketball isn’t easy. Walker grew up playing the sport with her siblings, but she already prepared herself to move on after high school. It might not be that simple for others.
“Most of us at this level of basketball want to go as far as we possibly can with athletics,” Palmer said. “There are some guys who joined the team just to see what the experience was like and next thing they know they have to bust their ass to stay on the team because it’s not a given. Not everyone can do it. Those of us who make it through that stage get used to it and get a sense of confidence, a sense of pride. They want to go as far as possible.”
The community college route is used by some who aren’t prepared to give the sport up after high school. They can either extend their time playing basketball by two years as they get their associate degree, or they can turn it into more by transferring to a four-year school or going overseas. The latter is the case with Palmer.
Palmer dropped out of high school and met Poole while playing basketball at a local NYC tournament in Dykeman Park. After Palmer got his GED, Poole recruited him to Hostos.
Tionne Palmer stares out the window of the Hostos library
Tionne Palmer stares out the window of the Hostos library
Someone Palmer spent a lot of time with over his two years is Hostos transfer advisor and faculty athletics representative, Rocio Rayo. According to her, Palmer took a common path.
“Community college is a way for a lot of folks to continue their education for free,” Rayo said. “It’s true that a lot of students feel disappointment in their first semester because they didn’t envision themselves there to begin with. A lot of them feel like it’s their last chance. They didn’t get an offer to the school they wanted out of high school, but now they might have a second chance at getting that same offer.”
Both Palmer and Walker said the same thing about Rayo: she reiterates the importance of creating a plan. They also said that each coaching staff pushed them with their academics, focusing on the reality of what comes “after basketball.”
“Community college athletic programs give lots of support outside of the sport,” Rayo said. “The coaches know most of the professors because it’s a smaller environment. It helps give access to people who genuinely know you and care about you. It’s a really important structure and helps students succeed in a bunch of different ways.”
Hostos has about 7,000 students enrolled, which, as of 2019, is the second lowest figure of the seven City University of New York (CUNY) community colleges. For this past season, there were 16 players listed on the Hostos men’s basketball roster, with 10 on the women’s roster.
Six CUNY schools participate in the NJCAA: the governing body for community college athletics. In total, 430 community colleges play men’s basketball in the NJCAA. 379 play women’s basketball.
Okay, so what’s next?
Kimberly Carlotta Ellis, who holds a doctorate in higher education, wrote an academic study in 2011 for George Washington University that studied trends in transfers from community college club basketball athletes at two Virginia schools.
“Until not that long ago, community college had the reputation of being ‘less than,’ like it was grade 13,” Ellis said, who is currently a transfer pathways manager at Western Governors University. “If you went to one, people would say, ‘Oh you couldn’t go to a real school huh?’ But that’s changed. I think starting at a community college helps students become more grounded, athletes the same way.”
Undoubtedly, a large benefit of attending community college is that it’s much more affordable compared to four-year colleges. According to Research.com, the average tuition price for community colleges in New York state is $5,736 before applying any financial aid. Community college is used by some as a tool to save money in the first two years of one’s higher education.
While the community college route is now a popular way to eventually play professionally overseas, it still takes a lot of hard work.
“A student has to know ahead of time what their path will be,” Ellis said. “Some of the best coaches are the ones who mentor students beyond just playing their sport. A student might say, ‘I could play college basketball, but I know I’m not going to the NBA.’ Okay, so what’s next?”
If Palmer followed his original path of playing in Indonesia, he could still attend college, but not on a basketball scholarship. NCAA eligibility rules state: “You are not eligible for participation in a sport if you have ever taken pay, or the promise of pay, for competing in that sport.” He would no longer be labeled an amateur, which is required to play collegiately.
“How do you circle back if you went down the wrong path?” Ellis asked. “For someone to move to Indonesia for a job, you need to first ask, what is your end goal? Five years, ten years from now, are you still going to be doing the same thing? If so, that’s great, that’s where your passion is and maybe it’s the right path. But if your end goal is to work in medicine, when is the best time to start? The ability to go through college for free is a major advantage.”
In New York, everyone is fast-paced. It’s not like that everywhere else
If you’ve found the right path, college may not be necessary. In Walker’s case, she was ready to give up basketball after high school but used the sport to continue her education until she found the right time to switch paths.
While Walker’s new field isn’t closely connected to basketball, she’s not leaving the game completely. She grew up around the sport and still has time to play at the gym or in parks, as well as attending games at Hostos. Right now, she continues to balance her work as a paraprofessional with her afternoon EMT classes as well as finishing her associate degree at Hostos.
For Palmer, he’ll likely revisit the idea of playing overseas in two years. With an expected degree in exercise science, he’ll decide whether to pursue his field of study or put that on hold to pursue professional basketball.
“I feel like it would take me a really long time to adjust to that new life if I go to another country. In New York, everyone is fast-paced. It’s not like that everywhere else,” Palmer said of pursuing basketball overseas after his bachelor’s degree. “World politics are very strong. Those are things I’ve thought about. It would definitely play a big part in where I end up. It’s not something that would shield me away from doing it, but it’s something I would have to get used to.”
For now, Palmer seems to have found the right path for himself. He still has a use for basketball as he navigates through his goals.
“The fact that I can continue in college and it’s going to be paid for is surreal, that played a major part in continuing on this path,” Palmer said. “But just the fact that I’m about to get a college degree hasn’t even hit me yet. I want to be able to tell my nephews and nieces and younger cousins that if I did it, you can do it as well.”
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