They’re the ones you don’t hear about.

They fade away, virtually unnoticed, only to be referenced years later as a warning against the perils of making the jump as a teenager.

With as many as 10 high school seniors looking to make the jump to the NBA this year, all the talk is about who will be this year’s Lebron, Kobe or KG.

And while that’s very important and relevant, I think a more significant topic is who will be this year’s Taj McDavid, Lenny Cooke or Ousmane Cisse.

Those names don’t sound familiar you say?

Of course they don’t, because those players—along with several others—comprise the dark underbelly of the “High School-to-NBA” fad that has been gaining momentum over the past ten years.

First, I’ll retell the stories, and then I’ll get to my opinion about a solution.

Taj McDavid was the first of the high-school busts—the mysterious third high-schooler to enter the 1996 draft along with Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O’Neal. He submitted his NBA Draft application without telling his coach, who immediately referred to his early-entry as a “mistake.” No NBA team even requested film of the 6’4 guard from Palmetto High (S.C.).

Needless to say, McDavid went undrafted, but the story didn’t end there. Anderson (S.C.) College petitioned the NCAA to restore McDavid’s eligibility—something which he had waived upon making himself eligible for the draft. But McDavid didn’t even have the talent to compete on that level, dropping out of school and returning home to escape the constant inquiries into his gigantic “mistake.”

Then, there’s Lenny Cooke, far different from McDavid in that he had a legitimate shot not only to be drafted, but to be a first rounder. However, after going undrafted in 2002, the 6’6 small-forward has spent time in the NBDL, the USBL—where he was named Rookie of the Year in 2003—as well as a tour overseas in the Philippines and China.

Despite putting up solid numbers in the “minor leagues,” Cooke couldn’t seem to stick anywhere and never capitalized on his NBA invites to get on a roster.

A year earlier, Ousmane Cisse followed the same path as Cooke. Cisse, though, was actually drafted 47th by the Nuggets, but failed to make the roster. The 6’9 former Parade All-American subsequently logged minutes for the Brevard Blue Ducks of the USBL as well as the Harlem Globetrotters, before taking his game to Russia.

Cisse was signed earlier this year by the Orlando Magic, but waved just two weeks later.

And the list goes on.

DeAngelo Collins, who went undrafted in 2002, was signed by the Raptors before being waived because—well, he was a disciplinary nightmare.