Less is more: Why Princeton star Caden Pierce’s shrewd move to pause playing career is the way to go

Former Ivy League Player of the Year Caden Pierce created a headline this week by announcing he intends to redshirt next season, graduate in May and eventually enter the transfer portal to spend his final year of eligibility playing college basketball somewhere else.

Interesting situation.

Let me walk you through it.

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Pierce was raised in the suburbs of Chicago, the son of a couple of Northwestern graduates, each of whom was a Division I athlete. Smart young man. Great family genes. So, unsurprisingly, Pierce flourished in high school, both in the classroom and on the basketball court. He eventually committed to Princeton.

And who could blame him?

But a lot has changed since Pierce enrolled at the Ivy League institution. First off, lucrative NIL deals have become normalized (even if many are starting to be denied under new rules adopted earlier this month). Secondly, revenue sharing is now a reality that allows any Division I school that wants to make direct payments to athletes for the first time in college athletics history.

Are you a fan of a power-conference school? If so, your favorite football and/or men’s basketball player likely made six or seven figures last season. Are you Caiden Pierce? If so, one of your former teammates, a guard named Xaivian Lee, just secured a deal worth millions of dollars when he agreed to transfer from Princeton and use his final year of eligibility at Florida, a decision partly motivated by the fact that Ivy League schools, all eight of them, are declining the opportunity to revenue-share with student-athletes.

Translation: Florida might give you millions — but you’ll get nothing from Princeton.

Needless to say, if this were Pierce’s reality at basically any other school in basically any other one-bid league, his decision would be easy. He would just thank everybody who needs to be thanked for the opportunity, then enter the transfer portal and start accepting monetary offers from power-conference programs. That’s what nearly every other good player in a one-bid league has been doing for years.

But Pierce is literally less than a year from graduating from Princeton.

Is it really wise to give that up?

Folks can disagree on the answer to that question, I guess. But if this were my son, I’d emphasize to him how hesitant I’d be to abandon a degree (he’s very close to getting) from an institution that’s literally ranked No. 1 among “National Universities,” according to US News & World Report.

“But I could make a million bucks next year in a power conference,” is something reasonable my son might say back (in this hypothetical conversation). “But you could maybe make 50 million bucks with a degree from Princeton that’s within your grasp,” is how I’d likely respond (in this hypothetical conversation).

Round and round we’d go.

So what’s the best way to thread that needle? Pierce, in my opinion, found it — even if he seems conflicted.

“What I am learning as I continue to grow is that the only constant in life is change,” Pierce posted on social media. “Whether that is teammates and coaches who I came in with leaving, or the broader landscape of college basketball evolving, all of these factors have led me to sit out my senior year of basketball at Princeton this upcoming season to preserve my eligibility. This was a very hard decision for me.”

Translation: Pierce understands he would be leaving six figures on the table, and possibly millions of dollars, if he played at Princeton next season. But he also knows he’d be leaving a Princeton degree on the table if he transferred for money right now. So, he’s going to spend the next 10 months completing his degree at Princeton, then presumably transfer to a power-conference school and make more money than most Americans in what will be his fifth year of college and fourth year of playing college basketball.

And who could blame him?

Now let me be clear: I don’t like this for Princeton coach Mitch Henderson or the people who care about Princeton Basketball. None if it is ideal. But, never forget, Caden Pierce didn’t create these rules or circumstances; he’s merely operating within them. And if you can take all emotion out of it, the actual brightest thing he could do to maximize everything, in this moment, is exactly what he’s doing.

He’s going to get a degree from Princeton. Then he’s going to get paid to play college basketball.

That’s intelligent, in my eyes.

It’s not a blueprint every accomplished Ivy League player should follow, if he doesn’t want. Each person is free to make his own decision, obviously. But by doing what he’s decided to do, Caden Pierce should end up with the best of both worlds — specifically a degree from an Ivy League school followed by an opportunity to compete at the highest level of the sport for a significant amount of money.

Is it goofy that the most astute thing a healthy college basketball player can do next season is not play college basketball? Absolutely, it is. But, again, Caden Pierce didn’t create these rules or circumstances; he’s merely operating within them. And the way he’s operating is shrewd and, I think, super-smart.