Forward Chris McCullough must not be criticized for his decision to leave Syracuse University after his freshman year in order to join the 2015 NBA Draft. His decision is not uncommon, and it is indicative of a larger problem: the flawed “one-year rule” the NBA has in place.

The NBA instituted a rule before the 2006 draft that requires drafted athletes to be 19 years old, and have spent a year either playing in college, overseas or sitting out the year before they can be a part of the NBA Draft. This rule, which many tout as encouraging athletes to pursue an education, does not help either the athletes or schools they attend. It is a part of an arbitrary system that should be amended.

Not all athletes can be drafted right out of high school. The vast majority of players have to go through college to hone their skills and improve their craft before they reach a professional playing level. But the athletes who can make it professionally shouldn’t be forced to go through college to ultimately be branded as another “one-and-done” player.

When athletes are being offered professional, well-paying contracts to play basketball, it only makes sense that they choose the NBA rather than playing without pay. Playing college basketball opens the athletes up to potential injury, which could hurt their stock value and draft appeal.

Athletes should not be required to go to college before they can be eligible to play in the NBA. College is not for everyone and the current one-year requirement creates an incentive for players to treat school as an obligation rather than a passion. But creating a policy that requires students to finish school once they begin is not the solution either. In any other field, leaving college early for the sake of a life-changing professional opportunity would not be regulated, nor even looked down upon. Student-athletes should be able to choose to leave school when they feel is best for them.

And the fans that get angry with the players who leave after one year are in the wrong. These athletes who are only going to school to meet the NBA’s requirements don’t have an allegiance to the program, nor an obligation to stay all four years to avoid public scorn for their choices to leave.