Instead of leaving school after his junior season, Davone Bess could have returned to the University of Hawaii football team and left with every program pass receiving record and a diploma. And the NFL would still be there waiting for him.

He went undrafted and was forced to go the free-agent route. But Bess found the right team and at the right time in the history of pro football for his skill set. He has spent the past five seasons with the Miami Dolphins, evolving into an excellent slot receiver, in the NFL era of the slot receiver.

It almost went unnoticed over the weekend that Bess — considered too small and too slow to draft in 2007 — signed another multi-million dollar contract, taking his talents from South Beach to Cleveland after a trade to the Browns.

If Bess stayed for his senior season, maybe the Warriors would have won one or two more games. Or, maybe he would have gotten hurt and never had a pro career.

That brings us to Mike Edwards, the UH cornerback who went undrafted this week after foregoing his senior season. UH fans were moaning over Edwards’ "mistake" early Saturday, hours before the draft even ended.

Edwards now finds himself headed to the New York Jets as a free agent. And the Jets — who just traded Darrelle Revis — need cornerback depth. Actually, almost every team in the league needs more corners, because they need guys who can cover slot receivers like Bess.

Even when you toss in his potential as a kick returner (three TDs last year), Edwards is by no means a lock to make the team. And, obviously, projections that he’d be drafted as high as the third round were wildly inaccurate.

But it’s doubtful his stock would have improved much with another year at UH, and Edwards wants to make money now because he has kids to feed. He shouldn’t second-guess himself, and neither should the fans. It’s his life.

The worst-case scenario for Edwards is the CFL. As Chad Owens proves, a small and speedy player who can return kicks can make a nice living north of the border.

It’s too easy to say players who leave early are messing up their lives. Sometimes these sentiments are sincere, but some ring as selfishness by fans who just don’t want the player to go.

And with the Internet, it’s now much easier for athletes to finish up degrees after going pro.

Basketball player Carl English could have played another year at UH, and the popular complaint is that he got bad advice from an agent when he went undrafted. But English (who had already earned a bachelor’s degree, by the way) had other reasons for leaving, and staying one more year was not going to make him quicker or taller. After a couple of tries at the NBA, English has played professionally in Spain since 2007. If he were good enough for the NBA, he’d be there.

Colt Brennan returned to UH instead of turning pro after his junior year, when he was projected as a late-first-round or early-second-round selection. A year later he graduated and became a Hawaii sports legend, but his draft stock dropped severely after injuries.

Two other quarterbacks who coincidentally went to Mater Dei, the same high school as Brennan, opted to return as seniors to USC. Matt Leinart in 2006 and Matt Barkley this weekend fell in the draft, and both lost a lot of money because of it.

Education is important, but opportunity is often fleeting.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783 or on Twitter as @dave_reardon.