DEL.ICIO.USNBA DRAFT
Players, coaches debate early entry into pros
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Sunday, June 28, 2009
The NBA draft came and went Thursday without 10 or so high school players who would have been first-round picks.
Derrick Favors, who signed with Georgia Tech, was one of those. If not for the so-called “one-and-done” rule, Favors probably would have gone straight to the NBA. Instead, he’s projected to play one season at Georgia Tech, then jump into the NBA waters.
AJC File
Hawks center Randolph Morris disagrees with the NBA’s entry rule forbidding high school players to enter draft: ‘If you’re ready to go, go ahead.’
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It has become a difficult dilemma for college basketball programs. Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski is concerned that colleges could become “extended-stay hotels.” And few coaches are comfortable spending large sums of money recruiting a kid who plans to leave as soon as he is NBA-eligible.
NBA commissioner David Stern unsuccessfully requested a two-year rule during collective-bargaining sessions with the league’s players association. The result: a one-and-done that is different from two other pro sports.
The NFL will not take college players until they are 21. A high school baseball player can be drafted by the major leagues, but if he chooses to attend a four-year school, he’s not eligible to be drafted again until he is 21 — after most players’ junior seasons.
In an effort to become proactive, college basketball recently took a step to protect itself. The NCAA has mandated next season that players will have one week after the NBA’s declaration date to withdraw from the draft and return to school, or they lose their eligibility. The normal mid-June date has been moved back to May 8.
The NBA obviously values top players, but it also prefers maturity. The colleges want to somehow balance two words: student and athlete. And that leads to a simple question:
What’s the best solution?
• Rod Barnes, Georgia State basketball coach: The so-called “one-and-done” rule is not a college basketball or NCAA rule; it’s an NBA age limit that was collectively bargained between the league and the players’ union. As college coaches, we are affected by it, but we don’t control it. We have to adjust to the rules, whatever they are, and then make recruiting decisions based on what is best for our program and our university.
There is no simple solution. While my personal preference is that a young man go to college and get his education, I also understand that each individual and his family face unique circumstances. Because of that, I believe that a young man should have the right to go to the NBA if that is what he and his family decide is best.
But the current rule helps some players who get to college and then end up staying longer than they thought. Blake Griffin is a good example. Without the one-year rule in place, he might have gone straight to the NBA. Once he got to college, he realized that he needed more time and he stayed two years. During that time, he was a good student and citizen who enjoyed his college experience. He helped himself with the education and maturity that he gained, and he helped the University of Oklahoma.
Recent cases that allege impropriety, if proven true, are just that: impropriety. Ultimately, it’s up to each coach and each student-athlete to act ethically and honestly within the framework of the rules that are in place.
• Randolph Morris, Atlanta Hawks center: I don’t agree with the rule. I think whenever you’re ready to go, you should be able to come out. If you’re ready to go, go ahead. There is always somebody that will be around to try and abuse it and take advantage of a kid going through that process, but you can’t protect guys from what’s out there. They have to be prepared, and they have to educate themselves on how these things work.
The dilemma is are you protecting the NBA’s product or trying to help the kids out? I’m not sure what the true purpose is, but I think the kids are the only ones who really get a raw deal because they don’t have the freedom to make that choice. I’m sure the rule was designed to help the NCAA game out and to help out with the maturity level of the NBA, so there are a lot of things at work there.
One thing I do believe is that if the rule was there for everybody and you knew you only would go to school for a year, guys would look to the programs with a reputation for getting guys prepared for the league.
Kids wouldn’t care about the program and the college experience, because they’re using the program the same way they are being used. And really, when you rent players for a year, that’s all it is, both sides getting what they can out of the other for the short term and then moving on. There’s no real investment in the player by the school and no real investment in the school, the history and tradition of the program or anything else, by the kid.
• Mark Fox, Georgia basketball coach: I think if you look at the current system, kids who are going to stay one year only need to attend class for one semester to stay eligible. And that certainly is counter to the mission we’re trying to create at universities.
So I would really like to see changes. I think the NCAA moved in that direction by moving up the early withdrawal deadline for the draft in hopes that something will be done when the [NBA’s] next collective bargaining agreement comes up in 2011.
I’d like to see the rule baseball has. If a kid is good enough to go to the NBA out of high school, let him go. But if he’s not and goes to a four-year school, he’s not eligible for three years.
Look, the NBA wants to get the best players it can get. And it’s to the point where we have to do what’s best for the college game.
We may be at odds.
— Compiled by external content editor Tim Ellerbee and AJC staff writerSekou Smith
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