Just a few days before last weeks NBA Draft, some big news came out of Indianapolis. The NCAA’s men’s basketball oversight committee has proposed a rule change that would give college standouts more time to decide if they should return to school after declaring for the NBA Draft.
The current rules allow for student-athletes to declare, and as long as an agent is not hired, they can return to school, so long as the player withdraws from the draft prior to a date set by the NCAA. This year’s date set by the NCAA for a final decision to either stay school or enter the draft was April 10, 2015. The problem with the current rule is that the decision to stay in the draft or return to campus must be made before the NBA’s annual pre draft scouting combine, which is usually held in the first few weeks of May.
Without the chance to be properly evaluated by professional scouts, but with an NCAA mandated deadline pending, many prospects are forced to make a potentially life altering decision completely based off of a guess or speculation as to where they may end up being drafted. Adding to the pressure, many student-athletes have family members or former coach’s urging them to enter the draft, assuring the young prospects that there is no way they will go undrafted. Unfortunately, too often young men make the wrong decision by declaring for the draft.
Thursday evening’s NBA Draft saw a total of 20 underclassmen go undrafted, including high profile players such as Cliff Alexander of Kansas and Aaron Harrison of Kentucky. The new rule proposal aims to change this troubling trend. The rule will call for the NCAA’s deadline to be pushed back to end of May. This would allow all players that have declared for the draft the ability to attend the scouting combine. At the combine, players would have the chance to assess their NBA futures with NBA scouts and front office personnel. After the combine, student-athletes would be much more prepared to make the decision to either stay in the draft or go back to school and sharpen their skills.
The rule change is very badly needed, but not just for basketball.
College football players often find themselves in the same situation as their hardwood counterparts. Do I stay in school or do I go pro?
The 2015 NFL Draft had 24 of the 80 underclassmen that declared go undrafted. The number of undrafted players was actually down from the previous year. In 2014 a record 98 underclassmen left school early and nearly 40% of those young men did not hear their name called. Draft eligible football underclassmen are forced to make a decision regarding their intent to enter the draft or return to school by mid January. The NFL combine and pro day events held at most universities don’t begin until mid-February at the earliest, with most pro-day’s running through late March
Universities are however allowed to have up to five draft eligible underclassmen evaluated by NFL personnel during the season. The idea is to give up to five prospects a grade of first round, second round or stay in school. The grading scale is a change the was implemented by the NFL prior of the 2015 draft. Previously players were given grades of first round, at least second round, at least third round, fourth-sevenths rounds or undrafted. Once the information has been returned to the player, it is then up to him and his family to decide to declare for stay in school.
The NFL has recognized there is a problem with too many uninformed student-athletes making life altering decisions and is beginning to take steps to help solve the issue. The NBA or NCAA needs to do the same for college basketball players, and this rule proposal is the first step in the right direction. The committee is expected to vote on the rule some time next January.
Feature image via M. Maxwell/The Ann Arbor News
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