http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/08/28/AR2006082801304.html http://www.al.com/sports/press-register/index.ssf?/base/sports/1207559744133840.xml&coll=3 http://blogs.newsobserver.com/accno...e_expected_from_nba_ncaa&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1 Here's the gist: David Stern and the NCAA president are holding a joint press conference today, and the word is it will be to announce a new rule keeping players in school for 2 years min. before gaining draft eligibility. A lot of outlets are saying the age limit is getting upped to 20, but I don't see how that can happen without going through the players union and CBA. I believe that Stern will create a loophole rule: if you decide to go to college, you have to play 2 years before going into the draft. If this is true, I also think we're going to start seeing agents push the top tier high schoolers to play in Europe for a year rather than forfeit an extra year of NBA salary. Evan
2 Years is great! Wish they would have done this a long time ago. Best for the NBA, best for college basketball and best for most of the players.
I seriously doubt that would ever happen. Here are the two options that the top tier talents would face: 1) Go to Europe, thousands of miles away from your family and friends. Hardly anyone you care about would be able to watch you play or easily keep tabs on you. You'd be going from high school right to having to adjust to a foreign country. vs. 2) Go to college and be the king on campus. Parents/family can travel to watch your games. National TV exposure and hype. College girls. There's no way, IMO, they would ever choose option 1 - I think it's just baseless threats by agents.
Longtimefan is correct. European teams aren't going to do one year rentals of 18- year old American players, nor is the prospect of playing in a barn for a few hundred K, being treated like a rookie and frozen out by your teammates, in all likelihood, for a few months going to look that appealing next to another year of NCAA ball.
Gerald Green could've really used this rule a few years ago. I'm gonna one up Stern and call for a 4 year college rule and at least graduate with a 3.5 GPA from the University. Maybe that'll help filter out the Stromile Swift and Marbury's of the league.
That would be very wise. In fact that makes too much sense that I don't think it will be done. I'm already sick of seeing these 1-year rentals. Either let them go straight to the pros or spend at least 2yrs in school.
There are already plenty of fringe players that do foreign stints, and salaries and conditions are a lot better than they were 15 years ago. I think this will help the college game and up the talent pool for the most part. But I do also believe that there will be increased occasions of a "nonstudent" player that opts to get paid for one year and make the leap rather than go without a salary for two years before going pro. Money is also at the forefront. Not everyone can afford even a free education, and not everyone is on the Reggie Bush scholarship. Evan
I hate this stuff. If a kid is good enough that an NBA team would draft him, he should be allowed in. I would have no problem with the 2 year rule for college basketball provided a high schooler could get drafted. This rule would improve the quality of basketball played at the NCAA and the NBA, but it puts the individual players at risk. The NBA needs to make the d league more like mlb minor leagues. I see this as nothing more than geting colleges to develop their talent free of charge, the colleges make money on March Madness, and players get two years of "education" and bare all the risk.
why would the nba do this. I can understand the one year rule but if a kid has a great freshmen year, then you pretty much know if he is a good prospect or not. what are you gonna learn after two years?
I can't believe you make Europe sound like Prison. Have you ever been to Europe? I can't imagine anybody saying no to a year in a city like Barcelona, Rome, Madrid, Athens, Paris, etc. etc. The Mediterranean lifestyle is amazing. I lived in Barcelona for six months and I dream of returning to live out the rest of my days. By the way, their money is worth considerably more than ours. I'm thinking that's going to start making Europe more and more viable as an alternative.
I would LOVE for the rule to be upped to 20. It would mean better scouting and fewer gambles in the draft, which makes the league more competitive as a whole. Plus, the whole idea of coming out and having more opportunities for max money is silly. Look at guys who have had heavy minutes since they entered the league. They peak in their late 20s instead of their early 30s. Let the kids go to college and learn to play. It'll be better for their careers long-term and better for the league.
There are many fringe players who do foreign stints - after years of junior college/college/pro experience. I am hard pressed to name any who did it out of high school. THe choice between starring for two years in college and languishing overseas (again, provided you could even find a team that would splurge for a one year rental..) for a season doesn't even make economic sense. The reduced exposure in Europe isn't going to do much to augment draft position - provieded they could get a team that would take them for a year and even give them playing time to begin with. And the other concerns you mention exist today - yet there is no mass exodus. Your scenario seems very unlikely
Horrible rule if it's true. If the NCAA wants to keep kids in school, they should let them make some side cash at least. You can't blame people for leaving college early for a seven figure job offer. I'd smack the hell out of my kid if he chose school over a salary like that.
That's a completely separate argument. Yes it is fun to take extended trips to Europe. But we are talking about 18 year old kids who play basketball for a living. Um, if you are 18 years old, and have been eating, drinking & sleeping basketball in the US for your whole life, you don't care about Paris or exchange rates. Nobody drives escalades in Paris. Rather it is a place that is far away from your home where they don't speak the language and with teams that you have never seen and don't care about, that none of your friends and family will see. Then you do a campus visit to Memphis or whateveer and they take you to a party, you hang with the players, and they roll out the coeds. You really think that sipping espresso in a cafe in Paris is going ot hold a candle to that in the mind of the average 18 year old? Please....
Bull****. If a kid is old enough to die for this country, then he is old enough to get paid insane amounts of money to play basketball. I don't care if he blows every single dollar....that's his right. This is pure age discrimination at it's best. And to top it off, the NCAA just wants to keep these kids in school longer, where they can make a lot of money off of them for almost nothing.
But David Stern is the Employer, and he will no longer offer kids that much money for not going to school. So really the players have no choice, and I like it. David Stern is making sure they players in his league are at least decent people, and College will be a filter to clean out the garbage before the NBA, and the overall College game enhances.
