Adam Silver changes stance on age-limit rule

[HooperScooper]

Adam Silver changes stance on age-limit rule and that's bad news for college hoops

So if they go back to the rule letting high school kids go directly to the NBA does that help or hurt teams that corner the market on one and dones like Kentucky, Duke, etc.?

I think it levels the playing field some when you take the very top talents out of the college game. But I think we've seen over the past few years how hard it is to win a national championship with very inexperienced teams. The championship is usually won by more experienced teams. Kentucky has had the number 1 rated recruiting class almost every year since Calipari has been there and only won 1 national championship. But it's hard to say his teams haven't had great success overall. Take these no brainer one and dones out of the college game and what happens to Kentucky, Duke, etc.?

 

[UCFan1513]

Adam Silver changes stance on age-limit rule and that's bad news for college hoops

So if they go back to the rule letting high school kids go directly to the NBA does that help or hurt teams that corner the market on one and dones like Kentucky, Duke, etc.?

I think it levels the playing field some when you take the very top talents out of the college game. But I think we've seen over the past few years how hard it is to win a national championship with very inexperienced teams. The championship is usually won by more experienced teams. Kentucky has had the number 1 rated recruiting class almost every year since Calipari has been there and only won 1 national championship. But it's hard to say his teams haven't had great success overall. Take these no brainer one and dones out of the college game and what happens to Kentucky, Duke, etc.?

I think this will definitely put more of an emphasis on player development for many schools, but I fear that players ranked #10-20 are just going to become the new #1-10 and will be scooped up by the likes of Kentucky and others, which would probably just result in a more diluted mirror of what exists now. Would probably all depend on how many kids end up declaring out of HS

 

[pj]

I think it would level the playing field some. Calipari would have to prove he can develop talent, not just showcase it.

 

[upstater]

Adam Silver changes stance on age-limit rule and that's bad news for college hoops

So if they go back to the rule letting high school kids go directly to the NBA does that help or hurt teams that corner the market on one and dones like Kentucky, Duke, etc.?

I think it levels the playing field some when you take the very top talents out of the college game. But I think we've seen over the past few years how hard it is to win a national championship with very inexperienced teams. The championship is usually won by more experienced teams. Kentucky has had the number 1 rated recruiting class almost every year since Calipari has been there and only won 1 national championship. But it's hard to say his teams haven't had great success overall. Take these no brainer one and dones out of the college game and what happens to Kentucky, Duke, etc.?

The best coaching then wins.

 

[MadDogRevival]

Awesome news for the following reasons:

1. This will severely dent the 1 and done advantage that the marquee schools have. Is there an easy way to check the 2 and done numbers? My gut tells me that there is a steep drop off after the 1 and dones. This takes the top few, to many players each year OUT of the college game. Quick plainly, that hurts the teams that get those few to many top players. Because we get none of them, it helps us and most other teams.

2. Because it's just the correct thing to do from a personal choice standpoint. It's such a tired and paternalistic notion that the NBA should force kids to go to college on the grounds that they're too unwise to make their own decision. Millions of 18 year olds make their own decisions each year - many bad decisions get made. But really, if the kid tries for the NBA out of HS and misses, there's some other kid who left after 1, 2, 3, or 4 years who is getting his spot. It's a zero sum game.

 

[intlzncster]

The best coaching then wins.

Which is how it should be. Right now, the best odds favor the best marketers and salesman.

 

[shizzle787]

Completely agree. This isn't football where the size of high school grads would be a problem in the NFL. If a high school kid is talented enough to go straight to the NBA, he should be able to.

 

[gtcam]

If this means that The Squid will have to do some coaching and scratching for players that won't step in and be the top players out of HS. Gut tells me this may be the beginning of the end for The Squid and he will go into some executive type position in the pros claiming college burnout. While I believe that K can better handle this, he may also hit the road. This will definitely bring the playing field into a more balanced level.
We'll see if any of this comes to life.

 

[jleves]

I think this makes Kentucky and Duke much stronger. Imagine not turning over the roster every year and having the best available players still going to the very top schools and staying 2 or 3 years. The only way it hurts them is if they can't recruit the best to come to their school for two years because they will be coming off the bench.

From a personal perspective, my thought is if you're good enough to go the NBA out of high school, there shouldn't be a rule that limits your professional arc because of age. If IBM or Microsoft wanted to hire me out of high school, I would have been pissed if I couldn't take that option.

 

[willie99]

It's absolutely going to level the playing field

1) no team is going to land the top players every year, because they'll be a lot less roster turnover and thus fewer scholarships available every year.

2) Without turnover, they'll be more competition for playing time making some kids look elsewhere

3) coaches will actually have to develop players, as opposed to using them for 1 season

4) kids won't be students for just 8 months, they'll actually have to attend classes in the spring, academics will actually mean something (as opposed to meaning absolutely nothing for the one and done mercenary)

 

[80shusky]

My gut reaction is that it would be better for college basketball. But, there are always unintended consequences to everything. I would think it would spread the talent out some and one and done players would just go direct to the league. If they are of working age, why shouldn't they be allowed to? While Duke and Kentucky would still have great teams most likely, it should help level the playing field some. College basketball was more fun when you got to know and follow the players. I'm wondering if it would benefit the foreign players more and we would see more of them in lottery and fewer freshmen? Freshman would have to make a much more difficult decision come draft time. I believe this is collectively bargained with the players association though right so Silver wouldn't have the final say anyway.

 

[champs99and04]

There are a lot fewer one and dones who actually make a difference than people realize. How many players are we talking about total since Cal got to Kentucky? Wall, Cousins, Davis, Towns? Those are the only transcendent players he's coached in that time frame. If you think he's going to start to suck because he can't coach Jamal Murray anymore, I don't know what to tell you.

 

[champs99and04]

Also, how much more can the playing field be leveled? It already is level. Matter of fact, that's one of the biggest knocks against the sport - all the players are either young or not good enough to be in the NBA. College basketball has a lot of problems, competitive balance is way, way down the list.

 

[boog204]

I think this makes Kentucky and Duke much stronger. Imagine not turning over the roster every year and having the best available players still going to the very top schools and staying 2 or 3 years. The only way it hurts them is if they can't recruit the best to come to their school for two years because they will be coming off the bench.

Your second sentence is the key. So if Kentucky or Duke brings in the 7-8 top guys who do not go pro, and they stay 2 years, it is most likely going to dissuade the next year's crop from joining them. So that talent will be dispersed around because that second batch of recruits will not want to be a backup. It is pretty amazing what Kentucky and Duke have been able to do as of late with the one and done consistency.

 

[HooperScooper]

Your second sentence is the key. So if Kentucky or Duke brings in the 7-8 top guys who do not go pro, and they stay 2 years, it is most likely going to dissuade the next year's crop from joining them. So that talent will be dispersed around because that second batch of recruits will not want to be a backup. It is pretty amazing what Kentucky and Duke have been able to do as of late with the one and done consistency.

Good point. It's also going to hurt a team like Kentucky because they might get a commitment from a top 10 kid who then changes his mind and enters the draft leaving the team with a hole that is too late to replace. Like what Andrew Bynum did. Calipari can't just go after the top 10 kids because he'll need to be careful not to get a commitment that he's going to lose to the draft.

 

[gtcam]

I think this makes Kentucky and Duke much stronger. Imagine not turning over the roster every year and having the best available players still going to the very top schools and staying 2 or 3 years. The only way it hurts them is if they can't recruit the best to come to their school for two years because they will be coming off the bench.

From a personal perspective, my thought is if you're good enough to go the NBA out of high school, there shouldn't be a rule that limits your professional arc because of age. If IBM or Microsoft wanted to hire me out of high school, I would have been pissed if I couldn't take that option.

Agree with your second paragraph but not the first
If the best of the non NBA draftees go to these elite school it would definitely weaken the Kentucky program. The get the best of the best due to constant turnover. If guys stay 2 plus years - new guys wont want to sit the bench

 

[Scottzer]

I agree with 99 and 04. Back in the day, just how many high school kids declared for the draft? 3-4 in a year? This isn't going to impact Duke or Kentucky as much as is being hinted. Imagine they lose 1 recruit each. Yes, it's likely a really good recruit, but almost as often it's a kid who happens to be overrated. But if classes come in looking like 4, 9, 17, 22, and 28 - it's not like that's a bad class!

 

[Dream Jobbed 2.0]

If an 18 yr old can decide to go to war he can decide to go to the NBA

 

[HooperScooper]

I agree with 99 and 04. Back in the day, just how many high school kids declared for the draft? 3-4 in a year? This isn't going to impact Duke or Kentucky as much as is being hinted. Imagine they lose 1 recruit each. Yes, it's likely a really good recruit, but almost as often it's a kid who happens to be overrated. But if classes come in looking like 4, 9, 17, 22, and 28 - it's not like that's a bad class!

I would bet a lot of money that more than 3-4 kids enter the draft every year. Try more like 8-10, of which 2-3 would, or did, commit to the same school.

 

[nomar]

If an 18 yr old can decide to go to war he can decide to go to the NBA

Nobody seems to have a problem with many, many more kids forgoing college to play minor league baseball.

 

[BlueMAB]

other than Kentucky in 12 and Duke in 15 (who both had close NCAA championship games) most champions since 2006 weren't reliant on one and done players.

Some were helped by them, UNC last year, but the one and dones aren't dominating college basketball.

But UNC, Duke, and Kentucky have won championships without one and dones.

The guys that can coach and/or recruit the best available players will be the guys who win the most games.

 

[jazyj]

It seems that the NBA wanst the d-league (now G-league) to become a farm system with the addition of 2 way contracts, and Silver has been pushing for every NBA to look into d-league affiliate.

 

[Tenspro2002]

Nobody seems to have a problem with many, many more kids forgoing college to play minor league baseball.

I like the system in baseball.

You can try to get drafted out of high school. But if you go to college, you have to go for at least 3 years.

 

[champs99and04]

I like the system in baseball.

You can try to get drafted out of high school. But if you go to college, you have to go for at least 3 years.

This would have far more of a negative impact on the players than the current system (although I would like it as a fan).

I also don't understand why people act like 18 is less arbitrary an age than any other for a player to become draft eligible. Is it because they are legally an adult? Because the age requirement wouldn't seem to be any different to me than requiring a prospective employee to have a college degree for a different business. There is the caveat that these players are being hired by the franchise and not the league, but that's the point of the CBA - if the owners collectively bargain to postpone the moment of truth in an effort to improve their accuracy in identifying players, I can't fault them for that.

 

[Tenspro2002]

This would have far more of a negative impact on the players than the current system (although I would like it as a fan).

I also don't understand why people act like 18 is less arbitrary an age than any other for a player to become draft eligible. Is it because they are legally an adult? Because the age requirement wouldn't seem to be any different to me than requiring a prospective employee to have a college degree for a different business. There is the caveat that these players are being hired by the franchise and not the league, but that's the point of the CBA - if the owners collectively bargain to postpone the moment of truth in an effort to improve their accuracy in identifying players, I can't fault them for that.

I mean, you'd also be welcome to go straight to the D League out of high school (the equivalent of the minor leagues). You wouldn't be forced to go to college.