Joseph Ochoa
Prior to the start of 2016, if an NBA draft prospect wanted to leave college to pursue his dream of playing with some of the best athletes in the world, he would have had very little options if his draft stock didn’t improve in the months after his declaration. Now, the basketball student-athletes will have more leeway when planning their futures.
On Jan. 13, the NCAA Division I Council agreed to push back the date a draft prospect may remove his name from draft consideration, to 10 days after the NBA scouting combine in May. Prior to the change, the latest a prospect could pull his name from consideration was during the spring signing period in early April.
The original withdrawal date, which started in 2009, was more beneficial to coaches because it could allow them to plan out their roster decisions and recruiting choices, but it would put athletes at a disadvantage; it prevented players from having all the information about their own draft stocks before making a final decision.
The later date now gives the athletes a chance to work out at the combine and then evaluate their results and overall draft prospects before deciding whether they wanted to continue with the decision to leave college for the NBA.
To put this rule change into a perspective that NC State fans can relate to, former Wolfpack shooting guard Trevor Lacey was part of a tremendous backcourt duo with current junior point guard Cat Barber. During national signing day last year he declared for the draft following a solid NCAA tournament performance.
In the end, Lacey was graded out as a second round pick, at best, by many experts in scouting after the scouting combine and Lacey went undrafted in the 2015 NBA draft. He played in a few summer league games, but didn’t get an invite to any training camps and went to play overseas in Italy.
Had this rule been in place just one year prior, Lacey would’ve had the opportunity to remove himself from draft consideration and come back for his final eligibility. If he had decided to do that, it would’ve given the Wolfpack, which is currently 12-10 (2-7 ACC), some much needed depth and another scoring threat in addition to Barber.
While this rule will put coaches in a bind in terms of figuring out their roster configurations and recruiting plans, I think that overall, this rule change will benefit all of college basketball, especially the players.
It takes a little pressure off of an already stressful decision for college basketball players, and as for the coaches, it’ll give them players that are focused on playing basketball instead of where their draft stock is.
The players, in addition to getting a slight reprieve on a monumental decision, now know that if things don’t go their way during the scouting process, they are not being strong armed into continuing down a path that could put their NBA future in jeopardy.
Players, according to the new rule, may also re-enter and withdraw themselves without penalty and may also have one NBA tryout per year other than the scouting combine.
That being said, the main point is that basketball players get more of a choice in deciding how their future after college is going to pan out, far more than they did just last year. This rule change may signify the possibility for players across other college sports like football.
With this rule change, I hope that the NCAA will begin to make more conscientious decisions that stand to benefit all parties involved, including the student-athletes, instead of ones who just benefit those with already deep pockets.