NCAA adopts college basketball reforms for draft, recruiting

[1979Shocker]

http://www.kwch.com/content/sports/S...490404591.html

One of the changes mentioned was allowing players to return to school if they go undrafted. That's probably going to cause coaches to hold on to a scholarship if a player declares for the draft and then doesn't get drafted.

If that rule was in effect in 2017-18 and Shamet didn't get drafted, we would have already had all scholarships filled when he returned to school.

[ShockerEngr]

That could get interesting for Kentucky

[jdshock]

I've seen a lot of people suggesting we're going to see so many more players declare for the draft, but I just don't see it, unless I'm misunderstanding the rule. Presumably, you couldn't return to school if you're a second round pick, right? It seems like most players have pretty much gone if they were a first round pick and stuck around if they thought they were going to be a second round pick.

[ShockCrazy]

Yeah it definitely won't change that much. If they actually wanted to be for the students they should let the return as long as they aren't a first round pick. It would force NBA teams to actually commit to their underclassmen 2nd round picks, much like MLB. This would lead to more guaranteed contracts in the second round.

[Kung Wu]

Why don't they simply let kids play as long as they haven't signed with a pro team?

[jdshock]

Why don't they simply let kids play as long as they haven't signed with a pro team?

I assumed it had to do with contractual issues from first round guaranteed contracts, but check this out: http://www.cbafaq.com/salarycap.htm#Q49

The current NBA collective bargaining agreement actually already has this in place. Basically, should colleges allow you to get drafted and then return to college, the team that drafted you just retains the player's draft rights through one year after his graduation. So if the player ever re-enters the NBA pool, the team has first dibs to sign him.

[Kung Wu]

The current NBA collective bargaining agreement actually already has this in place

Interesting. I have to believe this is a way for the NCAA to protect elite teams with lots of potential NBA talent from constantly being on edge as to whether or not a lot of their players will leave. Which is B.S. This protects the few elite teams only, and doesn't effect upper tier teams that aren't loaded with 5*s.

I say, if they don't sign, they can play in the NCAA. That's the way it should be -- those kids never played professionally.

[ShockCrazy]

I have no idea why it's so hard for the NCAA to come up with a rule that actually helps players like Shamet, Milton, and Evans, all tweeners who could have used leveraged the ability to return to school into a first round pick or a guaranteed contract. As is this does nothing for anyone. Although given the info jdshock revealed, letting players return regardless might make teams MORE likely to just use a 2nd round pick on an underclassmen with no intention of signing them to get their rights for a substantial amount of time, which definitely can screw a player. The NBA and NCAA need to come together and come up with something much more reasonable.