High schoolers can now declare for NBA draft

By Greg Schain
Daily Bruin Reporter
[email protected]

The NCAA has announced a new rule allowing high school players
to declare for the NBA draft while allowing them to retain their
college eligibility.

Under the new rule, high school players are free to declare as
long as they do not hire an agent. If they get drafted, they will
have the option of going on to the NBA or entering college. If they
decide to go to college, they will be locked into that draft
position until a year after they leave college.

“This rule gives high school athletes more flexibility to
determine what their future will be,” said Jane Jankowski, a
spokeswoman for the NCAA.

Players may decide to turn to college for many reasons. They may
not like their draft position or may not want to skip out on their
education.

“This rule allows prospects to make a second assessment of
their decision,” Jankowski said. “A lot of times they
receive bad advice and may want to take it back.”

UCLA head coach Steve Lavin likes the goal of the rule. He said
that the NCAA needs to evolve its policies as the sport
changes.

“This legislation is to stay up with or ahead of the curve
in regards to the change in college basketball,” Lavin said.
“But we won’t know the effect until four or five years
down the road.”

As for how the rule is going to affect the way he and his staff
recruit, Lavin said that UCLA is not going to change its strategy
of going after players who have the mindset to stay four years.

“We’re still going to try to recruit the (Earl)
Watsons, (Billy) Knights and (Matt) Barnes,” Lavin said.
“We want players who are serious about pursuing a college
degree.”

But Lavin left open the possibility of going after the
occasional blue-chip difference-maker who might leave early for the
NBA.

“There will obviously be exceptions,” Lavin said.
“At the highest levels of basketball, there will be players
who explore professional opportunities as underclassmen.”

Lavin cited players like Baron Davis, Jerome Moiso and JaRon
Rush as UCLA stars who left early for the NBA.

There are many opponents to this portion of the rule, including
NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik. Granik takes issue with the
portion of the rule that locks players into their initial draft
position, even if they do turn to college. He says that players can
improve during their college career and, therefore, should have the
opportunity to move up in the draft and make more money.

“If a player slips to No. 28 in the first round, then that
team owns the player’s rights at that salary even if that
player turns out to be the college player of the year four years
later,” Granik told ESPN.com. “I don’t think
anybody would do this if they understood how the rules
work.”

Another concern that many coaches and administrators have is
that the rule might encourage high school players to test the
waters more liberally, knowing that they still have the option to
attend college.

“I hope the NCAA isn’t encouraging the mindset of
young people to begin to explore options before they’re
ready,” Lavin said.

There was speculation that Evan Burns, a 6-foot, 8-inch forward
who signed a letter of intent to play at UCLA next year, might take
advantage of the new rule and declare for the NBA draft.

However, ESPN.com reported that Burns will not attempt to jump
to the NBA.

This new rule could lead into another proposal that was tabled
by the NCAA Board of Governors two weeks ago. That proposal states
that players may play a year professionally and still retain their
college eligibility, as long as they don’t hire an agent.

The bill will be debated in coming months, but it is unlikely to
pass. “The intent of the legislation is good, but it is not
realistic for a player to live the lavish lifestyle in a
professional environment and then come back to a college
environment,” Lavin said.

As for the current rule that just passed, the NCAA hopes it will
stop the trend of high school athletes jumping right to the NBA.
Whether it will work, or if it will encourage more high school
athletes to declare for the draft, still remains to be seen.

“Hopefully there will be fewer tragic or sad episodes
involving young people and their decision-making regarding the rest
of their life,” Lavin said.