This would be great news for Cal who is known for bringing in the best talent but sadly many of them deck after a year. Who knows how this will deter the following class but if this rule was already in play this past season we are looking at a team of: Wall, Cousins, Bledsoe, Orton, Knight, Lamb, Jones, Harrellson, Miller, Liggins plus...on one team...in one year.
Cal wants to bring in the best but that doesn't always work out to being the best recruiting mindset if everyone decks and you have to reload. Wall/Cousin's class is not typical and if the rule isn't changed, I would be surprised if Cal ever has another four freshman one and done class.
That being said, if this rule does happen it is a huge advantage for programs that bring in one and done type of players. It's a huge disadvantage for your mid majors. They will be thrown so much talent at them in the tournament, they will have to play out of their minds to do what Butler and VCU did this year.
So why would the NBA want to do this? The biggest reason is the NBA to continue to draft based upon "potential" vs being actually ready. The older players are before they can be drafted, the better feel you can have on a players true potential.
Is this good for NCAA? It is for the academic side. Players can no longer pull a Daniel Orton by coming in and then decking soon as the season is up. They will not just have to show up to class and get by but perform well enough to be eligible for their sophomore season.
As for money, VCU and Butler are fun for the casual fan but they do not draw in the money that having four in the final four do.
The question is will players choose to go overseas for two years instead? If the NCAA had a voice, which they really don't I'm sure they would like the NBA to make it 21 for those that don't finish their sophomore year or two years of junior college. This would give an incentive for players to go to college for two years vs having to wait three years if they don't. The junior college option would also allow players who just couldn't handle the academic load and basketball, to have a way to get by and receive some education as well.
Of course with less openings at UK, we would end up having less talent come through the UK doors, which in return means more teams would end up getting top talent. If Cal contnues to do what he does in recruiting, this would be a small disadvantage to the major advantage of having the top talent for two years.
I have heard one argument that what draws players to Cal is his ability to get them ready for the pros in just one season. If that isn't an option anymore, you could argue that players would not see the advantage of what Cal can do for them. I disagree. If he can develop and prepare them faster, then he would be able to continue to develop them even more in their 2nd year, continuing to be at a higher rate than other programs. Rose, Evans, Wall, etc were not at their top potential when they decked. If Cal had them another year, he could continue to do more with them.
UK would also have more talent on the team with top talent continuing to come in. Even if you are great at developing, you need to be practicing against elite talent day in and day out to develop. You want to be the best, you go play with the best. Players will continue to flood into UK to play with the talent already in the system, knowing between practicing with the top talent and what Cal can do, they will be better prepared for the NBA than anywhere else in the country.
We are talking about a complete powerhouse like never seen before. If I'm not a program that thrives on snatching McDonald's All Americans year in and year out, you would be ticked at this new rule. The rich will get richer and since UK is the elite upper class, all UK fans should be thrilled if this gets passed.
No comments:
Post a Comment