The NCAA has been petitioned by the Pacific 12 Conference to consider some changes including the restoration of freshman ineligibility in basketball and perhaps all varsity sports. Presumably this is coming up now in relation to the autonomy given the larger conferences to manage some of their own affairs. The Pac 12 may be considering these changes for itself, but knows that it would be foolish to do so without agreement by everyone to do it.
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According to Jon Solomon of CBS Sports, the ACC and Big 12 also want the issue reviewed.
However this whole issue seems to miss the point. For instance look at the reasoning behind the requests.
Here is the related item from the Pac 12 proposal:
“7. Address the “one and done” phenomenon in men’s basketball. If the National Basketball Association and its Players Association are unable to agree on raising the age limit for players, consider restoring the freshman ineligibility rule in men’s basketball.”
Wait, what? While no one is really pleased with the ‘one and done’ idea, it exists because it was a compromise between the ‘none and done’ talents and the folks who missed the days that athletes stayed for four years. You know, because no one left for the NBA early before…Bob McAdoo?
In 1996, Kevin Garnett entered the NBA out of high school to begin the modern growth of high school kids who jumped to the NBA without setting foot on a college campus. Then came Kobe Bryant and Jermaine O’Neal. Then came Kwame Brown until the peak came in 2003 with LeBron James. The fear was that kids would not go to college at all, because their measurables as prospects were more valuable than any skills they might not show to scouts in college.
Busting Brackets
The NBA was also concerned that its product would be diluted by these high potential, high risk high schoolers. So it created the one year rule. The colleges benefitted as the most talented high schoolers were now forced to play a year of college. A side effect was the birth of Kentucky’s recent run of success by recruiting these kinds of players. A select few went outside the college system like Brandon Jennings, who played a year in Europe.
The NBA would like to increase the limit to age 20, but that is a CBA discussion that has not happened yet.
The freshman eligibility ban would not gain talent for college basketball. Rather it would open the paths less traveled for elite talent. Kids who think they could play in the NBA tomorrow aren’t going to sit around not playing and an energized JV system is not going to attract them either. They will go to Europe, China, or the NBDL and get paid for their year before they need the NBA. Instead of a reaction to the lack of action by the NBA, the freshman ban actually requires the NBA to extend the period that kids cannot enter the League.
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The freshman eligibility ban has its merits not as a money maker, but as a life decision. The freshman ban would force or allow new student-athletes to get used to college life. Solomon pointed out the recently departed Dean Smith was a supporter of this idea. They can develop good academic habits. The NCAA has come under fire about academic fraud and other issues that would make this idea palatable.
The hidden benefit is increased scholarships. If freshman can’t play, schools need more scholarships to replace those bodies on the field. This would be huge in football, but would also affect basketball. More scholarships would advantage the most attractive programs, which happen to be the same Power 5 schools considering this proposal.