NBA Draft EligibilityDamaging NCAA Basketball Since 2005

The National Basketball Association passed a new rule in the 2005 Collective Bargaining

Agreement changing the eligibility requirements for a player to enter the NBA draft. The

Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) is the contract between the NBA and the Player’s

Association that dictates player contracts, trades, draft rules and many other aspects of the

game of basketball. The CBA expires every couple of years and must be renegotiated when

this occurs. In 2005, a new rule was passed into the CBA that demands two new

requirements. First, all drafted players must be at least 19 years old during the calendar

year of the draft. To determine whether a player is eligible for a given year's draft, subtract

19 from the year of the draft. If the player was born during or before that year, he is eligible.

Second, any player who is not an "international player", as defined in the CBA, must be at

least one year removed from the graduation of his high school class (Wolverton A40).

This new rule has been detrimental to the game of college basketball, the prospective

players, and the player’s peers and it needs to be changed. The NBA and commissioner

David Stern implemented this rule in order to protect the welfare of the athlete. They

believe that athletes under the age of 19 and straight out of high school are not prepared for

the difficulties that are found in the NBA season (Beck). It is their understanding that the

players aren’t mature enough to deal with the NBA life and are more disposed to getting in

trouble. Commissioner Stern himself has said, “If these kids have the ability to get a little

more maturity, a little more coaching, a little bit more life experience overall, that’s good.”

(Rossen 174). However, this belief is based on paternalism and not actual proof. The rule

that was passed in 2005 does not address these problems, and instead causes several other

pressing matters. The NBA’s goals are noble but need to achieve these goals in a more fair

and firm manner such as the Major League Baseball’s draft rule. The MLB’s system solves all

of the problems that I have with the NBA’s.

Most importantly, the integrity of college basketball has been hurt by this new draft rule.

College basketball is a great tradition that occurs every year and has a huge, global fan base.

These fans love following college basketball because the college players are playing to

represent their school; they aren’t playing for money or other selfish gains. The fans cheer

for their favorite school and are proud of their team because the players directly symbolize

everything about that university. Players used to choose which college they attend purely

on the basis of representing that college. They chose to go through the collegiate process

and give four years of their life to that program. The games and season of college basketball

were special due to this reason. The players were fully behind their teams and did as much

as they could to make their team the best. After 2005, this all changed. Players are now

forced to attend college. This drastically takes away from the atmosphere that is college

basketball. Even players that normally would have attended college aren’t as special of

players because they didn’t choose to deny the money and glamour of the NBA. They are

required to attend college no matter what their personal beliefs. The players that only go to

college for the required year and then enter the draft are coined with the name “one-and-

done.” These one-and-done players are making a mockery of the college basketball season.

It is impossible to build tradition and rivalries within the sport when each school has a

different team every year. ESPN analyst Dick Vitale states, “Basketball is a game of

familiarity and rhythm. If you don't believe me, make a call to Michigan State coach Tom

Izzo and Kansas State coach Frank Martin. Their teams were Nos. 2 and 3 in the preseason

poll. They have struggled because of players transferring, suspensions and a lack of

continuity.”  It is no longer relevant whether a school has a good coach or a strong program.

The old way of playing college ball is gone. The important thing now is, who can recruit the

better freshman class?

The NBA doesn’t recognize the detriment of college basketball as a problem of their new

rule. They state that it is up to the NCAA to keep student athletes attending college for all

four years (Beck). This is a selfish stance that sheds responsibility for the problem from the

perpetrator, the NBA, to an innocent victim, the NCAA. Commissioner David Stern has

offered that the colleges should have some sort of contract or agreement that players sign

which forces them to stay for as long as the schools wish (Beck). However, this would

devastate the college system even more than what has already been done. Fewer players

would attend college due to their lack of freedom. They would likely follow Brandon

Jennings and join the European League for a year instead of stay shackled at a university.

Jennings recently played in the European League instead of play for a college as a way to get

around this rule. However, that option counts as a loss for all involved. The NBA and NCAA

don’t get their players and the player doesn’t make as much money as he could in the NBA. I

am disappointed with the NBA’s selfish stance on their effect to the NCAA. They could care

less what happens to college basketball, as long as it doesn’t affect the NBA season.

Another big problem is that individual students and student athletes have suffered after the

draft rule was put into effect. Most of the basketball players are only attending college

because the rule says they must, and then they bolt to the NBA as soon as they can. If the

goal of this rule is to better the learning and knowledge of the players in the NBA, how much

is one year of college general education classes accomplishing? According to NCAA rules,

only the grades of the fall semester have an impact on the eligibility of the basketball

season. The student athletes don’t even have to go to their spring semester classes.

Distinguished college basketball coach Bob Knight argues that the new NBA draft rule is

“the worst thing that’s happened to college basketball since I’ve been coaching.” He believes

it “has a tremendous effect on the integrity of college sports” because “now you can have a

kid come to school for one year and play basketball, and he doesn’t even have to go to class.”

Only six of the thirty picks in the first round of the 2007 draft were college seniors. That

means that only those six players have a college degree and received the full educational

experience of college. The rule that is supposed to help the player does nothing to further

their learning. In fact, it even harms the other students that attend these universities. Each

college only has so much money that can be given as scholarship to the student body. The

one-and-done players get a full ride to play at these schools with no intention of actually

doing anything with the little education they receive. Other players and students who do not

plan on playing professional sports but on using their college degree to find another

profession don’t receive as much aid as they should. The scholarship money is wasted on

the one-and-dones. There is nothing the college can do about this issue either. If they don’t

give the money to the players, then their basketball program can’t compete with the rest of

the nation. The burden that falls on these other students that have to pay more for their

education is solely because of the NBA draft rule.

Also, this rule has a huge blind spot when it comes to high school players that cannot meet

the NCAA’s academic requirements. If a high school player cannot keep his grades for one

semester of college, he would very likely choose to enter the draft after graduation, but this

rule doesn’t allow him too. So what are his options? He can either attend a junior college for

a year or not play for a team for one year. It’s a loss for everyone involved. The NBA doesn’t

expose the player on TV playing for a big name school. The NCAA doesn’t get the player at

all. The player himself doesn’t mature, get a better education, or develop his basketball

skills. Despite this negative outcome, there is nothing that can be done to remedy it. The

new rule essentially says ‘tough luck’ to the players who are in this situation.

The NBA incorrectly stands by the idea that the athletes who attend college for a year or

more turn into better community citizens than those who enter the draft straight out of high

school. Most of the players entering at a young age, such as LeBron James and Kevin

Garnett, are known in part for their community involvement. Rossen states, “Despite all of

the NBA’s bad publicity when players get in trouble with the law, studies show that only

three players out of the twenty-three who went straight from high school to the NBA

between 1975 and 2003 have ever been arrested.” So what is the difference between those

three players and the rest of the NBA players that have gotten arrested? The NBA is

incorrectly blaming the absence of college as the culprit for the league’s bad reputation. The

NBA has recently attained the perception of having ‘thugs’ for players. This is due to all of

the media attention focused on the athletes, especially when they make a mistake. The NBA

wants to remedy this opinion and have made college basketball the scapegoat.

The old way of doing things before the 2005 CBA was working just fine. Because there were

no restrictions, the process was a lot like a simple economic market. Supply and demand

determined all three party’s choices. If the NBA had a high demand for talented players to

enter the draft out of high school then the players would do that because it would benefit

them most. If the NCAA had a high demand for talented players then players would attend

college. It makes for a perfectly competitive market, which allows greatest income for all

present parties.

In order to fix this crisis, an overhaul of the NBA draft system is required. John Calipari,

head coach for the Kentucky Wildcats, offers an alternative that I approve of, “I don’t agree

with the rule now. I think that, one; kids should be able to go directly to the League if that’s

what they choose to do. And if they go to college, they should stay two years or maybe three.

The way it is right now it’s really hard…” Coach Calipari couldn’t have said it better as my

proposal is very similar. I offer this alternative to the present rule: the Major League

Baseball’s draft rules.

The MLB is a fair system. A player may enter the draft out of high school and once that

player is drafted, he then has a choice before he signs a contract. He may either sign and join

the professional league or choose to attend college. If he attends college, he must play for

three years before he can sign with a professional team. Whichever team drafted him out of

high school retains the rights to that player after his three years in college are up. Of course,

the player could stay in for all four years if he so wishes, three years is just the minimum

(Rossen 175). This system solves the problems with the NBA’s system while still

accomplishing their goal of preparing athletes more. It doesn’t force the player into an

undesirable situation. It is the player’s choice to attend college or play with the

professionals, but once committed to college, they must follow through and actually learn

and mature while at school. This would preserve the great tradition of competition in the

NCAA. It would allow teams to become familiar with each other and develop rhythm, which

is lacking as of late in college basketball. The key to my proposed system is having the draft

before the player decides. In the MLB, a player might get drafted to a team that isn’t very

good and will want to wait for a few years and hope they improve. Or, the dollar sign

attached to his contract might not be what the player was looking for so he will improve his

stock by developing more at a prominent college. These circumstances motivate the player

to play college ball but disguises it as their choice. The players don’t feel like they are being

forced to play in the NCAA. Some players still do go straight to the MLB because their

situation is different and it is best for them to do this. The MLB system would solve the

current issues with the NBA’s rule while still accomplishing the goal of looking out for the

player’s well being.

As of right now, the NBA has a problem on their hands. The new draft rule is hurting their

popularity with college fans and prospective athletes. Of course, it benefits the NBA but at

what cost? The players that cannot perform academically at a university are hung out to dry

for a year, possibly forever if they cannot recover from that year of inefficient competition.

College basketball has changed completely since 2005. It is no longer about becoming a

great team and making your school proud. It has developed into a system more like the

NBA. Players show up and play for themselves. They could care less who they play for

because they will be signing a multimillion-dollar contract after their one year of college

ball. The player doesn’t even mature or develop as a person in their one required year at

college. They go to class for one semester and then skip the entire second semester. The

other students that attend these colleges also deal with a heavy individual burden. The one-

and-done players take a lot of scholarship money that cannot be given to the students who

will earn a degree after their four years. Action must be taken to resolve these issues and

the MLB’s rule should be used as a basis for designing the NBA’s new rule. It addresses all of

the problems while achieving the NBA’s paternalistic goal of looking out for the players. The

NBA has committed a great injustice against the NCAA and its prospective players; an

injustice that begs to be rectified.

Works Cited

Flomenbaum, Adam. “John Calipari upset with NBA Draft Eligibility Rules.” Dime Magazine. 12 April 2010. Web. 15 October 2012. http://dimemag.com/2010/04/john-calipari-upset-with-nba-draft-eligibility-rules/

Rossen, Jordan Michael. “The NBA's Age Minimum and Its Effect on High School Phenoms”8 Va. Sports & Ent. L.J. (2008-2009): 173-179. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 October 2012.

Wolverton, Brad. "College-Basketball Experts Divided Over NBA Age Minimum." Chronicle Of Higher Education 53.32 (2007): A40-A41. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

DeCourcy, Mike. "For The Good Of The Game." Sporting News 232.30 (2008): 62. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Rosenberg, Michael. "Fun And Done." Sports Illustrated 116.10 (2012): 13-14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Thamel, Pete. "N.B.A. Is Asked to End Age Limit." New York Times 04 June 2009: 14. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Drew, Sharp. "NBA should increase age requirement." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Dick, Vitale. "One-and-done hurts game." USA Today n.d.: Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

MCALEAVEY, SUSAN. "Spendthrift Trust: An Alternative To The Nba Age Rule." St. John's Law Review 84.1 (2010): 279-304. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.

Beck, Howard. "Stern Wants to Preserve An Age Limit for Players." New York Times 05 June 2009: 15. Academic Search Premier. Web. 15 Oct. 2012.