The one-and-done rule in college basketball isn’t going anywhere.
The NBA and its players union have agreed to terms of a new collective bargaining agreement, or CBA, and the biggest takeaway for college basketball is still the 19-year-old minimum age rule. That means we are saddled with players being one and done for six or seven more years.
While there was some sentiment to change that rule, perhaps model it after the pro baseball draft, it apparently wasn’t of big concern compared to bumping minimum salaries, expanding NBA rosters and fighting further over the likenesses of players in commercial products. I am sure the NBA will now get a piece of the massive fantasy basketball industry in which the players are the pawns.
Anyway, the new agreement means that the Kentuckys and Dukes will continue to sign high school stars for one high-profile season to showcase them before they enter the NBA draft. Kentucky, of course, has been the vanguard of signing, and losing, star studded freshman classes, and Duke has run a strong second in recent years.
Fans of most other schools hate the rule because it takes away the old affinity players develop for their universities and made them a bigger part of the program than looking like a one-year rental. I was hoping the baseball rule would be adopted, because there are some high school players who are ready to jump right to the pros. In baseball, they can do that but if they sign a college scholarship they are not eligible for the MLB draft until after their third year in school. So college baseball has become a de facto farm system and now prepares players for the majors as well as the bush leagues do.
The way the NBA and NCAA now allows college players to test the waters at the spring combines before making a final decision has helped control the one-and-dones, but many college stars still choose to turn pro regardless of what they learn at those combines. Justin Jackson was one who got such an appraisal and returned for his junior year at UNC. And the Tar Heels are darn happy to have him back.
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