Kentucky Coach John Calipari tweeted out today that every eligible player on his team will enter the NBA Draft, should Miller follow his lead?
What a great marketing ploy during recruiting! Coach Cal is a wizard at getting recruits to commit to his Wildcats basketball program. John Calipari came out with a message yesterday; he is showing every top future recruit how he fully supports his players. Most importantly, he is telling them indirectly that his primary goal is to get his Wildcats a spot on an NBA team.
One has to wonder why he just didn’t come out and say what he meant, ‘Every recruit who wants to play in the NBA, come to Kentucky! Kentucky has sent the most players next to Duke to the NBA, and you can go pro too! Just commit to me and my program.’
In case you missed it, NBA Draft declaration rules change in 2016 for NCAA basketball players; they are allowed to test the waters and come back to play, but they CANNOT hire an agent.
The new NCAA rules care of Yahoo Sports:
Note: If an athlete hires an agent, they cannot come back to school.
The NCAA will allow college basketball players to enter and withdraw their names from the NBA draft an unlimited amount of times over the course of their four-year careers.
It states that non-automatically eligible draft prospects — can only withdraw from the draft twice and become automatically eligible for the next draft following their second time withdrawing.
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Both rules combined mean players can be in the draft up to three times, following their freshman, sophomore, and junior seasons, or as a sophomore, junior and senior.
NCAA underclassmen are permitted to attend the NBA Combine and participate in one private workout at each of the 30 NBA team facilities.
NCAA underclassmen who are invited to the NBA Combine are allowed to work 12 hours per week with their college coaching staff at their home facility to help prepare.
NCAA underclassmen have until May 25 (10 days after the NBA Combine) to withdraw their names from the NBA draft and keep their college eligibility. International players will continue to follow the NBA deadline, which is 10 days before the NBA draft.
University of Kentucky Coach Calipari paraphrased in his tweets yesterday explaining that all eligible players on his team will enter their names for possible combine invites.
Met with our team today. Told them that during the season it’s about the team and sacrificing for each other – which they did this year.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
When the season’s over, it’s about each individual player and what’s right for them and their families.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
With that being said, every player who is eligible for the draft, including our walk-ons, will submit their names for the NBA Draft ...
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
... in hopes of being invited to the combine in May.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
The new rule states they can submit their name a total of three times. If they choose to withdraw, they have until 10 days after the combine
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
It's a true win-win for the student-athlete.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
He wasn’t done…Calipari probably listened to the media who picked up this story immediately.
Players not invited to the combine know what that means. Players invited to the combine and told to to back to school know that that means.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
As I said, it's a win-win for the student athletes. I like the rule.
— John Calipari (@UKCoachCalipari) March 23, 2016
For Sean Miller, Calipari possibly of stole his thunder if he was planning on announcing the same type of message. Knowing Miller’s style, he is probably way ahead of Calipari and has advised his recruits privately.
Two top prospects Miller is waiting on is Terrance Ferguson and Josh Jackson.
Related Story: Arizona Recruit Josh Jackson is waiting to commit, deadline April 12th
Psssst, Sean, great job so far. Wildcats fans are dying to know which Wildcats, other than the seniors, will throw their name into the collective NBA hat. With this rule, though, they can come back to Arizona. If players do come back, there will be a lot of competition next season.
Brilliant! The NCAA is happy because they may not lose as many athletes, the NBA is happy because they will have their pick of so many more players.
Win-Win.
More wildcats: Arizona Basketball: What we will miss most from our 2015-16 Seniors
Beardown Arizona.