NBA Commissioner Weighs in on the College ‘One and Done’ Rule
With the long basketball off-season upon us, NBA Commissioner Dave Silver talks about the one and done rule and how it’s hurting basketball.
The dog days of summer are nearly upon us, and that means the conclusion of Arizona Athletics for the 2016-17 school year. With that said, we figured we’d help pass the time by starting a debate that was recently brought up by NBA Commissioner, Adam Silver.
As I’m sure you’re all aware, it is an NBA rule that players out of high school must be removed from high school for one year (or be 19 years old by the NBA calendar year), before being eligible to be drafted into the NBA. Also known as the ‘one and done’ rule.
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The rule was adopted in 2006 and now it’s over 10 years later and the hotly contested rule is facing scrutiny.
It has made it challenging for college coaches, especially for Sean Miller. Miller has to continually recruit every year for some of the nations best players, having to reload his roster. That can be especially challenging as you never know who is going pro or returning at the last minute.
Take these past few weeks for example.
In short, the one and done rule is killing college basketball, it is also killing the NBA I feel. Generally speaking, it seems most of the teams winning NCAA Championships nowadays, aren’t typically freshmen-ladened basketball teams, with the exception to the 2012 Kentucky Wildcats.
Take the Tarheels this past season. Their leading scorers were; Justin Jackson (junior), Joel Berry (junior), Kennedy Meeks (senior) and Isaiah Hicks (senior) respectively.
Coincidence? Maybe so, but can’t help but think the veteran talent helps. So what does that mean for Arizona? Well, since taking over at Arizona, Miller has had 10 players leave after just one season (whether it is via transfer or early NBA Draft entry).
That is definitely some high turnover. Granted part of that can be attributed to the program being in transition, and Miller not having enough time to truly evaluate some players. However, can’t help but think how different things may look for Arizona, if they had a player of Justin Jackson’s caliber for instance, for three years.
Perhaps, we will be blessed to have Allonzo Trier for his junior season, but the point is that the one and done rule seem to hurt some of the top college programs, and additionally the NBA seems to be suffering in some ways.
It is no secret the NBA is losing viewers. Hypothesize whatever reasons why that may be, but hard to argue that the league talent is better off having a bunch of young players who some are still not developed yet.
The solution? Eliminate the one and done rule. I suggest changing it to a variation of the college baseball rule, allow the select few that are NBA ready, to be drafted out of high school, the remaining players must go to college for two years, before being eligible again.
Maybe not a perfect solution, but perhaps one that would improve the basketball product at the collegiate and professional levels, and would provide coaches with less uncertainty about the status of the players heading into the next season.
Listen to Sean Miller as he gives a state of the program in his most recent Press Conference:
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At Zona Zealots, this is a solution I feel needs to be done, and would greatly help basketball. Agree, disagree? Let us know on Facebook or Twitter! Bear Down, Arizona!