You're In Charge Of Cleaning Up College Basketball. Tell Us How?

[Daedalus]

Give players two options:

a) You go pro right out of high school.  If you don't get drafted, you go into the D-League, or to Europe, or whatever.

b) You go to college for four years and get your degree, then you're eligible for the draft.

Solves a ton of problems.

I don't see much incentive to go to college in this example.  Imagine getting injured year 2 or 3 and missing your window to earn?

NCAA basketball would get watered down quickly, I'd imagine.  Not that I'd care, can't stand how slow the NCAA game is anyways...

If you're going to college and you don't intend to stay for four years and get your degree, you don't belong in college.

End of story.

If your main interest in going to college is to go pro, you should go pro out of high school and work on your game 24/7.  You get paid for playing in the D-league, or abroad, and you actually play against grown men.  You also get to learn the game the way it's played at the pro level -- no arcane college rules.

Colleges have the best coaches, the best resources, and at this point, the best exposure (that is, high-level D1 schools)

D-League teams barely pay you enough to live on.

Its hardly 'end of story' as long as those two things remain true.

Well, if you changed the rules as I outlined, that would presumably change.

The D-League should function a lot more like the minor leagues in baseball.

Are you saying that if a kid accepts a collegiate scholarship to play basketball that he should never be eligible for the NBA
unless he graduates?

If so, I find that absurd.

No, that's not necessarily what I'm saying.  If you commit to go to college, though, you should be expected to stay in college and complete your degree before declaring for the draft.  If you drop out of college, you should have to wait a year before becoming pro-eligible.

You need to create a system in which it's not in the best interest of the schools or the players to give scholarships to players who aren't likely to be capable of maintaining GPA, going to class, and completing the degree.  The point of going to college should first and foremost be learning and earning that degree. 

The major problem with division 1 college sports that I see is that for so many of the athletes, being a student is not the number one priority.  In many cases, I think it's probably not even the second or third priority -- often understandably so.  That's not a fair situation for anyone involved.

[Celtics18]

Give players two options:

a) You go pro right out of high school.  If you don't get drafted, you go into the D-League, or to Europe, or whatever.

b) You go to college for four years and get your degree, then you're eligible for the draft.

Solves a ton of problems.

I don't see much incentive to go to college in this example.  Imagine getting injured year 2 or 3 and missing your window to earn?

NCAA basketball would get watered down quickly, I'd imagine.  Not that I'd care, can't stand how slow the NCAA game is anyways...

If you're going to college and you don't intend to stay for four years and get your degree, you don't belong in college.

End of story.

If your main interest in going to college is to go pro, you should go pro out of high school and work on your game 24/7.  You get paid for playing in the D-league, or abroad, and you actually play against grown men.  You also get to learn the game the way it's played at the pro level -- no arcane college rules.

Colleges have the best coaches, the best resources, and at this point, the best exposure (that is, high-level D1 schools)

D-League teams barely pay you enough to live on.

Its hardly 'end of story' as long as those two things remain true.

Well, if you changed the rules as I outlined, that would presumably change.

The D-League should function a lot more like the minor leagues in baseball.

Are you saying that if a kid accepts a collegiate scholarship to play basketball that he should never be eligible for the NBA
unless he graduates?

If so, I find that absurd.

No, that's not necessarily what I'm saying.  If you commit to go to college, though, you should be expected to stay in college and complete your degree before declaring for the draft.  If you drop out of college, you should have to wait a year before becoming pro-eligible.

You need to create a system in which it's not in the best interest of the schools or the players to give scholarships to players who aren't likely to be capable of maintaining GPA, going to class, and completing the degree.  The point of going to college should first and foremost be learning and earning that degree. 

The major problem with division 1 college sports that I see is that for so many of the athletes, being a student is not the number one priority.  In many cases, I think it's probably not even the second or third priority -- often understandably so.  That's not a fair situation for anyone involved.

I sort of agree with that.  I just think that putting the NBA age limit back to 18 would eliminate a lot of those issues.  This would particularly be the case if the D-League were to be expanded as a developmental league.

Between an expanded D-league and the recent rise of American players going to play overseas, college would no longer be the primary training ground for players who want to play pro ball. 

Some players would still go to college, and some would probably still drop out early for whatever reasons, but the charade wouldn't be as egregious as it is currently.

As far as being a student not being the top priority for many college athletes, I think that's true for many college students in general.

 

[dark_lord]

Make students go to college for a full four years... If so many jobs in todays world requires a college education and make probably an average of 50k a year if that, then these guys making 10 mil a year should have a college degree in order to play basketball.

i disagree wholeheartedly.  the only way for this to be applicable would be for them to major in basketball.

There are many sports related fields that NBA players could look into. Let them major in Kinesiology, or some type of Athletic training, Coaching, Sports media, sports studies, Anatomy for science of the athletic body, or sports management field. 


If you think the only way for them to be applicable in college at all is to major in basketball then why do we even make them go to college for a year? Why not just go back to taking them out of high school?

I dont think the nba should force them have to go to college at all.  if a team is willing to draft a high school kid, they should be able to if the kid declares for the draft. 

[Moranis]

Are you saying that if a kid accepts a collegiate scholarship to play basketball that he should never be eligible for the NBA
unless he graduates?

If so, I find that absurd.

No, that's not necessarily what I'm saying.  If you commit to go to college, though, you should be expected to stay in college and complete your degree before declaring for the draft.  If you drop out of college, you should have to wait a year before becoming pro-eligible.

You need to create a system in which it's not in the best interest of the schools or the players to give scholarships to players who aren't likely to be capable of maintaining GPA, going to class, and completing the degree.  The point of going to college should first and foremost be learning and earning that degree.  

The major problem with division 1 college sports that I see is that for so many of the athletes, being a student is not the number one priority.  In many cases, I think it's probably not even the second or third priority -- often understandably so.  That's not a fair situation for anyone involved.

The problem with that is something like 50% of all college students fail to complete college.  Why would you hold athletes to a higher standard the population at large?  Also, only like 0.1% of all DIA men's basketball players actually end up playing in the NBA so making a rule geared to that very small minority that could be a detriment to the vast majority doesn't make any sense at all.  

[Daedalus]

Are you saying that if a kid accepts a collegiate scholarship to play basketball that he should never be eligible for the NBA
unless he graduates?

If so, I find that absurd.

No, that's not necessarily what I'm saying.  If you commit to go to college, though, you should be expected to stay in college and complete your degree before declaring for the draft.  If you drop out of college, you should have to wait a year before becoming pro-eligible.

You need to create a system in which it's not in the best interest of the schools or the players to give scholarships to players who aren't likely to be capable of maintaining GPA, going to class, and completing the degree.  The point of going to college should first and foremost be learning and earning that degree.  

The major problem with division 1 college sports that I see is that for so many of the athletes, being a student is not the number one priority.  In many cases, I think it's probably not even the second or third priority -- often understandably so.  That's not a fair situation for anyone involved.

The problem with that is something like 50% of all college students fail to complete college.  Why would you hold athletes to a higher standard the population at large?  Also, only like 0.1% of all DIA men's basketball players actually end up playing in the NBA so making a rule geared to that very small minority that could be a detriment to the vast majority doesn't make any sense at all.  

We're talking about students who are being given very generous scholarships to attend top flight universities.  I don't think it's unreasonable to hold them to a higher standard.  Colleges shouldn't give scholarships to students who don't appear to be capable of keeping up with their academic standards.

College dropout rates may be as high as you say, but I would hazard a guess that those numbers are skewed heavily towards community colleges and state schools with fairly loose acceptance requirements.  

Again, college is for students first and foremost.  If you don't qualify as a student, you shouldn't be given a lot of money to go there.

In any case, the system I briefly outlined doesn't excessively punish student athletes who end up dropping out -- it would just require them to wait a year after dropping out before going pro.  I think that's reasonable, because if you're dropping out of school it is likely because of issues with focus or other personal issues.  It makes sense to require a young person to take a year to sort that stuff out before looking to become a professional athlete.

[JSD]

Want to clean up college ball?

Completely eliminate the NBA age limit, expand the draft to 5 rounds, and further fund/legitimize the NBDL farm system to compete directly with NCAA D1 basketball.

This would work...it would absolutely kill the NCAA as a company, but it would accomplish what the OP asked for

It would force major reform and a different approach, but I don't think the NCAA would go under. It would restore the game to the way it was intended; to be about academics and sport.

[indeedproceed]

Want to clean up college ball?

Completely eliminate the NBA age limit, expand the draft to 5 rounds, and further fund/legitimize the NBDL farm system to compete directly with NCAA D1 basketball.

This would work...it would absolutely kill the NCAA as a company, but it would accomplish what the OP asked for

It would force major reform and a different approach, but I don't think the NCAA would go under. It would restore the game to the way it was intended; to be about academics and sport.

I agree that it would be a good way to 'clean up' the NCAA. Right now if a 18 year old kid wants to play basketball in the USA and have enough money to live on independently (and not in the 'parent-state' of the dorms), he's ironically got to declare himself an amateur and get paid under the table.

[Daedalus]

Want to clean up college ball?

Completely eliminate the NBA age limit, expand the draft to 5 rounds, and further fund/legitimize the NBDL farm system to compete directly with NCAA D1 basketball.

This would work...it would absolutely kill the NCAA as a company, but it would accomplish what the OP asked for

It would force major reform and a different approach, but I don't think the NCAA would go under. It would restore the game to the way it was intended; to be about academics and sport.

I agree that it would be a good way to 'clean up' the NCAA. Right now if a 18 year old kid wants to play basketball in the USA and have enough money to live on independently (and not in the 'parent-state' of the dorms), he's ironically got to declare himself an amateur and get paid under the table.

I would definitely be in favor of the changes to the draft and improvements to the D-League described in the quoted portions in addition to the changes I outlined earlier in the thread.

Give kids who are only interested in becoming pro athletes more incentive and structure to go pro as soon as they graduate from high school.  Make it possible for them to really treat it like a profession.

Then let the kids who actually want to be student athletes and have a complete college experience go to school and maybe consider the NBA after a full college career.

[Finkelskyhook]

If they're coordinating with the NBA on age...Coordinate on violations.

Coaches who are found in any kind of major violation will be banned for a minimum of 5 years from coaching at any NCAA, NBDL, or NBA level.

Coaches shouldn't be allowed to leave a trail of probations behind and get rewarded for it.

[indeedproceed]

Want to clean up college ball?

Completely eliminate the NBA age limit, expand the draft to 5 rounds, and further fund/legitimize the NBDL farm system to compete directly with NCAA D1 basketball.

This would work...it would absolutely kill the NCAA as a company, but it would accomplish what the OP asked for

It would force major reform and a different approach, but I don't think the NCAA would go under. It would restore the game to the way it was intended; to be about academics and sport.

I agree that it would be a good way to 'clean up' the NCAA. Right now if a 18 year old kid wants to play basketball in the USA and have enough money to live on independently (and not in the 'parent-state' of the dorms), he's ironically got to declare himself an amateur and get paid under the table.

I would definitely be in favor of the changes to the draft and improvements to the D-League described in the quoted portions in addition to the changes I outlined earlier in the thread.

Give kids who are only interested in becoming pro athletes more incentive and structure to go pro as soon as they graduate from high school.  Make it possible for them to really treat it like a profession.

Then let the kids who actually want to be student athletes and have a complete college experience go to school and maybe consider the NBA after a full college career.

Really can't get behind the whole 'if you don't graduate, wait a year' thing. I think you could accomplish much the same thing if you just made the age limit 21 or something.

[Moranis]

Want to clean up college ball?

Completely eliminate the NBA age limit, expand the draft to 5 rounds, and further fund/legitimize the NBDL farm system to compete directly with NCAA D1 basketball.

This would work...it would absolutely kill the NCAA as a company, but it would accomplish what the OP asked for

It would force major reform and a different approach, but I don't think the NCAA would go under. It would restore the game to the way it was intended; to be about academics and sport.

I agree that it would be a good way to 'clean up' the NCAA. Right now if a 18 year old kid wants to play basketball in the USA and have enough money to live on independently (and not in the 'parent-state' of the dorms), he's ironically got to declare himself an amateur and get paid under the table.

I would definitely be in favor of the changes to the draft and improvements to the D-League described in the quoted portions in addition to the changes I outlined earlier in the thread.

Give kids who are only interested in becoming pro athletes more incentive and structure to go pro as soon as they graduate from high school.  Make it possible for them to really treat it like a profession.

Then let the kids who actually want to be student athletes and have a complete college experience go to school and maybe consider the NBA after a full college career.

Really can't get behind the whole 'if you don't graduate, wait a year' thing. I think you could accomplish much the same thing if you just made the age limit 21 or something.

Yeah it is just plain silly.  If anyone else drops out of college (even ones on scholarship), they don't have to wait a year to enter the work force.  Treating athletes differently than the rest of the student body is just plain silly.