ACC proposal to shorten time to test the NBA waters

The NCAA's board of directors have agreed to consider a proposal put forth by the Atlantic Coast Conference to dramatically reduce the time college basketball underclassmen who declare for the NBA draft have to make their final decision.

A couple high-profile ACC coaches make the case for changing the NCAA bylaws that allows basketball underclassmen to methodically test their NBA market value.

UNC basketball coach Roy Williams: "If you give somebody forever to make a decision, they're going to take forever. It leaves your program in limbo, it leaves your current players in limbo."

As the artist known again as Price famously sung, "Forever is a mighty long time." Actually, there is a deadline for underclassmen who declare for the NBA Draft and who want to preserve their college eligibility. They must renounce their eligibility for the NBA Draft in writing prior to the draft. So players have up to 2 1/2 months to tryout for the NBA. (Players who declare for the draft, but don't get picked can maintain return to college ball as long as they keep their eligibility in tact. See former UK player Randolph Morris.)

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton: "Too many kids are putting their names in and they're taking their names out. Their names shouldn't be in there in the first place...You have so many kids making poor decisions, it's obvious some of these kids are getting poor advice."

Coach Hamilton already thinks these "kids" are making poor decisions. Not exactly sure how reducing the tryout period will lead to better decisions.

I hate when I have to argue against smart guys like Williams and Hamilton. Instead, I'll rely on my friend Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News senior writer, to make the case. DeCourcy calls the proposed rule change "such a grand, epic mistake. It's based entirely on the coaches' self-interest -- not what is best for the college game, the sport in general or the players who make it all work."

DeCourcy continues:

Because every coach knows well that if he loses a draft-quality player in April, May or June, there is no hope there'll be a player available who's either talented enough or eligible enough to replace him...Searching for an unsigned senior in the spring of his senior year is like picking through a music-store cutout bin. You're not going to find a Beatles record.

The real "problem" here is this process makes a coach's life tougher for a few months. That's absolutely true. He's got to deal with the player, the parents, the teams, the unreasonable dreams. But this method also leads to fewer false-positives than an April deadline would.

In the final analysis, the system for college basketball underclassmen who "test the waters" is not perfect, but it is far better than the system for college football underclassmen who, once they declare for the NFL Draft, cannot return to school to play football again. Players and NBA teams probably can shorten the 2 1/2 month evaluation period, but they definitely need more time than the ACC is currently proposing.

--Marc Isenberg

A couple high-profile ACC coaches make the case for changing the NCAA bylaws that allows basketball underclassmen to methodically test their NBA market value.

UNC basketball coach Roy Williams: "If you give somebody forever to make a decision, they're going to take forever. It leaves your program in limbo, it leaves your current players in limbo."

As the artist known again as Price famously sung, "Forever is a mighty long time." Actually, there is a deadline for underclassmen who declare for the NBA Draft and who want to preserve their college eligibility. They must renounce their eligibility for the NBA Draft in writing prior to the draft. So players have up to 2 1/2 months to tryout for the NBA. (Players who declare for the draft, but don't get picked can maintain return to college ball as long as they keep their eligibility in tact. See former UK player Randolph Morris.)

Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton: "Too many kids are putting their names in and they're taking their names out. Their names shouldn't be in there in the first place...You have so many kids making poor decisions, it's obvious some of these kids are getting poor advice."

Coach Hamilton already thinks these "kids" are making poor decisions. Not exactly sure how reducing the tryout period will lead to better decisions.

I hate when I have to argue against smart guys like Williams and Hamilton. Instead, I'll rely on my friend Mike DeCourcy, Sporting News senior writer, to make the case. DeCourcy calls the proposed rule change "such a grand, epic mistake. It's based entirely on the coaches' self-interest -- not what is best for the college game, the sport in general or the players who make it all work."

DeCourcy continues:

Because every coach knows well that if he loses a draft-quality player in April, May or June, there is no hope there'll be a player available who's either talented enough or eligible enough to replace him...Searching for an unsigned senior in the spring of his senior year is like picking through a music-store cutout bin. You're not going to find a Beatles record.

The real "problem" here is this process makes a coach's life tougher for a few months. That's absolutely true. He's got to deal with the player, the parents, the teams, the unreasonable dreams. But this method also leads to fewer false-positives than an April deadline would.

In the final analysis, the system for college basketball underclassmen who "test the waters" is not perfect, but it is far better than the system for college football underclassmen who, once they declare for the NFL Draft, cannot return to school to play football again. Players and NBA teams probably can shorten the 2 1/2 month evaluation period, but they definitely need more time than the ACC is currently proposing.

--Marc Isenberg