Report: Adam Silver, NCAA Officials Discuss One-and-Done Rule
NBA commissioner Adam Silver and NBA Players Association executive director Michele Roberts met with the new Commission on College Basketball in Washington to discuss issues facing the basketball industry, according to a report from ESPN's Adrian Wojnarowski. Among the topics of discussion was the one-and-done rule, which requires U.S.-based players to be one year removed from high school before being eligible for the NBA draft, a rule Silver is thought to be open to changing.
The Commission on College Basketball was formed after a multiyear F.B.I. investigation resulted in accusations of widespread bribery, wire fraud and corruption in college basketball. The Commission is chaired by former U.S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice.
The meeting was educational in nature reports Wojnarowski, and any change to the NBA's draft eligibility rules would have to be bargained by the league and the player's association—the Commission would not be involved, nor would the NCAA.
Players were able to enter the draft out of high school until the one-and-done rule went into effect in 2006. Some of the league's best players in the last decade came into the league straight from high school, including Kobe Bryant, LeBron James, Dwight Howard and Kevin Garnett. But the one-and-done rule was established due to growing concerns that players were entering the league without the personal maturity necessary to serve as good ambassadors for the NBA.
What has resulted is a college basketball landscape dominated by players who have no intention to stay in school beyond the one requisite year before entering the draft. Ten of the first 11 picks in the 2017 draft were college freshman, while the lone non one-and-done player was Frank Ntilikina, who played professionally in France before making the move to the NBA.
Silver is reportedly considering proposing a change that would allow players to enter the draft out of high school but force them to remain in college for two years if they do enter school. It would be a similar standard to the one in place for the MLB draft; players are allowed to turn professional out of high school, but must remain in college for three years once they enroll.
