How the two-year rule will affect college basketball

Written by Kim Farricker

According to some NBA sources, the CBA is discussing a rule that would require players to enter the NBA draft after two years of college and 20 years old.   Many NBA teams are in favor of the proposed rule.  Prior, the rule was that you had to be 19 years old and one year at college.  Before 2005, players could enter the NBA draft straight out of high school. Not long ago few players were entering the NBA draft after high school.  There are many different aspects of college basketball that would be affected by this new rule proposal.

The first area this would affect would be the recruiting aspect.  Many high profile players are leaving after one year of college.  Coach Calipari has a tendency to have a fair amount of one and done players and then recruits more players to play for him the next year.  For example, after the 2010 basketball season, five Kentucky freshmen entered the NBA draft.  The last four years, he has had at least one freshman enter the NBA draft. This places a burden on the coaches recruiting because they know they will have a different lineup every year.

Over the past few seasons, the PAC-10 has been deeply impacted by the one and done players.  In the last five years UCLA has lost Kevin Love, Russell Westbrook, and a few others.  USC has lost Nick Young and OJ Mayo.  It would put less pressure of the coaches to have to change their recruiting method every year like Calipari has too. There could also be more of a balance in power with recruiting.  Some kids may want immediate playing time so they may elect to attend a smaller school.

The Cinderella teams may be affected also.  In the NCAA tournament, many people root for the Cinderella team to upset the powerhouse.  Butler has made the Final Four the last two years.  Virginia Commonwealth made the Final Four this past season and Richmond reached the Elite Eight.  Over the last couple of years, the Top 25 teams have not been as strong because many players have entered the NBA draft early.  The Cinderella teams took advantage of a weaker playing field and made a historic run at being the King of March Madness.  But now with the possible two-year rule it will be harder for the Cinderella’s because there will be more power teams and they will have more experience.

The two-year plan will assist college basketball players earn more credits toward their degrees.  The NCAA has been hammering schools like Kentucky and UCONN because their graduation rate and grades of their athletes were poor.  For example, UCONN lost two basketball scholarships because of this.   There have been a handful of athletes who have left college early and have not found success in the NBA.   The kids would more likely be mature and ready basketball wise with the two-year rule.

The new proposition could also result in more kids playing over in Europe and getting paid to do so.  Brandon Jennings had committed to play for Arizona a few years ago and then decided to play in Europe rather than attend college.  He did not do too well in Europe, but so far he has been playing very well for the Milwaukee Bucks’. Jeremy Tyler, a big time high school recruit who has originally committed to play for Ben Howland’s UCLA Bruins decided he also wanted to play in Europe.  Tyler skipped his senior year of high school to play overseas.  It is too early to determine whether that will help him.  Some players may want to gain experience and make money while doing so.  It would not surprise me if more players did what Jeremy and Brandon did.

Recently more college teams have been getting NCCA violations for different areas such as academics and recruiting. There may be ever more violations now because the player will be forced to stay two years.    Memphis and USC are two schools that have had recent allegations because of cheating or taking money from agents.

If the rule is passed, the two-year rule will be good for college basketball players, teams and fans. It would help the player because he will have one more year of a college education and experience.  The coach will not have to recruit as much.  The fans will get to see more competitive and balanced college basketball.