Change the deadline to Declare

The "Basketball for Thought" is a commentary by Kris Gardner.

April 1997

The deadline for college underclassmen to declare for the NBA Draft this year is May 11. The spring signing period for college coaches to sign high school seniors or junior college transfers is April 9th. Why are these dates so far apart? I propose the NBA and the NCAA agree to move the date for college players to declare from a date in May to at least a week before the spring signing period begins.

First, everyone needs to realize and accept the fact that more and more youngsters (college underclassmen as well as high schoolers) will make themselves eligible for the NBA Draft.

Second, any rule imposing a player to reach a minimum age requirement of perhaps 20 before he can declare is just asking to be overturned in court. Think of it, some 18 year old will proclaim the NBA is robbing his chance of earning a living and, thereby, supporting his family solely because he is too young. If I had the opportunity to make $1 million at 18, I would have taken it; how many people wouldn't? If someone really is sincere about earning his college degree, then he can go back to school and work to receive it. Georgia Tech head coach Bobby Cremins believed his star freshman guard, Stephon Marbury, would return for his sophomore season and play in '96 - '97. As a result, Cremins did not feel it was necessary to recruit another star point guard in order to sit and back up Marbury.

In all honesty, how many superstar players would be willing to sit on the bench knowing they could start at another school? However, Stephon declared himself eligible for the draft April 3rd, 1996, which was only a handful of days before start of the spring signing period. Therefore, Cremins had little time to recruit a star guard to replace Marbury. Consequently, with no great guard to lead his Yellow Jackets this season, Cremins became the first coach in ACC history to go from conference champs to last place in just one season.

This year Colorado's All Big XII guard, Chauncey Billups, announced his decision to turn pro just 5 days before the spring signing period began. This decision makes it very unlikely Colorado coach Ricardo Patton will be able to sign another guard the caliber of Billups on such short notice.

At the latest, the deadline should be moved up to the date of the NCAA Championship game. This may not give coaches much time to recruit a star replacement; however, they probably wouldn't be forced to. If a star player knows his deadline to make his intentions known is at the end of the NCAA Tournament, chances are he will make his decision much earlier. Kentucky's Ron Mercer is an excellent example of a star player making his intentions known at an early date. He declared for the draft before the SEC Conference Tournament began. Mercer's early decision gives Rick Pitino (if he stays coach at Kentucky) and the coaching staff enough time to recruit another player to replace the highly touted Mercer.

After the Arizona Wildcats won the NCAA Championship, freshman guard Mike Bibby and junior guard Miles Simon were bombarded with questions regarding whether they were going to turn pro. If an earlier deadline is imposed, the issues would already have been resolved. Any potential distractions to the team and / or teammates would be minimal. Especially when you consider the fact that almost all of the star players are surrounded with rumors about turning pro as soon as the college basketball season begins.

Moving the deadline to an earlier date will force star players to make their intentions known much earlier. If they make themselves eligible for the NBA Draft, perhaps the lesser talented players will stay in school once they see their chances of going in the first round, or being drafted at all, are nil. Not likely, but who knows.

The NFL moved its deadline to declare for their draft up to the first week in January only days after the major bowl games are played on New Year's Day.

Having the deadline in May just causes more procrastination by the athletes. High school players would no longer have the option to wait and take the ACT or SAT one last time hoping they make the desired score and then make their decision. If they haven't made the score by the deadline, they can still declare for the draft. (I'm not going to discuss whether the tests are fair or culturally biased.) Perhaps someone will put in some extra work before the spring semester of their senior year of high school in order to pass the standardized test(s) and meet the minimum requirements necessary to go to college if they know their time frame for making a decision has been limited.

Let's be realistic: many star players believe they are NBA bound anyway and don't bother going to class once they begin seriously contemplating turning pro; so, if they have to declare earlier, who is getting hurt? If a star declares himself eligible at an earlier date, fans won't be as let down to know their star will not be returning to school. This will hopefully lessen anymore Stephon Marbury - Georgia Tech situations. The coaching staff will have more time to change their recruiting strategy and sign a capable replacement and keep the momentum rolling the following season.

My objective is to be as fair and as realistic as possible. If a player wants to declare for the NBA Draft he can, just do so at an earlier date. Just wait for some superstar women's basketball player to say: "I'm through with school, I'm making myself eligible for the WNBA." It could happen and, chances are, it probably will.