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ATLANTA North Carolina coach Roy Williams had to wait more than 10 weeks after losing in the national semifinals to know for sure whether four of his top six scorers would return to school and try to make a return trip to the Final Four.
If the ACC has its way, in the future he would only have to wait 10 days at the most.
The ACC plans to propose NCAA legislation that would force men's basketball underclassmen to decide within seven to 10 days after the NCAA title game whether they are leaving for the NBA draft. ACC officials are considering submitting the proposal to the NCAA board of directors meeting Thursday; otherwise, they will propose the idea in July.
Under the legislation, “there would be no grace period – either you're in or you're out,” said Karl Hicks, the ACC's associate commissioner for basketball operations. “We feel that's what would work best for the student athletes and that's what would work best for the coaches.”
The change would significantly shorten the time coaches and players have to wait on pins and needles to know their respective futures. Last season, for instance, the national championship game was played April7. Under NBA rules, underclassmen had until April27 to submit their names for the draft. If they didn't hire agents, they had until June16 to withdraw.
Players couldn't actually work out with prospective teams until the pre-draft camp in late May. Meanwhile, the spring period to sign basketball recruits began April16 – without college coaches knowing whether they had any scholarships to offer.
“Basically you'd like to move on,” Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said. “Also, what happens, for a two-month period guys who may not be in your program become your priority. And the guys who are still in the program don't get any attention. ... They get devalued.”
Williams, who had national player of the year Tyler Hansbrough choose not to declare for the draft and three others return to school after “testing the NBA waters,” supports the legislation, pointing to the fact that college football players only have 72 hours to decide whether to turn pro early.
“If you give somebody forever to make a decision, they're going to take forever,” Williams said. “And it leaves your programs in limbo, it leaves your current players in limbo.”
But Clemson senior K.C. Rivers, who briefly pondered submitting his name last April, said he disagreed with the legislation because he doesn't think it will give players enough time to make an informed decision.
“If this rule had been in effect (last spring) … I would probably have not been back at Clemson,” he said.
Hicks said the ACC's eight-member men's basketball subcommittee, which included Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton and Virginia's Dave Leitao and suggested the legislation, discussed whether the time period may be too short for players to make proper choices.
N.C. State coach Sidney Lowe, a former NBA coach, said the proposed rule change would force pro teams to rely more on their scouts and general managers to evaluate talent than coaches – who are usually too busy directing their own teams to watch college prospects until the summer pre-draft camp or individual workouts.
If the ACC does submit the legislation Thursday and it passes, the earliest it would go into effect is September 2009, Hicks said, meaning it would not affect this season's underclassmen. Delaying the legislation submission until July would push back the start date for another year.
