Huge fan of the podcast for many years. I especially appreciate the coverage of non-P5 games, always love to hear about random games that weren’t on my radar.
I have a question regarding college basketball and the NBA Draft. I’ve long been a believer that basketball should adopt a model similar to the NHL, where players’ rights are drafted right out of high school and then players can still go to college if they choose that route.
Especially after the recent Baylor saga, I think this model would solve a lot of the major issues currently facing college basketball (although definitely not all). Players would be less likely to transfer since they’re not as worried about their draft stock, there would be fewer eligibility questions for both American and European players, and less drama around potential injury opt-outs like the Peterson situation. It would also likely increase interest from NBA only fans following their team’s prospects.
The NBA would most likely never go for this change (higher cost to scout high schoolers, more risk in draft picks, etc.). However I don’t see many negatives from the college side other than potentially losing the top 5-10 players a year to the NBA if the NBA also changes their eligibility rules to match the NHL.
So my question is do you think changing the NBA draft model like this would improve college basketball or am I overlooking something? Would you be in favor of this model even if it meant losing guys like Flagg last year or Boozer/Dybantsa this year
