The one-and-done era of college basketball may be coming to an end.
According to a report by Shams Charania of the Athletic, the NBA and the Player’s Association are “expected to agree on moving the age eligibility for the NBA Draft from 19 years old to 18” in a move that could go into effect as early as the 2024 NBA Draft.
The anticipated change will have a ripple effect to college basketball staffs.
Last week, 247Sports released new class of 2024 player rankings, and Indiana had offered 15 of the top-50 players in the class. No doubt many of those players will consider the high school to NBA path if it becomes an option.
That will plug another variable into the college basketball recruiting scene, as schools like IU will have to evaluate how much time they want to invest in a prospect likely to go straight to the NBA. Since the beginning of the one-and-done era, schools like Kentucky and Duke have landed dozens of players who likely would have gone straight to the league from high school.
Just how much of an effect the change would have will be interesting to monitor since players can now monetize their name, image and likeness at the college level. Presumably, some higher profile players will be less incentivized to risk declaring for the NBA Draft too soon, since they are making money at the college level.
Indiana’s most famous one-and-done players were Eric Gordon and Romeo Langford. Both players likely would have skipped college altogether if it were an option.
The change would be a reversal by the league. NBA stars Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and many others came straight from high school, but, the league set the draft age limit at 19 years old in 2005. This latest adjustment to the age limit is expected as part of negotiations on a new collective bargaining agreement by the NBA and NBAPA. The current agreement has a Dec. 15 mutual opt-out date.
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