Everyone seems to agree one-and-done is bad, but will it finally change?
Myron Medcalf
ESPN Staff Writer
Just before former LSU star Tyrus Thomas declared for the NBA draft in 2006, the local utility company cut the lights off at the home of the grandmother who raised him.
He'd entered his first official year of college basketball as just another redshirt hoping to make an impact. And then, he averaged 12.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.1 BPG and 1.0 SPG in the 2005-06 season for LSU, a stat line that changed his life.
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The Portland Trail Blazers selected Thomas, the star of that year's NCAA tournament, with the fourth pick in the 2006 NBA draft before trading him to the Chicago Bulls, who signed him to a four-year, $15 million contract that changed the financial fortunes of his family.
As the first freshman to turn pro after one season of competition at the collegiate level following the NBA's new age limit restrictions, Thomas kicked off the controversial one-and-done era. His college experience, he said, didn't prepare him for the NBA.
"I got drafted in June, but in January, I wasn't even thinking about the NBA," Thomas told ESPN.com. "Six months changed my life. College wasn't structured in any way similar to the NBA except for the demand of the time."
More than a decade later, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has announced a renewed effort to address the NBA's age limit -- currently 19 years old for draftees -- a development that could change college basketball. He claims too many prospects enter the league unprepared.
On "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" last week, Silver said he's "rethinking" his position on the age limit. He called the process "half and done" for freshmen who turn pro after their first seasons on campus, suggesting the players in that pool fail to make academics a priority.
"I don't think it's fair to characterize them as going to one year of school," Silver said on Cowherd's show.
Silver also warned of the problems the age limit creates for all parties, including college coaches and athletic directors who've complained to him about the rule. He cited the change from two "one-and-done" players in the initial 2006 NBA draft to nearly two dozen projected to secure contracts in this summer's NBA draft.
It's clear he wants change. Perhaps something more complex than his previous pleas for a system that would force college athletes to stay in school for two years, a process he and other NBA leaders believe would help both players and their prospective franchises by delivering a more polished competitor to the next level. College coaches have adapted to the turbulence that accompanies the one-and-done culture. Many would prefer more year-to-year stability, even if that would demand reopening the pipeline of high school athletes to the NBA, an idea Silver seems willing to analyze. That's why Silver said he wants college coaches to participate in the upcoming conversations about changing the rule.
"They're not happy with the current system," he said. "And I know our teams aren't happy either, in part because they don't necessarily think that the players coming into the league are getting the kind of training that they would expect to see among top draft picks in the league."
Any attempt to offer consensus about the attitude of college coaches and officials on the one-and-done culture will fall short, because it doesn't exist.
Some of those who oppose the current age limit and want it raised prefer to discuss their thoughts in private or off the record, because they fear they might deter the five-star recruits who might only last a season but could change their programs.
"I have been disappointed, because I really believe a lot of college coaches feel that if we question the rule, we're saying we're not in favor of young players getting opportunities," said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, who helped freshman Jonathan Isaac develop into a projected top-10 pick. "No question, the one-and-done culture has created some problems."
Others want high school stars to have the option to turn pro if they're talented enough to make the jump. So when Silver said the age limit is "not working" at the collegiate level, he did not speak for all. It's an ongoing conversation and debate among the NCAA's leaders.
"I would say, for [Kansas], the rule has worked," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "But we have to figure out what's best for our sport."
It's not just the handful of powerhouses who've signed multiple elite freshmen in recent years challenging Silver's claims about the rule's impact on the game.
"I think they should be able to go right from high school if they want to," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "I think it's working fine on our end. Just a part of the business. I would love to have a couple [one-and-dones]."
Seven Kansas players have turned pro in the one-and-done era under Self. Most contributed to his current streak of 13 consecutive Big 12 championships. Self says most also were ready to play in the NBA after high school.
"Andrew Wiggins, Josh Jackson ... I would say they were ready to be paid out of high school," he said. "They were certainly ready to be paid, without question."
That's why Self is open to allowing players to compete in the NBA after high school, assuming they receive the proper information before they make their decisions, a sentiment echoed by multiple coaches contacted by ESPN.com.
"If guys want to go pro out of high school, let them," Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. "But one-and-done is fine if they can't go out of high school."
If they choose to attend college, others favor the popular two-and-done idea with a new age limit of 20 years old touted by Silver in recent years.
"Two years, I think it would be a good rule," Self said.
Shaka Smart just lost Texas freshman Jarrett Allen, a projected first-round pick, to the NBA draft. Smart's incoming recruiting class is anchored by Mohamed Bamba, ranked third in the 2017 class by ESPN.com. Next summer, Bamba could enter the 2018 NBA draft and force Smart to find a new freshman center for the third consecutive season. Still, he opposes any age limit that would restrict an NBA-ready athlete from pursuing his goals at the next level.
"There's really no one-size-fits-all model," Smart said. "Kids should be able to do what their true value dictates, like in anything else in life."
Andy Enfield, an NBA assistant before his stints at Florida Gulf Coast and now USC, could face his first one-and-done scenario next season if five-star recruit Charles O'Bannon Jr. decides to enter the NBA draft.
Enfield said he hopes his players make wise decisions if they choose to turn pro. He has experienced the benefits and setbacks of the draft process during his time at USC.
Last summer, former USC standouts Julian Jacobs and Nikola Jovanovic both went undrafted. This year, Bennie Boatwright withdrew from the NBA draft, strengthening a USC squad that should enter next season as a top-15 team.
"I'm all for individual players trying to make a living in the NBA, but it seems that too many underclassmen stay in the draft and do not get drafted," Enfield said.
Thomas said he never knew what to expect out of college. He said NBA execs spoke with his grandmother, who didn't understand everything the jump to the league entailed for a 19-year-old with a year of college basketball competition on his resume. He had limited information and few details.
Today, as someone who is forever linked -- mistakenly, considering he redshirted before he made the leap to the next level -- to the NBA's one-and-done culture, Thomas also wants change. But the two-and-done idea, which would give prospects another year of school, wouldn't make life easier on them, he said.
"What are you going to implement in the college system to prepare them?" Thomas said. "An extra year to do what?"
That's a good question for Silver and the leaders at the next level.
Whatever happens, college coaches hope they're included in the conversations and discussions.
"I think that would be important," Baylor's Scott Drew said.
Hamilton agreed. He said Silver's gesture signals a significant moment for all levels of the game.
"I applaud Adam Silver for at least having the wherewithal to have the discussion," he said. "We need to have the discussion where we see what's best for the game of basketball."
Myron Medcalf
ESPN Staff Writer
Just before former LSU star Tyrus Thomas declared for the NBA draft in 2006, the local utility company cut the lights off at the home of the grandmother who raised him.
He'd entered his first official year of college basketball as just another redshirt hoping to make an impact. And then, he averaged 12.3 PPG, 9.2 RPG, 3.1 BPG and 1.0 SPG in the 2005-06 season for LSU, a stat line that changed his life.
<iframe scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="box-sizing: border-box; width: 1px; height: 1px; margin: 0px !important; padding: 0px !important; border-width: 0px !important; border-style: initial !important; overflow: hidden !important;"></iframe>
The Portland Trail Blazers selected Thomas, the star of that year's NCAA tournament, with the fourth pick in the 2006 NBA draft before trading him to the Chicago Bulls, who signed him to a four-year, $15 million contract that changed the financial fortunes of his family.
As the first freshman to turn pro after one season of competition at the collegiate level following the NBA's new age limit restrictions, Thomas kicked off the controversial one-and-done era. His college experience, he said, didn't prepare him for the NBA.
"I got drafted in June, but in January, I wasn't even thinking about the NBA," Thomas told ESPN.com. "Six months changed my life. College wasn't structured in any way similar to the NBA except for the demand of the time."
More than a decade later, NBA commissioner Adam Silver has announced a renewed effort to address the NBA's age limit -- currently 19 years old for draftees -- a development that could change college basketball. He claims too many prospects enter the league unprepared.
On "The Herd with Colin Cowherd" last week, Silver said he's "rethinking" his position on the age limit. He called the process "half and done" for freshmen who turn pro after their first seasons on campus, suggesting the players in that pool fail to make academics a priority.
"I don't think it's fair to characterize them as going to one year of school," Silver said on Cowherd's show.
Silver also warned of the problems the age limit creates for all parties, including college coaches and athletic directors who've complained to him about the rule. He cited the change from two "one-and-done" players in the initial 2006 NBA draft to nearly two dozen projected to secure contracts in this summer's NBA draft.
It's clear he wants change. Perhaps something more complex than his previous pleas for a system that would force college athletes to stay in school for two years, a process he and other NBA leaders believe would help both players and their prospective franchises by delivering a more polished competitor to the next level. College coaches have adapted to the turbulence that accompanies the one-and-done culture. Many would prefer more year-to-year stability, even if that would demand reopening the pipeline of high school athletes to the NBA, an idea Silver seems willing to analyze. That's why Silver said he wants college coaches to participate in the upcoming conversations about changing the rule.
"They're not happy with the current system," he said. "And I know our teams aren't happy either, in part because they don't necessarily think that the players coming into the league are getting the kind of training that they would expect to see among top draft picks in the league."
Any attempt to offer consensus about the attitude of college coaches and officials on the one-and-done culture will fall short, because it doesn't exist.
Some of those who oppose the current age limit and want it raised prefer to discuss their thoughts in private or off the record, because they fear they might deter the five-star recruits who might only last a season but could change their programs.
"I have been disappointed, because I really believe a lot of college coaches feel that if we question the rule, we're saying we're not in favor of young players getting opportunities," said Florida State coach Leonard Hamilton, who helped freshman Jonathan Isaac develop into a projected top-10 pick. "No question, the one-and-done culture has created some problems."
Others want high school stars to have the option to turn pro if they're talented enough to make the jump. So when Silver said the age limit is "not working" at the collegiate level, he did not speak for all. It's an ongoing conversation and debate among the NCAA's leaders.
"I would say, for [Kansas], the rule has worked," Kansas coach Bill Self said. "But we have to figure out what's best for our sport."
It's not just the handful of powerhouses who've signed multiple elite freshmen in recent years challenging Silver's claims about the rule's impact on the game.
"I think they should be able to go right from high school if they want to," Iowa State coach Steve Prohm said. "I think it's working fine on our end. Just a part of the business. I would love to have a couple [one-and-dones]."
Seven Kansas players have turned pro in the one-and-done era under Self. Most contributed to his current streak of 13 consecutive Big 12 championships. Self says most also were ready to play in the NBA after high school.
"Andrew Wiggins, Josh Jackson ... I would say they were ready to be paid out of high school," he said. "They were certainly ready to be paid, without question."
That's why Self is open to allowing players to compete in the NBA after high school, assuming they receive the proper information before they make their decisions, a sentiment echoed by multiple coaches contacted by ESPN.com.
"If guys want to go pro out of high school, let them," Georgia Tech coach Josh Pastner said. "But one-and-done is fine if they can't go out of high school."
If they choose to attend college, others favor the popular two-and-done idea with a new age limit of 20 years old touted by Silver in recent years.
"Two years, I think it would be a good rule," Self said.
Shaka Smart just lost Texas freshman Jarrett Allen, a projected first-round pick, to the NBA draft. Smart's incoming recruiting class is anchored by Mohamed Bamba, ranked third in the 2017 class by ESPN.com. Next summer, Bamba could enter the 2018 NBA draft and force Smart to find a new freshman center for the third consecutive season. Still, he opposes any age limit that would restrict an NBA-ready athlete from pursuing his goals at the next level.
"There's really no one-size-fits-all model," Smart said. "Kids should be able to do what their true value dictates, like in anything else in life."
Andy Enfield, an NBA assistant before his stints at Florida Gulf Coast and now USC, could face his first one-and-done scenario next season if five-star recruit Charles O'Bannon Jr. decides to enter the NBA draft.
Enfield said he hopes his players make wise decisions if they choose to turn pro. He has experienced the benefits and setbacks of the draft process during his time at USC.
Last summer, former USC standouts Julian Jacobs and Nikola Jovanovic both went undrafted. This year, Bennie Boatwright withdrew from the NBA draft, strengthening a USC squad that should enter next season as a top-15 team.
"I'm all for individual players trying to make a living in the NBA, but it seems that too many underclassmen stay in the draft and do not get drafted," Enfield said.
Thomas said he never knew what to expect out of college. He said NBA execs spoke with his grandmother, who didn't understand everything the jump to the league entailed for a 19-year-old with a year of college basketball competition on his resume. He had limited information and few details.
Today, as someone who is forever linked -- mistakenly, considering he redshirted before he made the leap to the next level -- to the NBA's one-and-done culture, Thomas also wants change. But the two-and-done idea, which would give prospects another year of school, wouldn't make life easier on them, he said.
"What are you going to implement in the college system to prepare them?" Thomas said. "An extra year to do what?"
That's a good question for Silver and the leaders at the next level.
Whatever happens, college coaches hope they're included in the conversations and discussions.
"I think that would be important," Baylor's Scott Drew said.
Hamilton agreed. He said Silver's gesture signals a significant moment for all levels of the game.
"I applaud Adam Silver for at least having the wherewithal to have the discussion," he said. "We need to have the discussion where we see what's best for the game of basketball."
