Big Ten floats the idea of freshman ineligibility

[Dick Whitman]

Big Ten considering ineligibility for freshmen - ESPN

Isn't this a solution in search of a problem?

 

[LongTimeListener]

93Devil strongly endorses this idea and think it should spread everywhere. We need people like Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker learning valuable life lessons. It's More Important Than The Money.

 

[amraeder]

They were saying on the radio that this was a proposal that had been out there for a while, among most of the Power 5 Conferences. So apparently nothing exactly new.
BUT - that said, yeah, don't think there's really any problem that needs to be fixed.

 

[Batman]

Ohio State's AD actually had a pretty valid point. This is obviously mostly being examined because of the one-and-dines in college basketball. But how many of those are there? Maybe 20-25 every year, from more than 300 teams in Division I? That's less than one percent. So why blow up something that's affecting a ridiculously small minority of players?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Ohio State's AD actually had a pretty valid point. This is obviously mostly being examined because of the one-and-dines in college basketball. But how many of those are there? Maybe 20-25 every year, from more than 300 teams in Division I? That's less than one percent. So why blow up something that's affecting a ridiculously small minority of players?

Because of the plunging interest in college basketball.

It's a marketing proposal dressed up as a student benefit.

 

[RecoveringJournalist]

This is a great idea, because those freshmen at Kentucky look like they need more seasoning before they beat the **** out of every other school in the country.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Anybody think they are floating this out there as a bluff hoping the NBA changes the rule?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

First off, for basketball, any star player will just end up going to Europe for the year and play in actual games rather than spending a year practicing with a varsity team and playing on a freshman team, which is assuming they'll even have a freshman team.

Second, especially for football, are they even going to have a freshman team, or will they just spend their time practicing against the varsity? And will the school be willing to pay for a second football team? Plus, For many freshmen, they already end up redshirting their first year anyways.

And third, if they are so concerned about athletes and how they are prepared for college, then why don't they just cut down on the amount of hours that they can practice and prepare for their sport, with no loopholes, and only allow games on weekend or during the week if they're within a couple hours' drive? But no, they just want another thing to hold over the athletes.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Anybody think they are floating this out there as a bluff hoping the NBA changes the rule?

Sure, but that could just send the players over to Europe if they had to sit out a year.

 

[LongTimeListener]

Baron, they've been saying that would happen for years. There have been a few -- Brandon Jennings and Jeremy Tyler, I don't know if any others -- and the general feeling is that it is a miserable experience.

 

[Baron Scicluna]

Baron, they've been saying that would happen for years. There have been a few -- Brandon Jennings and Jeremy Tyler, I don't know if any others -- and the general feeling is that it is a miserable experience.

But those players chose that over playing a year in college. If freshmen have to sit out a year, or play in a watered-down schedule on a freshman team, they might rather spend the year getting paid for playing against better competition.

 

[LongTimeListener]

No they won't.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Sure, but that could just send the players over to Europe if they had to sit out a year.

What I meant by bluff was that they could talk about it without any real intention of doing it, but perhaps it would inspire the NBA to make it 20 and two years out of high school or something more like baseball. I just can't imagine this is something they are seriously considering other than to grandstand about how they are trying to fix things. You think Meyer and Harbaugh are going to let this happen?

 

[Baron Scicluna]

No they won't.

So they will just be happy practicing for a year and then go to the NBA?

 

[LongTimeListener]

Yes.

And that's one of the reasons this won't happen -- schools know they will end up housing players (and risking NCAA violations) for someone who will never contribute.

 

[I Should Coco]

If they REALLY wanted to help the "student-athletes," they would provide better assurances that the four-year scholarship will be there if the player is injured or deemed "not good enough" to play by coaches.

Or how about allowing athletes to opt-out when the coach they signed for splits shortly afterward.

If these conferences and coaches really care about their players, those would be a couple places to start.

 

[Stoney]

Anybody think they are floating this out there as a bluff hoping the NBA changes the rule?

Tha's exactly what I think it is. Source of the conflict is that college basketball wants the NBA to change the damn one and done rule, but the NBA won't budge on it.

And, since college hoops has no real leverage against the NBA, best it can do is float these occasional bluffs basically saying "oh yeah, well what if we just stop giving the free marketing/promotion for your one year wonders?" Somehow I doubt the threat has the NBA quaking. Everyone knows it won't happen.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

If colleges did this couldn't somebody with money just create a minor pro league for kids younger than 20. Have 10 or so teams and pay 50-100 grand and you could sign not only the kids that would be college freshman, but the top high school prospects as well. Big basketball fans would pay attention to a league with Wiggins, Parker, Okafor, Thon Maker, etc. (some of them for multiple years) as prospects getting ready for the NBA.

 

[Jake_Taylor]

Tha's exactly what I think it is. Source of the conflict is that college basketball wants the NBA to change the damn one and done rule, but the NBA won't budge on it.

And, since college hoops has has no real leverage against the NBA in the dispute, best it can do is float these occasional bluffs basically saying "oh yeah, well what if we just stop giving the free marketing/promotion for your one year wonders?" Somehow I doubt the threat has the NBA quaking. Everyone knows it won't happen.

I get the feeling the NCAA is trying to get Adam Silver's office to push a new rule through, which is going about it ass backwards. It needs to get to the veterans in the NBA Players Association. "Hey Drew Gooden, do you like having that last roster spot on the Wizards or would you rather it go to a teenager who may or may not ever contribute in the NBA? Help us keep those kids in school and yourself in the league for an extra year or two."

 

[Baron Scicluna]

I get the feeling the NCAA is trying to get Adam Silver's office to push a new rule through, which is going about it ass backwards. It needs to get to the veterans in the NBA Players Association. "Hey Drew Gooden, do you like having that last roster spot on the Wizards or would you rather it go to a teenager who may or may not ever contribute in the NBA? Help us keep those kids in school and yourself in the league for an extra year or two."

I agree, but the union is also pushing back at the age limit because, while it would allow veterans one extra year at the end of the bench, it would cost the rookie a year's pay at the beginning of their career.