Very, very interesting article from Yahoo’s Shams Charania about this:
https://www.yahoo.com/amphtml/sports...mpression=true
(Can’t get the link to work on mobile, sorry)
This is *exactly* what the NBA has hoped the G League would become. A viable alternative to college basketball for guys who don’t plan to go to college 4 years and get their degree. I see both sides of this for sure - I love UD and I love college basketball but it does seem foolish that guys have to go to “school” for one year if they don’t want to and have no intention of getting their degree. Remember that the one and done rule is an NBA rule and not an NCAA rule.
This alternative seems like a win-win. A guy can make some money playing hoops in the G League (right now I think the salary is something like $30-40K vs $75-225K) for guys on two way contracts - Bazley and anyone else who does this won’t be eligible for a two-way contract like Cooke has). You can be a full time basketball player while getting ready for your next job. The NBA gets to scout you and coach you up, and you’ll be arguably better prepared for the draft. But, the NCAA is going to lose out on some premier players, and that might hurt the product some. In the long run, something had to change and it is interesting that it is happening now.
As an aside, Bazley is from Finneytown in Cincy, goes to Princeton (as did a certain former Flyer who transferred to UD from Ohio State) and had UD interest before he blew up. Too bad, so sad for Boeheim.
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