Interesting development. Should help Duke, Kansas, Kentucky, etc. Not that they need more help.
SAN ANTONIO — College men’s basketball players who are not seniors will now be able to try out for N.B.A. teams, receive a draft grade and then decide on returning to college — a stark shift from the past, when players had to declare for the draft before the N.B.A. combine and in doing so renounce future college eligibility.
The rule also moves back a month, to late May from late April, the deadline by which players must commit on not returning to college.
The Division I Council approved the change, which is effective immediately, on Wednesday at the annual N.C.A.A. convention. The men’s basketball oversight committee had recommended it.
“This legislation, with help from the N.B.A., will allow student-athletes the opportunity to make informed decisions on their true status as a draft prospect before forfeiting their collegiate eligibility,” Kansas Coach Bill Self said in an N.C.A.A. statement.
Jim Phillips, Northwestern’s athletic director and the Division I Council chairman, said that the change “was driven completely by what was best for the student-athletes.”
The change arose out of discussions between the N.B.A. and several prominent coaches, including Self, working through the National Association of Basketball Coaches. Many observers noted that it would probably make the jobs of those coaches more difficult, because it would delay their knowing how many roster spots needed to be filled for the following season.
The N.B.A. will now invite only several dozen players to the combine, and afterward, in consultation with teams’ front offices, will communicate prospects’ likely draft positions directly to them and their families. Players will have 10 days from the end of the combine to withdraw from the June draft.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/01/14/sports/basketball/ncaa-to-let-underclassmen-return-to-college-after-trying-out-for-nba.html?&moduleDetail=section-news-4&action=click&contentCollection=Sports®ion=Footer&module=MoreInSection&version=WhatsNext&contentID=WhatsNext&pgtype=article