The next time an NCAA official preaches about the importance of doing what's best for the student-athlete, the hypocrisy of such comments will be a little more difficult to stomach than usual.
How else are we supposed to react after the NCAA proved yet again on Thursday that it values the convenience of coaches far more than protecting the interest of college kids deciding their professional futures?
Instead of striking down a regrettable proposal to accelerate the deadline to withdraw from the NBA draft to the first day of the spring signing period in mid-April, the NCAA's Board of Directors decided Thursday to adopt the rule change. That absurdly accelerated time table eradicates the concept of testing the waters altogether, a victory for coaches seeking to fill holes in their rosters sooner but a crushing defeat for players trying to make an informed decision about whether to turn pro or not.
For potential draft picks who participate in the Final Four, the rushed deadline will make a difficult decision even tougher. Had the rule change taken effect this year, Butler's Shelvin Mack or Kentucky's Brandon Knight would have had barely a week between their final collegiate game and the draft deadline to the put the emotions of the season to rest, gather information from NBA executives and make a rational, well-informed decision.
It's especially appalling that the NCAA would further accelerate the draft withdrawal deadline considering the criticism it drew for moving the date up the first time. By pushing pushing the deadline from 10 days before the June draft until May 8 in 2010, the NCAA made it more difficult for prospects to conduct workouts for NBA teams since most franchises don't begin holding them until May at the earliest.
Who's behind the push to speed up the process? It's coaches who want to know which prospects are staying and going sooner so they can begin patching up the following season's roster sooner.
The draft deadline moving to before the spring signing period does make it easier for program's to woo a recruit to fill the void left by a departing underclassman. On the other hand, it also makes it far more likely for such a void to exist due to an underclassman making an ill-advised choice to turn pro because he didn't have the proper information.
In the past four years alone, we've seen numerous examples of the value of prospects having the ability to test the waters.
Brandon Rush returned to Kansas in 2007 and won a national championship the following season. Scottie Reynolds returned to Villanova in 2009 and became an All-American as a senior. And Jimmer Fredette returned to BYU in 2010 and captured national player of the year honors this past season.
Sometimes the knee-jerk reaction is to pile on the NCAA after a poor decision. In this case, the NCAA deserves all the criticism it gets.
Kristy Swanson Ali Campoverdi Giuliana DePandi Pamela Anderson Amber Arbucci
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