NBA's one-year rule not designed to help players

The NBA’s new age limit might have helped North Carolina gain the services of forward Brandan Wright for one year, but Tar Heel coach Roy Williams hardly sounded grateful Monday.

"The NBA is not our partner," Williams said. "They can act like that all they want to, but they view college basketball as competition. And every rule they make is what’s good for them. They don’t make rules for the good of the kid. I mean, give me a break."

Wright announced Monday that he was leaving North Carolina after his freshman season for the NBA draft. He was part of the first high school class affected by the new NBA collective bargaining agreement, which stipulates that players must be at least one year past the graduation of their high school class and at least 19 years old by the end of the calendar year in which they enter the draft.

Williams said he supports Wright’s decision, but lashed out at the NBA’s new rule. He said he would prefer that players be required to attend college for two or three years before the NBA allows them to be drafted.

Another year or two in college would allow Wright to put more muscle on his skinny, 6-foot-9 frame, Williams said. Having players spend one year in college merely shields NBA scouts from making poor evaluations of players, Williams said.

"The rule that they changed, everyone goes to school for one year, that gives them the opportunity to evaluate Brandan Wright against great competition," Williams said. "So they’ll make better evaluations. They don’t have to evaluate Brandan against five guys that are 5-11 surrounding him in the post like he had to play a couple of games in high school."

The rule has sparked concern among college coaches and administrators that players with no intentions of pursuing a degree will make a mockery of college athletics by doing just enough to stay academically eligible, then bolting for the NBA as soon as possible.

Wright, who said he plans to continue pursuing his degree, apparently won’t do that. Neither did the Atlanta Hawks’ Marvin Williams, who left North Carolina in 2005 after his freshman season but has returned for classes during the offseason.

Williams said he won’t stop recruiting players who might only stay for one season, as long as they display the same character as Wright and Williams.
"I don’t mind being a conduit to some other place for some youngster’s dreams, as long as they give everything they have while they’re here," he said.

But that doesn’t diminish Williams’ disdain for the NBA rule he believes primarily suits the NBA’s interests. – Ken Tysiac