Report: G-League To Offer 125K To Elite Prospects As Alternative To College
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The "one-and-done" rule has been a hot topic of conversation in basketball over the past several years.
There is even more scrutiny being placed on it as the fraud trial involving several NCAA schools, coaches and shoe companies has played out over the past several weeks. That FBI investigation and ongoing trial got the attention of NBA commissioner Adam Silver, who said earlier this year that the league was considering its options in altering the rule.
Today, a report from ESPN's Jonathan Givony has given us a peek at what one alternative could be for top high school basketball players.
Givony reports that the NBA's G-League, formerly the Developmental League, is creating a new "professional path" for elite high school prospects that would allow them to earn $125,000 in the year between high school and when they are allowed to enter the NBA Draft. These "Select Contracts" are set to be available beginning in the summer of 2019 and will target "recent or would-be high school graduates who otherwise would have likely spent just one season playing college basketball."
G-League president Malcolm Turner told Givony that the offering is in response to the Commission on College Basketball report released earlier this year in which the NCAA and NBA were urged to find alternative options for one-and-done players.
"The broader basketball community has called for the NBA to enhance our G League offerings," Turner told ESPN. "We believe this is an answer to that call. We believe this is a thoughtful and responsive answer."
As mentioned above, the NBA itself is also considering changes to its draft system, but those likely wouldn't come until the 2022 Draft. Until then, this "professional path" would offer another option to those players. Turner did tell the network that the G-League won't pursue players who have already committed to play in college, but if players decommit on their own, it would be an option.
There are still details being worked out for this "professional path" as Givony outlines in the piece, but one thing that is certain is that players will only be allowed to play one season on the Select Contract before they become draft eligible. The offer is only going to be available to players who are at least 18 years old and not enrolled in college.