The NCAA attracted a lot of attention Wednesday by announcing that they would permit a pool of “elite” high school and college talent to hire agents. It appears, however, that the new policy may be emptier than it initially looked.
According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NCAA’s announcement doesn’t appear to hold a lot of water. The announcement that USA Basketball would determine which players would be permitted to hire agents apparently “blindsided” both that organization, who are not viewed as prepared to handle such a responsibility. There is some dissatisfaction with the announcement both from USA Basketball and the NBA.
Few are pleased w/ NCAA's handling of release. USA Basketball and the NBA were blindsided w/ NCAA dictating USAB would decide which HS players could eventually hire agents. USAB doesn't have desire or infrastructure for those evaluations. If anyone has that expertise, it's NBA.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 8, 2018
Jonathan Givony of DraftExpress further notes that high schoolers won’t even be permitted agents until the NBA changes its age limit, which looks to be at least three years away from happening.
So the NCAA now clarifies that high school players will not be allowed to have agents until the age limit is removed, meaning 2021 at the earliest, but actually most likely until 2022. Helps explain the lack of consultation with USA Basketball noted in an earlier tweet. https://t.co/JaVZ1BHscq
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) August 8, 2018
NCAA declaring its own rule changes for early entry legislation that hasn't even been agreed upon between the NBA/NBPA feels like little more than a PR stunt — and a way to mask NCAA's refusal to address true core issues of amateurism model. https://t.co/m5gJZ5PvW3
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) August 8, 2018
The NCAA policy attracted a lot of attention on Twitter, but ultimately it appears to be questionably implemented and very unclear to certain parties involved.
