It's a shame what the NBA labor situation is doing to the 2010/2011 college basketball season. Just as a quick back-drop, the current Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) between the NBA owners and Players' Association is set to expire following the 2010/2011 basketball season, and the current prognosis is that the two sides are extremely far apart on negotiations (Sound familiar? This is the same issue that the NFL is facing after this upcoming season as well. Can you imagine a year without professional football AND basketball? Yikes!).
The threat of this lockout hanging over the NBA has forced a larger-than-normal pool of underclassmen to apply for the NBA draft this year. Of course, you have your usual no-brainers (John Wall, Evan Tuner, DeMarcus Cousins, Wes Johnson, Xavier Henry, etc...), but you also have a slew of players who, under normal circumstances, would have no business leaving school early (Demetri McCamey, Talor Battle, and Alex Tyus, to name a few). Seriously, can anyone out there, without looking it up, tell me who Alex Tyus played for in college?
Consider this: an astonishing 56 underclassmen have currently applied for the NBA draft, although many still have until May 8th to withdraw their names so they can play college ball next season due to the fact that they have not signed with an agent. Keep in mind that there are only 60 draft spots in the NBA though, and those 56 certainly don't count any seniors or players from overseas. Of those 56 early entries, 26 are projected to potentially go undrafted (according to nbadraft.net).
How does this all relate? Well, you have a large pool of players trying to get drafted because they fear if they wait another year, there won't be an NBA season to make any money from. I certainly understand their concerns, as we all have the freedom to chase our professional dream whenever we want. The sad reality of this, though, is that almost half of these kids will go undrafted, while at the same time throwing away their opportunity for a free education (and a chance to potentially better prepare themselves for future drafts). My hope is that the majority left who have not yet signed with an agent will return to college; history has shown us that lockouts are few and far between. However, I believe this black cloud hanging over the 2011 draft will force too many to stay in, where you'll never hear from them again unless you love following European professional leagues.
It's unfortunate how this labor situation has so much control over the next college basketball season. This is why I have a lot of admiration for players like Jacob Pullen, Kyle Singler, Kalin Lucas, and more; they have surrounded themselves with the right kind of people to help them make educated decisions for the long-term. Even if a lockout occurs, basketball is not going away forever, and those who deserve it will have plenty of opportunities to showcase their skills down the line.
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