Coaches prefer change to 'one-and-done' rule
Throughout Monday's Southeastern Conference summer teleconference, the league's men's basketball coaches sounded a consistent refrain.
Many of them believe the rules that govern how and when underclassmen may enter and leave the NBA Draft are damaging the college game.
Georgia coach Mark Fox discussed the movement among college coaches to move up the date when players who declare themselves eligible for the draft must make their decision on whether to return to school.
Many of his SEC counterparts expressed hope that NCAA basketball will someday have rules similar to college baseball and football that require players to remain in school for longer than the single year currently required for basketball players.
The "one-and-done" rules that allow players to leave two years before an NCAA baseball or football player could turn pro are not only bad for college basketball, they hinted, they enable players to make poor decisions.
Some of the players who leave early would be better served by staying in school, as they are simply not ready for the pros yet, the said.
"I look at it from the standpoint of the guys who aren't playing, who are out on the street," LSU coach Trent Johnson said. "Obviously those guys would be better off getting an education."
Not all of the coaches seemed to share that opinion, however. The correctness of the decision is best left up to the individual player, said Kentucky coach John Calipari, whose team lost star junior guard Jodie Meeks as a second-round NBA draft pick.
"You can't hold these kids back. ... If they choose to do that and they know you may be a second-rounder or you may not get picked, that's still their choice," Calipari said. "I think in the end of the day it was a good choice because it's what he really wanted to do. I fully understand."
On the comeback?
Tennessee coach Bruce Pearl predicted that the overall disappointment that surrounded SEC basketball last year - evidenced by how only three conference teams reached the NCAA Tournament - would be short-lived.
It was a youth-dominated league last year, Pearl pointed out, but nearly all of the league's budding stars will be back this year. Only Meeks, LSU's Marcus Thornton and Florida's Nick Calathes bolted for the professional ranks.
Meanwhile, many of the underclassmen who considered an early exit - players like Kentucky's Patrick Patterson, LSU's Tasmin Mitchell, South Carolina's Devan Downey and Tyler Smith from Pearl's
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