Joint NCAA, NBA, NABC proposal could move NBA Draft withdrawal date

The NCAA, NBA and National Association of Basketball Coaches may finally agree on something.

Concerned with underclassmen declaring for the NBA Draft, losing their eligibility and winding up undrafted, the three groups have come together to propose a solution that would make young players more assured of their draft status before losing eligibility, as reported by Andy Katz of ESPN.

The proposal, which began picking up steam at meetings during the 2014 Final Four and could be formally proposed as legislation by September for a January vote, would push back the withdrawal date for American college players to late May.

The current deadline to declare for the draft is in late April, with players having until 10 days before the draft to withdrawal. That withdrawal date is just the NBA's, and under current NCAA rules a player forfeits eligibility once they submit official draft paperwork.

Under the proposed framework, underclassmen would be eligible to participate in a mid-May invite-only pre-draft combine without losing eligibility. From there, players could get feedback on their potential draft stock, thereby allowing them to make a more informed decision about entering the draft or returning to school.

"Now, when you put your name in, if you're not invited that should tell you to go back to school," Kentucky head coach John Calipari, an ardent purveyor of the one-and-done system, said.

This solution could serve to benefit all parties. The NCAA would theoretically get a greater number of underclassmen returning, a major concern of some. The underclassmen the NBA gets in the draft would be of a higher quality, potentially allowing the league and union to put aside their disagreement about the age minimum for a more practical, player-by-player solution.

According to Kiki VanDeWeghe, the NBA's vice president of basketball operations, the invitational pre-draft combine would replace the current draft camp. NCAA vice president Dan Gavitt said he wouldn't expect the number of players at the combine to increase by more than 30 percent, as it wouldn't serve the league to invite too many players.

Should the proposal be expedited such that a vote takes place in January, the new reform could be in place as soon as the 2016 NBA Draft. There are plenty of details to work out before that point, namely with respect to how travel, expenses and event sponsorship would be dealt with from the NCAA's compliance office, but the sides being on the same page for the proposal is a strong first step.