We all sort of saw this coming, right? I mean the NCAA suspended him and said he could only play again if he came up with the money his family got when he was in HS in order to afford to move. I don’t know where he comes up with that without getting a loan, which would also be a violation. So, he’s gone.
What I found intriguing in the larger picture of NCAA basketball was the quote from Steve Kerr:
“Two of the top prospects are playing professionally in Australia. I think the trend is — guys are at least starting to think of other options,” Kerr said. “I know there’s been players who have just taken a year off or played at the IMG Academy until they were draft-eligible. So the NBA is getting a lot better with player development through the G League. I know there’s been talk of changing the rule in terms of draft eligibility. So there’s all kinds of things stirring out there and it looks like the players are considering their options.”
This sounds an awful lot like a shot across the bow of NCAA basketball. Let me read between the lines and take some admitted liberties with Kerr’s statement, but it could easily be read like this too:
“Dear NCAA, you’re not the only path to the NBA any more, and we don’t really need you”
When Wiseman gets drafter top-5 anyway, this should serve as a wake-up call to NCAA basketball that they’ve got competition, but as long as that Tournament money keeps rolling in, they won’t change a thing.
Leave a Reply