The NCAA will allow undrafted players to return to college.

NCAA will allow undrafted players to return to school

Ten months after federal prosecutors announced wide-ranging investigation into corruption in college basketball, the NCAA announced policy changes related to the sport, including allowing top players to sign with agents while in school and players who enter the NBA draft but are not chosen to retain their college eligibility.

The reforms also call for more transparency around amateur events and hold university presidents and chancellors accountable for noncompliance within the athletic department.

The changes are “in general aimed at eliminating some of the corrosive influences that we’ve seen in college basketball that the federal investigation highlighted,” NCAA President Mark Emmert said during a conference call Wednesday. “We try to strengthen the integrity of the game and strengthen the accountability of all of us that work inside the games, and at the same time, do that in a way that provides student-athletes with much more flexibility and freedom about their decisions.”

In October 2017, the NCAA created a commission, led by former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, to explore the issues surrounding college basketball. In April, Rice’s commission announced its finding and recommendations.

The changes include more flexibility for athletes deciding whether to pursue professional opportunities in the sport. Previously, athletes who declared for the NBA draft and attended the NBA combine could return to school only if they withdrew within 10 days following the combine. Now players will be able to return to school if they are not drafted.

However, for these changes to take place, the NCAA is requiring the NBA and the NBA Players Association to agree to lower the eligibility age to enter the draft to 18 and to modify its rules around free agency if a player goes undrafted. The NBA’s current rules require U.S. players to be 19 years old and one year removed from high school.

Emmert said the NBA and the NBPA have “expressed a keen interest in working with us” on this issue.

For players to take advantage of this change, they would need to declare for the draft, request an undergraduate advisory committee evaluation from the NBA and be invited to participate in the NBA combine. Players will have five days following the draft to declare that they are returning to school.

College players also will be allowed to form relationships with NCAA-certified agents if they request an evaluation from the undergraduate advisory committee. The agents can cover minimal costs, such as meals and travel expenses related to gauging interest in professional opportunities. There would not be a financial relationship between the student-athlete and the agent.

High school players identified by USA Basketball as elite prospects will be allowed to have an agent starting July 1 before their senior year. This change is also dependent on the NBA and the NBPA modifying their rules regarding age eligibility, which puts the timetable out of the NCAA’s hands.

Last month in Las Vegas, NBA commissioner Adam Silver said, “My personal view is that we’re ready to make that change, (but) that it won’t come immediately.”