PAC-12’S SCOTT WANTS HOOPS 1-AND-DONE RULE BOUNCED
Aaron Gordon is coming off a strong summer in which he helped USA Basketball win gold in the FIBA U19 World Championships.
The 6-foot-8 freshman forward is pegged to provide immediate help to the University of Arizona, someone who could help lift the Wildcats to next season’s Pac-12 title and beyond.
And then, many believe, Gordon will leave for the NBA, the latest to join college basketball’s one-and-done fraternity. Already, draftexpress.com has Gordon going No. 4 in its 2014 mock draft behind two other one-and-done players, Kansas wing Andrew Wiggins and Kentucky forward Julius Randle. Larry Scott has had enough. The Pac-12 Commissioner isn’t dribbling alone here, obviously. The sport’s one-and-done rule has been dissected for years, provoking much discussion but little change. But with college sports on the brink of overhaul, Scott feels it’s time to alter a system that lets student-athletes “be on our campuses for less than 12 months.”
“Anyone that’s serious about the collegiate model and the words ‘student-athlete’ can’t feel very good about what’s happening in basketball with one-and-done student athletes,” Scott told a small group of reporters at last week’s Pac-12 football media day.
In 2006, the NBA adopted a rule requiring draft entrants to be at least 19 years old and a year removed from high school graduation. Since then, 59 one-and-done players have been drafted, including eight this year. (One, Kentucky guard Archie Goodwin, ended up with the Suns.)
“It’s crazy what’s going on,” Scott said. “We’ve managed with the NFL and football to have a reasonable policy that allows kids to go pro at the appropriate time. We’ve managed to do it in baseball. Basketball’s the only sport where we haven’t managed to come up with a responsible policy and the blame is with the NBA, the NBA Players Association and the NCAA, so now’s the time to take ownership of it. We’ve got time. We’ve made major changes in football. Now there’s time to make major changes in basketball.”
Scott didn’t offer a specific solution, but it sounded as if he favored keeping students on campus for at least two years.
“There’s new leadership coming in to the NBA Players Association, and this is something that the conferences are going to be more engaged in,’’ he said. “There are great models out there. We don’t need to reinvent the wheel. We have a menu of options with other sports and other sports leagues.”
Pac-12’s ‘Hard Knocks’
The Pac-12 is expected to announce today the football programs involved in “The Drive” series, which promises to give viewers “unprecedented access” throughout the season.
The series — modeled after HBO’s “Hard Knocks” — will start with an hourlong show on Pac-12 Networks on Sept. 11 and continue with half-hour shows every Wednesday. A four-person crew will be embedded with the team — one each from the North and South divisions — attending every practice and meeting.
No doubt, “all-access” is a phrase that scares coaches, but if offered the opportunity, I don’t think Arizona State coach Todd Graham would turn it down. He’d see it as a way to sell his program.
DirecTV fiasco
Don’t expect DirecTV to offer Pac-12 Networks anytime soon. Scott said the conference is no closer than it was last year at this time at reaching a deal.
To avoid missing a second football season, Scott has urged fans to switch providers.
“Here are the 50 sports channels DirecTV is carrying,” Scott said, taking a list from an assistant. “Some of them you’ve heard of. Some of them you probably don’t want. … They’re making an argument like, ‘We don’t want to have all our of customers pay for something only a few watch.’ All 50 (channels) all their customers have to pay for, so they’re obviously trying to draw a line in the sand with us.
“Whatever reason they give will be defied by this list of 50 sports channels — big, small, national, regional — which obviously our programming is a lot more compelling than three-quarters of what’s on this list.”