John Calipari posted tweets Wednesday saying Kentucky players of age will declare for the draft, though all might not attend the league’s invitation-only combine.
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Freshmen guard Jamal Murray, freshmen big man Skal Labissiere and sophomore guard Tyler Ulis are all considered first round draft picks by most draft analysts including ours.
Second, players that made their National Basketball Association debuts this season – even if they were drafted before 2015 – were eligible.
In a tweetstorm this afternoon, Kentucky coach John Calipari revealed his latest plan to lay bare the machinations of the NCAA. I’m going to hold my opinion until after this year, because we may be a team that’s affected by it as much as anybody in the country. If they choose to withdraw, they have until 10 days after the combine.
“It’s a true win-win for the student-athlete”, he said. The recent rule change by the NCAA allows for players to submit their names in March and better understand their prospects at playing professionally, though sending an entire roster seems a bit useless given the fact that not every player will come close to meeting the NBA’s talent standards. This year, every Wildcat will be putting his name in the hat for the pros – even the walk-ons. “Players invited to the combine and told to to back to school know that that means”.
“As I said, it’s a win-win for the student athletes”, he tweeted. A year ago is was almost 21/2 months before the draft. “I like the rule”. On the surface, this is completely absurd, but when you consider the new rules the NCAA passed earlier this year, it’s actually a pretty good idea.
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If a player declares for the draft and doesn’t get an invite to the National Basketball Association combine in May, the player can pretty reasonably assume they won’t be drafted and they can withdraw and get back to studying for finals, improving on the court and focusing on next season.
