Marvin Bagley of Duke Basketball changed the college landscape when he reclassified and came out of high school a year early. But what if he never did this?
Marvin Bagley III was one of the best players to go through college basketball in recent memory. He carried Duke in a strong season with 21 points and 11 boards last year. After proving his worth at Duke, he was drafted second overall by the Sacramento Kings. Everything this past year seems as if it fell straight into place, but that wasn’t always the case.
As we approached the season, rumors came out that MB3 was going to reclassify and join the 2017 recruiting class. Duke was fine with focusing a class around Wendell Carter, but Bagley stole the show. This caused a lot of tension in draft coverage, but everything turned out for the best for most players.
It’s hard to imagine that Bagley could have graduated from high school two months ago and instead he is a millionaire. Thinking about what could have happened if that was the case is a lot to dive into in one article, but I’ll do my best.
Bagley staying an extra year in high should would obviously have affected the college landscape last year. That would, in turn, throw a monkey wrench in the NBA Draft. Combine those two aspects with the fact that you would be adding him to the recruiting class of Zion Williamson, Cam Reddish, and R.J. Barrett, and you’re looking at a completely different world of basketball.
This one move could potentially affect other things as well. Duke might have lost an extra recruit in the mess of things. There could be potential changes to free agency in the NBA. There’s no telling what could have happened. I’m going to try my best not to grasp at straws and make false assumptions, but here’s where I would see the basketball world if Marvin Bagley had never reclassified.