NCAA Basketball: G League initiative does not doom college hoops

Player Development

Prior to the NBA instituting the one-and-done rule prior to the 2006-07 season, high school prospects were allowed to skip college altogether and go straight to the NBA. This rule mostly started to be utilized in the mid-1990’s up until it was instituted, but college basketball was still flourishing then.

Would it have been great to see players like Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant, Jermaine O’Neal, Tracy McGrady, Tyson Chandler, LeBron James, and Dwight Howard in college? Of course! And all of those guys were pursued by colleges before spurning them for the NBA, but it’s not like those players were the only quality players in their recruiting classes.

Let’s look at the 2004 recruiting class. Eight high school prospects were selected within the first 19 picks of the NBA Draft – Howard, Shaun Livingston, Robert Swift, Sebastian Telfair, Al Jefferson, Josh Smith, JR Smith, and Dorell Wright – all elite players that the college game missed out on.

Yet at the same time, there were great players that opted to go to college as well. The Florida trio of Al Horford, Joakim Noah, and Corey Brewer led the Gators to two national titles. Glen “Big Baby” Davis led LSU to the Final Four. LaMarcus Aldridge starred for Texas. Rajon Rondo suited up for Kentucky and Kyle Lowry suited up for Villanova. And that’s just the top of the iceberg.

So even when the high-school-to-professional trend was at its peak, there were still many extremely talented players who opted to cut their teeth in college.

The same thing is happening with this class, too. Green is the only top 10 prospect that is choosing this path (though Greg Brown, ranked No. 9, is still undecided), meaning there will still be a significant amount of high-end prospects playing college basketball next season.

And let’s not forget that college coaches are great at developing talent, too, and it remains to be seen how the G League works in that regard. Players like Isaac Okoro and Obi Toppin have shot past a bunch of higher-rated prospects many NBA Draft boards due to their development in college.

Not all those who skip college are guaranteed to do well, either. They’re not guaranteed success or a high pick in the draft.

During the one-and-done era, it has been a mixed bag for prospects that have chosen to bypass college, as pointed out by Eli Boettger of Heat Check CBB.