NCAA: John Calipari Says All Eligible Wildcats Players to Declare for NBA Draft
Kentucky is one of only a few college basketball programs that has kept the tradition of sending in at least one player to the NBA Draft after one year of playing for them. This trend took precedence after John Calipari took the head coaching job for the Wildcats seven years ago.
But now, the popular coach has taken it to the next level by making a surprising announcement via Twitter – saying that every eligible player in his team will be submitting their respective applications for the upcoming draft. Per Yahoo Sports, this move is a clever one in response to the new rule wherein players can now apply for the draft three times, giving the players time to ponder if they really are ready for the next step, which is turning pro.
There's very little doubt that majority of these players will withdraw their applications once they realize they're not there yet. But the thought of having an entire team declare for the draft is just too intriguing, if not, wacky, not to think about.
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There's also a significant change in the rule this year, where in the past, players who declared to join the draft had to make a decision to whether keep their name in the list or withdraw and instead return to their schools months before the actual draft night. This time, players are now allowed to be part of the NBA Draft combine and will have 10 days after that event to withdraw. At that point, they won't be losing their eligibility to return to college.
While Calipari's move will definitely raise some eyebrows, it actually makes a lot of sense. Aside from the fact that he is trying to enlighten his team with information that could help them, it also helps a player motivate himself the moment he figures out that he isn't getting any invite to the NBA combine. As a result, that player will have enough time to realize that he isn't likely going to be drafted and will instead withdraw, go back to school, and focus on improving his game come next season.
