Wednesday, April 15, 2009

John Wall May Be Eligible For 2009 NBA Draft


NBADraft.net has an interesting rumor going around the internets: top high school basketball prospect John Wall could be headed to the NBA. Now.
The NBA collective bargaining agreement says an American player is eligible for the draft if:

"The player is or will be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and with respect to a player who is not an international player, at least one NBA Season has elapsed since the player's graduation from high school (or, if the player did not graduate from high school, since the graduation of the class with which the player would have graduated had he graduated from high school)" -- Article X, Section 1(b)(i).

Wall will turn 19 in September, so he's clear there. The question is: When did Wall's class graduate? If he's truly a fifth-year senior, then it was last year, making him eligible for the 2009 draft.
This news is big. NBA teams would love to get Wall now instead of next season. The addition of Wall puts a little stank of the upcoming draft.

The fact that he would threaten the NBA's interpretation of their rules is outstanding in its own right. David Stern doesn't want those high school kids in his league and if Wall actually gets into the draft then it will be hard to get the worms back in the can.

It also scares the heck out of fans from Kentucky, Memphis, Kansas, Duke, North Carolina, Baylor and NC State. All of those schools are dying to bring Wall in to make a run at a Final Four.

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