With NBA draft date in limbo, NCAA indefinitely postpones underclassmen deadline

Rick Bonnell
·2 min read

The NCAA has indefinitely postponed a deadline for underclassmen to pull out of the NBA draft and retain college eligibility.

Underclassmen originally had until June 3 to withdraw from the draft in order to return to college basketball.

That move, announced by the NCAA Wednesday evening, is acknowledgment the NBA will likely not hold the draft as scheduled June 25, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The NBA has already postponed the draft lottery and combine, which was scheduled for next week in Chicago. No makeup dates have been scheduled for those events.

“This modification is being made with the health and well-being of our student-athletes in mind, along with their ability to make the most informed decision during this uncertain time,” the NCAA announced in a prepared statement.

While the NBA has not yet postponed the draft, it’s unlikely late June makes sense since the league intends to restart the season. The league can’t hold a draft lottery until the regular season is declared over, allowing weighted lottery chances to be set. Also, NBA employees are barred from non-essential business travel.

Delaying the NCAA’s deadline, which normally comes 10 days after the Combine concludes, seems prudent with so many underclassmen currently in the draft pool. Of the 205 early-entry candidates, 163 were U.S. college players.

While some of the more prominent underclassmen, including North Carolina freshman Cole Anthony, say they are committed to staying in the draft, most of those 163 are undecided.

Only 60 players are selected in the two rounds of the NBA draft. The NCAA and NBA have rules that allow underclassmen to enter the draft, be considered for the Combine and work out for individual teams before choosing whether to return to college.

The pandemic has precluded normal opportunities for the 30 NBA teams to work out players. After the NBA shut down the season March 11, the league directed teams not to hold in-person workouts or watch video of players beyond what they could have seen before the league shut down. Teams are currently limited to meeting with draft candidates via video calls.