ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski reports that the NBA and USA Basketball felt "blindsided" by the rule changes unveiled by the NCAA on Wednesday. The reform is highlighted by the NCAA’s decision to allow "elite" high school seniors to have an agent while giving college athletes an opportunity to return to school if they go undrafted.
The organization points out that the USAB would be responsible for determining which players should given an “elite” designation. However, the USAB reportedly doesn’t have the "desire or infrastructure" to make the type of evaluations that should be left in the hands of the NBA.
A USA Basketball official informed ESPN NBA Draft analyst Jonathan Givony that the NCAA has yet to discuss these changes with them, or seek their approval. Despite claims made in their initial release, it appears the “elite” designation will be handled by the NCAA with the USAB taking it from there.
With people already poking holes in the NCAA’s changes, it’s evident that they needed more people with different perspectives at the table who could help fine-tune this supposed approach to helping student-athletes.
