The new early entry deadline sucks

At midnight on Sunday night, the NBA Draft's early entry deadline came and went. Earlier today, the full list of 80 college players that had officially declared for the NBA Draft was released.

There were few surprises on that list, and only one (Tracy Smith of NC State, but he said via facebook that he would be returning to school) was a player with any real significance.

But that doesn't mean today didn't have any significance.

As you should be well aware, the deadline for underclassmen that haven't hired an agent to pull their names out of the draft is May 8th, which is all of nine days away; next Saturday.

What you may not know is that underclassmen are not allowed to begin scheduling workouts with NBA teams until after the official list is released, which happened today. They are also not allowed to workout with an NBA team if it conflicts with a class schedule, which basically rules out all weekdays.

What that means is that unless an underclassmen can schedule a workout with an NBA team for this weekend -- without the facilitation of an agent, mind you -- that player basically has next Friday and Saturday to workout for the 30 NBA teams.

Keep in mind, most of the teams picking at the end of the first round -- where the players still deciding on whether or not to remain in the draft are hoping to be picked -- are in the middle of the playoffs right now. The draft is the furthest thing from their mind.

The whole reason that the process of testing the waters was first implemented was to allow underclassmen an opportunity to gauge where their draft positions stands, get feedback from NBA GM's, and make a decision of whether or not they will be drafted high enough to warrant giving up their collegiate eligibility.

Sometimes players make the right decision, and sometimes they make the wrong decision, whether it is pulling their name out when they are a lottery pick (Willie Warren) or keeping their name in when most teams believe they will go undrafted (Jamont Gordan).

The point is that whatever decision is made, it will at least be an informed one. How they decide to use and interpret that information is irrelevant. The ability to obtain that information is what matters.

Is a player really going to be able to get a good feel for his standing based on one or two workouts?

Is he really going to be able to make an informed decision that can so dramatically impact his future and his earning potential in a period of less than a week-and-a-half?

I understand the argument in favor of this rule change. NBA teams have a chance to watch these kids all season long. There are hours and hours of game tape available that allows scouts to breakdown what each and every prospect can do on a basketball court. NBA scouts are at seemingly every single college basketball game involving a potential NBA prospect.

There is much more that goes into picking a player than just breaking down game film. Maybe in a workout, a team finds out that Big Man X has a better face-up game than he was able to display during the season. Maybe Point Guard Y shows that he has a better understanding of how to run a pick-and-roll than he showcased during the season, a play that is much more prevalent in the NBA than at the college level.

NBA teams get a chance to interview these kids. They get a chance to see what kind of work ethic they have. They get a chance to see if they have improved on any of their weaknesses since the season has ended. So much more goes into the process of determining who to pick in the draft than simply studying the x's-and-o's of what a player can do on the court.

"Houston does a combination of physical, athletic & psychological testing that far exceeds what most other NBA teams do," Draft Express tweeted over the weekend. "You can see the results they've had in the Draft the past few years-- Aaron Brooks, Carl Landry, Budinger, etc. Their work clearly pays off."

The kids are the ones being hurt here. Their futures are the ones that are being toyed with.

And it is all so that college coaches can rest easy at night, knowing who they will have and who they won't have on their roster. Remember, this rule was changed last season at the behest of the ACC's coaches, who were tired of waiting until the middle of June -- last year's deadline was June 15th, 10 days before the draft -- to know who was staying and who was leaving.

I don't exactly understand the problem. Its not like these coaches are going to be able to recruit replacements. As we mentioned yesterday, only five players on Rivals top 100 are still undecided on where they want to attend school. More than half of the 80 players that declared for the draft have yet to sign with an agent.

You needn't have taken calculus to realize those numbers don't add up.

The draft process was working. North Carolina won the 2009 national title because three guys pulled out of the 2008 draft. Scottie Reynolds, Patrick Patterson, and 24 other players pulled their names out of last year's draft.

Look through the list of players currently with their names in the draft.

Think about how different the college basketball landscape will be next season when -- not if, when -- kids on that list make the wrong decision to stay in the draft because they couldn't gather enough information.