GLENDALE, Ariz. (AP) – The teenager who plays hoops for a year in college and then leaves for the NBA used to be part novelty, part nuisance.
These days, it’s as common as a 3-pointer and as acceptable as your office bracket pool.
Once the domain of Kentucky, Duke and few other select schools, the so-called one-and-dones now come from all over the country.
The run on freshmen in the 2017 NBA draft has the potential to go a dozen deep before an upperclassmen’s name is called. They’ll come from Tobacco Road at Duke and the Great Northwest in Washington. Only one of the dozen-plus freshmen – Gonzaga’s 7-footer Zach Collins, if he goes – will be able to say he played for the NCAA title, but that doesn’t really stop anybody.
“There’s lots of different ways to build a program and build an elite program,” said Gonzaga coach Mark Few, whose team plays North Carolina in Monday night’s title game. “You can do it through attracting the greatest talent out there, or you can do it by getting good players and develop them and get them to play together.”