Aaron Harrison and Michael Qualls were 6-foot-6 basketball players this past winter who earned spots on the All-Southeastern Conference second team.
Now they have something else in common.
Harrison, who played two seasons at Kentucky, and Qualls, who played three at Arkansas, are among the 18 underclassmen who were not selected in last month's NBA draft and cannot return to college. Former Florida forward Chris Walker and former Alabama and North Carolina State guard Trevor Lacey also got bypassed after leaving early, but the NCAA is looking to reduce these occurrences.
Georgia head coach Mark Fox celebrates after a basket during an NCAA college basketball game between Georgia and Vanderbilt on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015, in Athens, Ga.
Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings yells to his team in their game on Feb. 21, 2015, in Nashville.The NCAA men's basketball oversight committee has a proposal that will allow players to maintain their college eligibility after they declare for the draft. The proposal would be tied into an invitation-only NBA draft combine in May, at which NBA team officials would evaluate and inform hopefuls of their potential at the ultimate level.
"If they're not invited to the combine, that sends a pretty clear message," Kentucky coach John Calipari said on a recent SEC coaches teleconference, "but for this to work, we have to let the kids come back to school if they're not invited to the combine or if they're told they need to come back to school. I think it's all good stuff, and I think we're finally moving in a direction where it favors the kids, and that's what we should be doing."
Underclassmen who attend the NBA combine would have up to 10 days before the draft to render a final decision.
Should the proposal be approved by NCAA membership in January, it could be adopted before the 2016 NBA draft. The new rule would not fix the instances of draft hopefuls who have abandoned their academic work or even those who miss being among the 60 players selected by a pick or two, but the problem is evident when 18 go undrafted.
Kansas forward Cliff Alexander was a top-five signee in 2014 who left after one season with the Jayhawks and didn't have his name called at the draft.
"I think it would be great to extend this deadline and give kids a chance to get as much information and feedback from the NBA as possible," Georgia coach Mark Fox said. "Hopefully these prospects and student-athletes will listen to the NBA people and not all the people on the outside, which can lead to poor decisions. So many guys have gone out early and either not get drafted or had very, very short careers."
SEC coaches are in favor of the proposal, even though they're the ones who could be put in a pinch.
"If you don't know if you're going to lose a kid and he decides to come back, obviously there could be scholarship issues," Vanderbilt's Kevin Stallings said. "Can you give his scholarship away and then he takes his name out of the draft? That would be a difficult part, and I think baseball goes through that quite a bit."
Said Fox: "Pushing it back another month is really not going to impact the ability to find a good player. It's not ideal for the programs, but it's best for the student-athletes, and unless we authorize over-signing, you're just not going to be able to avoid that."
Fox also pointed out that the proposal allows players just one opportunity to enter the draft and withdraw. He believes they should have multiple chances.
New SEC commissioner Greg Sankey believes the proposal is another example of the NCAA looking after the student-athletes, and Arkansas coach Mike Anderson finds the timing ironic. The acrobatic Qualls had an eye-popping 91 dunks during his time with the Razorbacks but was considered a borderline draft prospect.
Last month, while working out for the Phoenix Suns, Qualls tore his ACL and had all his draft hopes dashed.
"It's one of the deals that until we experience it, we don't know," Anderson said. "I'm all for helping the student-athletes, even if it puts us in a situation where we have to wait and wait. If the players are not invited to the combine, it sends a clear signal that you're not one of the guys that they're considering."
Contact David Paschall at dpaschall@timesfreepress.com or 423-757-6524.