2019 NBA Draft: Key dates and rules

[MomofMUltiples]

There is a lot of bad information floating around on the draft this year regarding continued NCAA eligibility for early draft entrants.  I did some searching and found what I believe to be the most credible documents on this:

https://www.hoopsrumors.com/2019/04/2019-nba-draft-dates-deadlines-to-watch.html

https://ncaaorg.s3.amazonaws.com/enforcement/2019ENF_NBAMemo.pdf

(the bottom link is an NCAA memo that was linked to the top article.)

Some interesting takeaways:

* Early entrants have until Friday, April 11 to request an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee

* An undergraduate who enters the draft without requesting an evaluation by the UAC forfeits his NCAA eligibility

* The top 40 candidates who are not invited to the combine will be invited to the NBA G-League elite camp

* Early entrants cannot miss class to go to team workouts or other events that are not the Combine or the G-League elite
   camp. (An odd rule, it seems - as one writer put it, If an engineering student had an interview at Apple, he could certainly
   miss class to go to the interview)

*  It appears that early entrants must still withdraw from the draft by May 29 in order to maintain their eligibility.

So by this, I would expect an announcement from Markus by Friday if he is exploring early entry.

[Silent Verbal]

I don’t think the “missing class” thing is unreasonable.  To the Apple example you gave, the Combine *is* the job interview, and it seems like players are allowed to miss class for that.  The rule is there to prevent guys from declaring and then flying out to LA (or wherever their agent is based) and working out with trainers there until the combine happens, which seems to be what most players will do once they’ve declared.  With this rule, they’ll at least still have to be students if they want to keep alive the possibility of coming back.

[The Hippie Satan of Hyperbole]

My recollection is that Ethan Happ took all of his classes online last Spring so he could pretty much workout wherever he wanted. 

[MU82]

It appears that early entrants must still withdraw from the draft by May 29 in order to maintain their eligibility.

This is my understanding, too.

There was a push to make it so an athlete could actually go through the draft and then still return to college if he didn't like where he was drafted (or wasn't drafted at all), but I do not believe that rule was formally adopted.

Correct, all you draftniks and/or NCAA experts?

[tower912]

Latest SI NBA draft projection does not include Markus. 

[wadesworld]

Markus would not be a first round draft choice.  I think he might be a late second rounder.  Does he just want to start making money?  If so, he can go and hope to make a roster out of camp, and then either go to the G League or overseas and make some money if he does not.

I don't think the G League is where Markus will be able to develop his point guard skills.  I think that'd be more of what we saw last season, but with an even less disciplined atmosphere.  And trying to go overseas to develop and then make an NBA roster a couple years down the road would be a very difficult task.  If his dream is to make (and stick in) the NBA my opinion would be his best chance to do that would be return to school and talk to Dominic James about becoming a floor general senior year who controls the game rather than a guy who looks only to score.  Markus is an infinitely better shooter and scorer than Dominic so when it comes time to take over a game Markus will have that ability, but to make the NBA he needs to be able to see the court better than your average NBA center, and right now he does not do that.

[MuMark]

Nm

[MomofMUltiples]

This is my understanding, too.

There was a push to make it so an athlete could actually go through the draft and then still return to college if he didn't like where he was drafted (or wasn't drafted at all), but I do not believe that rule was formally adopted.

Correct, all you draftniks and/or NCAA experts?

82, I’m only an expert researcher but another NCAA document I read said that the ability to return if undrafted would decode effective only if the NBA adopted a new rule that said undrafted early entrants would not be eligible to join the NBA until after the next draft. It seems that this rule didn’t get passed. Likewise, a rule that would allow high school players to hire agents will not be effective until the NBA changes the draft age requirements.

[rocky_warrior]

* Early entrants have until Friday, April 11 to request an evaluation from the NBA Undergraduate Advisory Committee

One nit, I don't think Friday April 11 exists in calendar year 2019.

[ZiggysFryBoy]

My recollection is that Ethan Happ took all of his classes online last Spring so he could pretty much workout wherever he wanted.

Not at the prestigious UW@Madison!  Shocked! Shocked!!