Mike Brey: 'One And Done' To Be Gone By 2020
The recommendations released this week by the Commission on College Basketball — on which Notre Dame president Rev. John I. Jenkins C.S.C. served — have the intent to help clean up at least some of the cesspool that has become part of the recruiting culture in the sport.
How it will come to fruition will be pending in the ensuing years. Many times with such commissions, including the Knight Commission formed in 1989, a popular Lou Holtz line comes to mind: “When all is said and done, more gets said than done.”
The commission, comprised of former college coaches, former college and NBA players, university presidents and athletic directors, spent seven months addressing and outlining the myriad problem areas.
One of them was the “one and done” deal where instead of a top high school player going directly from high school to the NBA, as luminaries such as Kobe Bryant or LeBron James did in their time, the NBA since 2006 required at least a year buffer between high school and the NBA before making the jump.
It has become a charade for the players to major in “eligibility” the first semester before playing for the school four or five months and then leaving right after for the NBA draft.
“It undermines and gives mockery to the very idea that these kids are coming here to get a degree,” Jenkins summarized.
Notre Dame head coach Mike Brey was encouraged how much the NBA was positively involved in the discussions to help end the current system.
“I really believe in 2020 the one-and-done will be gone,” Brey said. “The first group the commission brought in was the NBA. I firmly believe that [NBA commissioner] Adam Silver and the Players Association feel it’s time and want to help.
“[College basketball has] been an unbelievable farm system. They had it good with us — they need to help us a little bit now, and I really believe they feel it’s time.”
Players can still leave after competing one or two seasons in college basketball if they so desire, and Brey doesn’t foresee a system such as that in baseball or hockey where a player is required to compete at least three years at the collegiate level.
A new dynamic also includes foregoing college and opting to enter the NBA development program known as the G League, sponsored by Gatorade (hence the “G”). Last month, 6-9 five-star Syracuse recruit Darius Bazley decided instead to go directly to the G League to begin his potential future NBA career.
“This is going to happen down the road and become more common,” Bazley told Yahoo Sports’ Shams Charania. “Someone has to start the fire — and I believe I’m going to do that, and it’s very important to me.”
Brey believes this will become a trend, and has no objection to it.
“The money is going to improve [in the G League], and I think that’s a great option,” Brey said. “Some guys just don’t want to go to college. They want to practice their craft at age 18 right out of high school. That’s fabulous. The G league will be attractive because the money will improve…
“I think that’s a great option instead of faking it and going to college, because you don’t really want to be there. You do have that option to earn [in the G League]. It’s not over-the-top money, but it’s good money.”
The Irish head coach also gives the thumbs-up to prospects entering their name into the NBA Draft prior to their senior year (or junior and sophomore) with the option of returning to school if they do not get selected.
About five or six years into his Notre Dame tenure, Brey (embarking on his 19th season) came to accept that the school likely will not attract the upper tier talents (top 10 to top 25) that a Duke, Kentucky or North Carolina will.
Not that the Irish didn’t or wouldn’t try — as they are now — but the culture at the school and in the basketball program centered more on development over four or even five years where a high basketball IQ and teamwork will have a chance against superior NBA-level talent.
Thus, his target market in recruiting has been more amongst the top 50- to 150-ranked players per year. His most recent All-American, senior forward Bonzie Colson, was ranked No. 145 by Rivals. The two full-time NBA players from Notre Dame in the NBA this year, Jerian Grant and Pat Connaughton, were Nos. 105 and 128, respectively.
The highest ranking over the past 15 years was local product Demetrius Jackson (No. 38), who turned pro after his junior year in 2016. Current freshman D.J. Harvey was No. 51.
While the incoming five-man freshman class — guards Prentiss Hubb, Robby Carmody and Dane Goodwin, plus forwards Nate Laszewski and Chris Doherty — is promising, there also must be some context: These are not Duke-like freshmen, a la a Marvin Bagley this past season. Laszewski is rated the highest at No. 53, while Carmody, Hubb and Goodwin are in the high 80s to 107.
In contrast, the incoming Blue Devils class features the nation’s No. 1, No. 3 and No. 5 players in R.J. Barrett, Cameron Reddish and Zion Williamson — plus the No. 12 prospect Tre Jones.
The incoming Irish freshmen don’t have future lottery picks written all over them, and maybe not even an NBA career. But down the road, they too can develop as juniors and seniors the way the back-to-back Elite Eight teams did in 2015 and 2016, or even in the manner that graduating seniors Colson, Matt Farrell and Martin Geben did over four years.
The projected changes in the college game doesn’t mean it will be easier in recruiting for Notre Dame. In fact, it could be more challenging.
“It’s interesting because those people that recruit ‘one-and-dones’ are now going to recruit the same pool we recruit, so maybe it will be more competitive in our recruiting,” Brey said.
“If the one-and-done rule was in [this past year], a couple of those institutions wouldn’t have much of a recruiting class. Those guys would be gone [to the NBA] and we’d probably be banging heads with them. It makes me think about our recruiting when that changes.”
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