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Kansas coach Bill Self thinks one-and-done rule should be eliminated

By Tim Gardner, USA TODAY
Updated

With the NBA negotiating a new labor deal amid the lockout that took effect last week, one college coach hopes the new deal addresses the one-and-done rule in NCAA hoops.

Kansas coach Bill Self thinks the one-and-done rules should be eliminated. He hopes the NBA's rule, which requires players to be 19 years old and one year out of high school to enter the draft, be amended.

The way Self sees it, according to the Lawrence Journal World, players should be allowed to enter the draft out of high school. But if they choose to attend college, they should be forced to stay for three years.

"I'd say leave (for NBA) out of high school or stay three years in college," Self said, according to the Journal World.

Self said that his reasoning isn't because the one-and-done rule has hit Kansas' roster the last few years, but that the issue is more about the players, not the schools.

"I don't like what is in place now. It's not because we've had two one-and-dones the last two years. Some people have had more. I don't think what we have is fair to the kid. We say, 'Come here to get a degree and help us win, and in turn, when the time is right, we'll support any decision you make.' That's what we'll say whether it's one year or two years. The mind-set some kids have coming in is they can be a one-and-done guy. I can understand that. It's the landscape of where we live and what we do, but it's not the way it should be."

Self acknowledges that certain players are ready for the NBA level straight out of high school, but he openly wishes that there was help for them to make the right decision. If that decision is to go to college, then they should have to stay for more than a year -- and preferably three years.

"I wish there was some committee saying, 'OK, if this kid is thought to be a certain pick, then he would be allowed to go,'" Self said. "There wouldn't be bad decisions. Then after that, I wish we had the baseball rule (players must stay three years if they don't turn pro out of high school)."

Self also said that recruiting would be improved by such a move with schools not feeling pressure to sign a certain type of recruit in a short amount of time.

"It (staying 2-3 years) would change the whole dynamics of recruiting," Self said, "because you won't be trying to sign the next guy to replace that guy (one-and-done) when you don't even know if that guy is leaving or not. You'll have a better feel for it."

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