Daye pursues NBA

A note in the dead tree edition of the O says Austin Daye is making himself available for the NBA draft, but not hiring an agent, keeping open the option to return. Hope he gets picked high.

Well,

He will have to decide well before he is actually picked whether or not he is going to stay in the draft. He unfortunately cant just go, get drafted... then change his mind.

There is a drop dead date that underclassmen have to either pull their name out of the draft, or stay in and hire an agent.

the procedure isn't quite so clear anymore. The NCAA restrictions on what kind of advice a player can seek is also eroded.

If the agent is an attorney, a court recently ruled that the NCAA can't restrict a players right to counsel and ordered the NCAA, which it called "an unincorporated business association" can no longer punish players who seek attorneys.

N.C.A.A. Ban on Lawyers for Athletes Ruled Illegal

So, if he was feeling the least bit adventurous, he could reap the benefits of legal advocacy in the draft and still retain his eligibility.
There appears to be nothing the NCAA could do about him hiring an attorney and the attorney consulting with an experienced agent, either.

That rule is far more pertinent when it comes to MLB. I would imagine that Daye has entered his name in order to be eligible to participate in the pre-draft camp to get a handle on where he stands. Of course he will consult with someone, but if money changes hands he will not be back at Gonzaga. The rule you are referring to has to do more with contract negotiation than determining potential draft status.

Come on Austin!

Patty Mills has declared as well, but (of course) not hired an agent:

http://www.mercurynews.com/sports/ci_12161320

aleppiek wrote:That rule is far more pertinent when it comes to MLB. I would imagine that Daye has entered his name in order to be eligible to participate in the pre-draft camp to get a handle on where he stands. Of course he will consult with someone, but if money changes hands he will not be back at Gonzaga. The rule you are referring to has to do more with contract negotiation than determining potential draft status.

Well, if you read the ruling, it has to do with the NCAA restricting right to counsel in any situation. It doesn't seem to be restricted to MLB. The judge said that a player has a fundamental right to counsel.

The judge also sternly rebuked an N.C.A.A. rule which could penalize a university or a student for complying with the terms of a court injunction if that injunction was later reversed on appeal.

“Student-athletes must have their opportunity to access the court system without fear of punitive actions being garnered against themselves or their institutions and teams of which they belong,” Tone wrote, adding that the rule “takes the rule of law as governed by the courts in this nation and gives it to an unincorporated business association.”

The only risk is that it hasn't been tested elsewhere.

Luke Harangody at ND has now done the same - declared but no agent. Funny, because Pargo did this last year, and I thought it effected his game tremendously this year - negatively. It seemed that he was always thinking about what he needed to do to improve his draft stock instead of just playing ball. I could see this effecting daye like this as well, but we'll see.

Geez,

I think the real point of the ruling was that the NCAA was not allowing an athlete to consult an attorney when negotiating a contract to play professionally. This really is only the case in Baseball as a player does not have to submit his intent to be in the draft, whereas in Basketball you are only eligible to be drafted if you declare yourself eligible. An attorney is really not required to determine draft status.

Yeah, but until June 15, it used to be you had to talk to teams about what they both expected and just guess at where you would be drafted, then gamble on that. Now you can have your attorney talk to teams about where you will go in the draft an use it as a negotiating tool.

Do they still have the rule that you can't return to college the second time you declare?

Daye and Mills are both sophomores, right? Them declaring this year makes me think that neither is going to stay all four years now.

Matty,

Yep the rule is still that you can test the waters once, 2nd time you have to stay. You would have to think that if they don't go this year, they definitely will next year.