Hoops' leaders propose new player eligibility rule to NBA players

Should the NBA limit draftees to at least 20-year-olds, or college players who have finished their sophomore seasons?

That's the big issue swirling around the NCAA's Final Four, the climax of a tournament that featured a ton of freshmen who are considering putting their names in for the draft by April.

NBA commissioner David Stern and Myles Brand, president of the NCAA proposed the rule change on Monday, replacing the existing rule at age 19 which will expire in 2011.

Any change would have to pass muster by the NBA Players Union since it would be part of the collective bargaining agreement.

In the meantime, an army of underclassmen are considering, or have already announced, they will be coming out, including half a dozen freshmen in a draft pool considered to be the best guard talent in draft history.

The guard-heavy draft could make Memphis freshman point guard Derrick Rose or Kansas State freshman forward Michael Beasley the top pick.

If you go down mock drafts, the June 26 draft could include USC's O.J. Mayo; Indiana's Eric Gordon; Arizona's Jerryd Bayless or a host of other underclassmen in the top 30 players taken, pushing ESPN's player of the year, North Carolina Forward Tyler Hansbrough, a junior, down the list and perhaps out of the lottery pick zone.

Throw in the NBA's love affair with foreign players, say half a dozen, and what's left for a prospect like BYU's Trent Plaisted? He is currently weighing options of staying at BYU, putting in for the draft, or testing the waters for a professional career in Europe.

So far, Plasited is keeping his quest for answers to himself. Anything concerning his case is speculation.

Hoopshype.com's mock draft has only one senior picked in the first round, Memphis shooting guard Chris Douglas Roberts. Other prognosticators see the same trend. Freshmen and sophomores may dominate the draft, pushing down all seniors and even juniors like Plaisted and Hansbrough.

In the latest predictions, NBAdraft.net has Plaisted a second rounder, No. 53 to Phoenix. Collegehoops.net has the Cougar No. 46. Draftexpress.com has Plaisted going No. 29 in 2009 if he stays for his senior year.

That site says Plaisted's best case is that he's another Channing Frye; the worst case is he's Jason Smith (CSU).

Monday, I spoke to one of BYU's most financially successful basketball players of late, Travis Hansen, who plays for Dynamo, a Russian professional team in Moscow. Hansen is the beneficiary of going to Europe after being a second-round draft pick of Atlanta.

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