On June 21, 2005, NBA commissioner David Stern announced the league reached an accord with the Players’ Association on a new collective bargaining agreement. The move seemed trivial to few beyond players, owners and die-hard NBA fans.

No strike. No big transaction. Little happened that was even remotely interesting. Except that one provision in the new agreement altered the entire landscape of college basketball.

Apparently frustrated by the increasingly common jump of high school phenoms to the NBA Draft – and NBA franchises’ willingness to gamble on the teenage prospects – Stern implemented an age limit of 19 years old that would require prospective NBA players to play one year in college.

The 2006 graduating high school class is the first group of players the rule effects. It’s a touted class, and the top high school players are preparing for History 101 after Prom rather than Fortune 500.

The result might turn out to be more Carmelos – freshman stars who have a quick effect and jump to the NBA – and less LeBrons – high school sensations who skip college altogether. What’s clear is it will keep the top prep prospects, including Syracuse-bound guard Paul Harris, out of the NBA for at least one season.

The rule will help prevent teenagers from making costly mistakes. Critics question whether instituting an age limit is fair and point to successful players who’ve made the jump, such as NBA stars Kevin Garnett, Kobe Bryant and LeBron James.

But those are the success stories. The rule might be delaying those prospects, but it can help others who aren’t ready. Since Garnett entered the NBA Draft out of high school in 1995, 17 high school players have passed up Division I opportunities and fallen out of the draft’s first round – with its guaranteed money – to either the second round or even out of the draft entirely.

It might also make some highly-touted prospects realize the benefit of college basketball, whether it’s the coaching or the excitement or simply the college experience.

‘There will be a good mix of both (players who will turn pro after one year and those who will stay),’ said Raphael Chillious, the head coach at South Kent (Conn.) Prep, who’s had two of his players, Dorrell Wright and Syracuse native Andray Blatche, skip college and be drafted into the NBA. ‘There’s a small amount of guys, maybe three, four or five guys who are considering leaving early and who are going to make it. But there will also be guys who come to college and figure out I’m not as good as I thought or I love college.’

Perhaps if the rule was instituted a year earlier, Blatche would have been wearing a Syracuse uniform. The 7-footer attended nearby Henninger High School before transferring to South Kent Prep, and SU was among his final two choices. But Chillious indicated Blatche had his sights set on the NBA throughout the entire process.

Greg Oden, the unanimous No. 1 high school player in the nation who most likely would have been the top draft pick, pledged to Ohio State eight days after the NBA set the new rule. Harris, who’s from Niagara Falls but attends a prep school in Massachusetts, was also among the top high school players who were left no NBA option.

But NBA scouts will now have the chance to scout Oden playing against the Big Ten or Harris playing against the Big East rather than mediocre Johnny High School.

‘The age limit will change things because it will allow us to view a player in a better setting surrounded by better players for a longer period of a time,’ said Ryan Blake, the NBA’s assistant director of scouting. ‘When you have a high school kid playing against others, when there’s only a few good players, it’s difficult to gauge.’

Last Wednesday’s McDonalds All-American Game was an indication of the talent injection coming to college basketball next season. Five of the past seven McDonald’s All-American Game MVPs entered the NBA Draft directly from high school. One of the co-MVPs this season, Kevin Durant, is the type of player who would have drawn considerable interest from NBA scouts had no age limit been established. Instead, Durant will attend Texas, a program which reached the Elite Eight this season.

The downside to every big-time prospect entering college basketball is it might spell the end of the mid-major ascension which has become the hot story in recent weeks after George Mason reached the Final Four from the Colonial Athletic Association.

Every player in the McDonald’s All-American Game is going to a school in one of the six power conferences (Big East, Big 10, Pac 10, Big 12, Atlantic Coast, Southeastern). Duke, a perennial national power, has two All-Americans coming, including the event’s slam dunk contest champion, Gerald Henderson. An undecided All-American, Lance Thomas, also has the Blue Devils on the top of his list.

Among the top 100 players ranked by Rivals.com, all but one who has made a college commitment will attend a power conference school. The one who won’t will attend Gonzaga, which is perennially the top mid-major.

‘I think what you’re going to see is one player on major teams that teams have to deal with, like a Rudy Gay or Greg Oden, that will stay at least one year,’ Chillious said. ‘With those type of guys, there will be a gap again between the high, high guys and mid-major guys.’

SU has never had a commit skip college and enter the draft and even the players who have left early, like Pearl Washington, Billy Owens and Carmelo Anthony, did so with reason: All were first-round picks.

But the Orange is a big player for some of the nation’s top prospects, and Harris’ signing and the commitment of Baltimore-area junior, Donte Green, who’s considered among the top players in his graduating Class of 2007, are star-caliber players. Even if they weren’t considering the NBA, SU can rest assured that they don’t have an option.

But beyond SU, the rule is capable of improving the product in college basketball and the NBA. While critics question whether an age limit is fair – the sentiment is if a player feels he’s ready to play and an NBA team is willing to draft him and pay him, then who’s the league to stop it from happening? – the best players can come to college and if they feel they’re ready, they can leave after one year.

There’s no telling whether this will be the trend. But at least the scouts will have the chance to make a better assessment.

‘For us, it’s better to evaluate to find out,’ Blake said. ‘When we’re looking at guys coming into the league from a high school level, it’s a lot of the people around them giving bad advice. You’ll have players who are more developed. Although it may be one year possibly, but they’ll be players that we’ll be able to evaluate better.’

Published on April 3, 2006 at 12:00 pm