Potential John Wall twist

[USTGopher]

Was perusing a Wolves forum today and stumbled across this info on Wall and wondered if anyone here could elaborate on this. From what I can read it's a loophole that very, very few high school seniors could sneak through but he appears to be able to if he doesn't graduate high school. It first came up in a Chad Ford chat that I saw and a poster on the Wolves site looked up the rules to check the validity. Anyways here's the excerpt from Chad Ford:


Mike, FL: Is John Wall the No. 1 pick in 2010 Draft. He was awesome at the Hoop Summit game.

Chad Ford: He was awesome and he'll compete with Ed Davis and a few other freshmen for that. However, there is some buzz that Wall believes he might be eligible for THIS year's draft. I've been doing some digging and will be filing a story later today. The short rub is this: Wall is a 5th year senior and depending on how you read the collective bargaining agreement, 5th year seniors are eligible for the draft as long as the turn 19 in the calander year (Wall does). The league is taking a wait and see approach. If he declares, they'll research and make a ruling. If he does declare and is ruled eligible (two big ifs) he's a Top 5 pick in this draft. Maybe Top 3.


And the rules interpretation thanks to Casperkid23:

As far as I know, this "loophole" isn't really a loophole unless he doesn't graduate.

Per my post on KFAN:

However, I've read this part of the CBA, and my understanding is the only way Wall would be eligible for the draft is if he didn't graduate from highschool.

http://www.nbpa.com/cba_articles/article-X.php#section1

The player (A) is or will be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and (B) with respect to a player who is not an international player (defined below), at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the player's graduation from high school (or, if the player did not graduate from high school, since the graduation of the class with which the player would have graduated had he graduated from high school); and

Later section which would satisfy the second part of Wall's eligibility:

(F) The player has expressed his desire to be selected in the Draft in a writing received by the NBA at least sixty (60) days prior to such Draft (an "Early Entry" player); or


Could be a very interesting turn of events that disappoints all the fan bases in the running instead of all but one.

 

[coolhandgopher]

Hmm, that is quite interesting UST, thanks for posting that scenario. Selfishly, I do hope that Wall spends a year in college-I'll have little interest in following him if he goes directly to the NBA and he sounds like quite a talent (addendum-as long as that year wouldn't be spent at Duke). On the other hand, I wouldn't feel too bad if UNC and Kentucky are left wanting too, I have no love for any of the programs and it would be nice to take a break from UNC as Final Four contender and to delay the seeming inevitable fact that Kentucky will soon rise again to prominence. On top of it, it's quite obvious that Wall's stay in college will basically be for one semester, if he does go that route, so philosophically, I don't think the college campus or game will be affected too adversely if Wall does go straight to the pros.

 

[Jim V2]

On top of it, it's quite obvious that Wall's stay in college will basically be for one semester, if he does go that route.

I know very little about Wall, so it's not obvious to me (one way or another) that he won't be able to successfully complete one semester. But conceding that you undoubtedly know FAR more about this than I, and assuming you're right that his academic prowess is that poor, then I have to question how he will ever get a qualifying ACT/SAT score or get through the NCAA clearinghouse to get onto a team in the first place.

 

[USTGopher]

I don't think coolhand is implying that Wall will not be successful on the academic side but more that he is all but guaranteed to be a one and done player if he doesn't enter the draft this year. If he goes to college he will most likely be spending the second half of the spring semester preparing for the NBA draft instead of in a classroom and thus only actually complete one semester of school.

 

[coolhandgopher]

UST is correct, I have no idea of Wall's academic capabilities, but everything I have read about Wall is that he is a surefire "one and done", which would mean he would just need to stay eligible in fall semester to complete his freshman season on the basketball court.

 

[Mikie S]

It could sure help the Tpups. If they luck out in the lottery (it's the Wolfies, I know) a top three pick would almost guarantee them of getting a likely future NBA All-Star at PG, either Rubio or Wall. Even if they have their normal luck, it means an extra prospect will drop to them.

 

[FishingMN]

It could sure help the Tpups. If they luck out in the lottery (it's the Wolfies, I know) a top three pick would almost guarantee them of getting a likely future NBA All-Star at PG, either Rubio or Wall. Even if they have their normal luck, it means an extra prospect will drop to them.

Exactly - Wolves need more talent in this draft with all of the picks they have and what is considered a down draft year.

 

[Jim V2]

UST is correct, I have no idea of Wall's academic capabilities, but everything I have read about Wall is that he is a surefire "one and done", which would mean he would just need to stay eligible in fall semester to complete his freshman season on the basketball court.

I get you now. YOur first quote said his stay in school would be one semester, so I thought you were implying that after one semester he would be ineligible and thus drop out.

 

[coolhandgopher]

No problem Jim, I can see how it could be misunderstood. Seems this whole discussion is moot anyway, according to his "handler" (from draft express, the responses are about 3/4 way down the post:



NBA Draft Roundup, April 15

by: Jonathan Givony - President
April 15, 2009
Draft Buzz

•John Wall Eligible for the 2009 draft?

A lot of people took note of a little nugget dropped by Chad Ford in his chat on ESPN.com today. It reads as follow:

…”There is some buzz that Wall believes he might be eligible for THIS year's draft. I've been doing some digging and will be filing a story later today. The short rub is this: Wall is a 5th year senior and depending on how you read the collective bargaining agreement, 5th year seniors are eligible for the draft as long as the turn 19 in the calander year (Wall does). The league is taking a wait and see approach. If he declares, they'll research and make a ruling. If he does declare and is ruled eligible (two big ifs) he's a Top 5 pick in this draft. Maybe Top 3.

This would be an incredibly important development, considering that Wall is likely the top NBA prospect in this high school class (although Derrick Favors also has a case), and he would immediately move into the top 5 of this draft if he were indeed deemed eligible.

To help us determine that, we went to the exact ruling in the CBA:

The player (A) is or will be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held, and (B) with respect to a player who is not an international player (defined below), at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the player’s graduation from high school (or, if the player did not graduate from high school, since the graduation of the class with which the player would have graduated had he graduated from high school);

One important fact that needs to be resolved is: did John Wall graduate from high school? We made a quick call to our friend Dave Telep, widely considered the #1 expert in everything relating to high school basketball, who happens to based out of the same part of the country that John Wall is in Raleigh, North Carolina. Telep says that Wall “has not graduated from high school yet” due to the fact that he was “reclassified after transferring from Garner High School.” In Telep’s view, Wall “would not be eligible for this year’s draft, since his one year clock has not yet started, based on my interpretation of the rules at least.”

Our understanding is that Wall spent three years at Garner and then the last two at Word of God Christian Academy (not 4+1 as indicated by Ford), which means that he is not a traditional 5th year prep school player, who graduates from high school after four years and then transfers for a year at a University-Preparatory-type secondary school. Word of God Christian Academy is a regular K-12 school, not a prep school, and Wall has yet to receive his high school diploma, which he likely will.

There is an argument to be made that the “if the player did not graduate from high school” sentence refers to a player who has not YET graduated from high school, rather than a player who will NOT ever graduate, since Wall’s original high school class (2008) is in fact one year NBA season removed. But because Wall appears to be on course to graduate—unless he would decide to drop out of school in the next few days (something which could possibly his case)-- it appears unlikely (to us at least) that this rule would be interpreted that way, although an argument can certainly be made otherwise in court.

This is all moot, since it doesn’t appear that Wall has any interest in being a part of this draft class anyway, as Ford seemed to indicate by saying “Wall believes he might be eligible for THIS year's draft”

“There is absolutely no truth to that whatsoever,” Wall’s AAU coach Brian Clifton told us. “No merit at all. John hasn’t talked about it, his mother hasn’t talked about it, and I haven’t talked about it. Outside of the three of us, no one is in any position to speculate about that.”

When asked whether Wall may reconsider if he were indeed deemed eligible for this year’s draft, Clifton didn’t leave any doubt:

“That’s not a question, not a consideration at all. He is going to school, and that has been the plan all along.”

It’s interesting to see Clifton dismiss the NBA so quickly, since there is a decent chance Wall would be a top-3 pick, and he may even go #2 depending on who is drafting. Is he just being coy so as not to scare off any of the college coaches who are recruiting him? Billy Donovan and Florida became the 9th team on Wall’s list according to a recent report. People we’ve spoken to who are close to the situation think that its either NBA teams or an agent floating Wall’s name around as a means to lure him into the draft. He’ll be in New York City this week for the Jordan Brand Classic, so we’ll have a chance to discuss this matter further with him.