The chatter of changing the NBA's one-and-done rule is back. This time it applies to Alabama.
As Collin Sexton, the best bet for the program's first draft pick since 2008 enrolls, coaches and the NBA commissioner have reignited the debate over who should go pro and when.
Without the rule requiring at least one year in school, Sexton likely would have gone straight to the big leagues.
Alabama coach Avery Johnson, who said at his introductory news conference one-and-done players were a target, weighed in on the renewed discussion Monday. He said those who choose to go to school should stay at least two years.
"I have mixed feelings about it because I want to do what's best for the player, on one hand," Johnson said. "And I think there are exceptions like Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant and LeBron (James) that can come right out of high school but I just don't want a young man that that's just not his trajectory to not be focused in high school and think he's a kid who can come straight out of high school and go straight to the NBA.
"If we can figure out a way to have those kids that's an exception to the rule where he's a superior talent ... let's do it."
Very early projections for the 2018 NBA draft have Sexton as a top-10 pick before playing a game in Tuscaloosa.
Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski also supports something similar to the baseball model in which players who chose college stay for at least three years. Kentucky's John Calipari has benefitted more than anyone from attracting one-year players. He said Monday that players should be able to go pro before college as long as they get a shot at the NBA, not the minor-league developmental circuit.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has said he's heard complaints about the one-and-done situation from college coaches and administrators. It's been in place since 2005 when the NBA's collective bargaining agreement added a rule banning players from entering the draft straight out of high school. Players like James and Bryant were the stars who ultimately didn't need college for pro stardom, but others like 2001 No.1 pick Kwame Brown never made it big.