AUSTIN, Texas – Iowa State athletic director Jamie Pollard and Cyclones basketball star Georges Niang had interesting, if predictable, answers when asked about the trending topic of Freshman participation in varsity basketball and football.
Should they begin to be excluded from competition their first year on campus, as commissioners envision?
“I’m a fan of it, but for a different reason that’s been talked about so far,” Pollard said before Saturday’s game at Texas. “If we want to send a message as an industry that we are focused on higher education, the college model, then this is one of the ideas that needs to be seriously considered.”
Should they be ineligible?
“I don’t like that idea at all,” Niang said before practice Friday night at the Erwin Center.
Commissioners from major conferences, including Bob Bowlsby of the Big 12, have floated the topic of discussion over the past two weeks.
“I think there’s a growing interest in robust debate, and I think we should bring it back to the ground and look at it in every way possible,” Bowlsby told CBSSports.com. “I think this is the one change that could make an absolutely dramatic difference in college sports.”
The idea is to return the word “student” to the term “student-athlete” if the NBA does not change its age limit from 19 to 20.
“This is one of many possible changes that could bring back the collegiate model,” Pollard said. “It’s about the college experience. That means going to school.”
One freshman has been the NBA’s No. 1 pick over the past five seasons: Kansas’ Andrew Wiggins, UNLV’s Anthony Bennett, Kentucky’s Anthony Davis, Duke’s Kyrie Irving and Kentucky’s John Wall.
“It would be extremely unfair, especially for these types of talented kids,” Niang said. “That doesn’t sound right. So you’re not going to let Anthony Davis play?”
Freshmen were not allowed to participate in college sports until 1972. Even if the rule changed again, high school graduates could choose to play professionally overseas or in the NBA Developmental League.
“It suits me perfectly,” Pollard said. “Anyone who wants to make money on themselves, I’m all for that, so go for it. That’s why we have arena football, and (that’s what) ) the D-league. Don’t come into our world and complain about our set of parameters. Our parameters are that you are going to be a student.
“We’re in a new era, and this new era says we have a huge intersection of this perception that they’re professional and should be paid. When our industry is being attacked for that, why can’t we say ‘well “, if you want to have this experience, go and have it somewhere else?”
