Can NBA players be drafted from high school?
In order to be drafted into the NBA, a player must be at least 19 years of age and one year removed from attending his former high school.
From its effect on the standard of the collegiate game to the pitfalls of handing a lucrative contract to a teenager, the practice of drafting players right of high school has been debated at many levels, but as things stand the league and players association continue to hold to the idea that it should not be allowed.
The National Basketball Association decided to stop recruiting in high schools
The NBA and the NBPA prohibits the drafting of high school players beginning in 2005.
According to the terms of the agreement, a draftee must be at least 19 years old and at least one year off from his high school graduation or, if he did not graduate, his expected graduation date.
The birth of “one-and-done”
As you can probably guess, the term “one-and-done” stemmed from the slew of players who essentially did one year of college and then declared themselves available for the NBA Draft. From 2006 there was indeed a large number of athletes who would attend college for a year before dropping out to enter the NBA draft once they were eligible.
The league wanted to improve the quality of play, so they raised the age restriction. As a result, the games in the NBA are more refined since the players are older and more experienced. Additional shine equals extra sizzle, which in turn increases interest from the public and boosts both ticket sales and audience numbers.
There’s also the fact that NBA success is no guarantee of high school basketball glory. Nevertheless, knowing how well an athlete does in college might help project how well they’ll do in the league.
Two years ago, the NBA recommended lowering the minimum age from 19 to 18.
Changes in the present and future NBA draft landscapes would be inevitable should that regulation be passed. The earliest that this regulation might affect the draft is in 2024. Some have proposed a “Double Draft,” in which the best high school seniors in the country and the best college players who were left out of the rule’s benefits would both be able to enter the draft.