North Carolina coach Roy Williams has never had an underclassman declare for the NBA Draft with the intention of “testing the waters” — not hiring an agent and leaving the door open for a return to college.

But this season, it may make more sense — and cents — than ever.

A new NBA rule allows underclassmen to work out for NBA teams and have their travel expenses paid while retaining their amateur status. According to a March educational document from the NCAA — which is meant to be signed by players planning to “test the waters,” as well as their coach and compliance officer:

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“You may tryout with an NBA team during the academic year if you are enrolled full- time as long as you do not miss class. You may receive actual and necessary expenses from the NBA team in conjunction with one 48-hour tryout per team. The 48-hour tryout period begins when you arrive at the tryout location. At the completion of the 48-hour period you must depart the location of the tryout immediately in order to receive transportation expenses.”

If the tryout lasts more than 48 hours, the player must pay the additional expenses. In the past, players who declared for the draft but wanted to retain the option of going back to school has to pay for their own airfare and hotel rooms.

UNC underclassmen Tyler Hansbrough, Ty Lawson and Wayne Ellington have until Sunday to decide whether to enter their names for the draft; they would have until June 16 to pull out.

"If we do it the right way, we're going to get a lot of information, and I don't really know that you can gain much more by, quote, 'testing the waters,' " Williams said last week.

“So I feel pretty secure with what we're doing. But that's not to say that I wouldn't ever have a player do that, but we haven't felt that it was necessary so far."

By last Friday, he planned to have had contact with 18 different NBA teams.

04/23/08 at 12:49
Doing it the "right way" would be working out for teams, not letting Roy talk to teams. Players get feedback as to what teams are looking for, and teams get an unfiltered view of the players' potential.

If the Roy method is more effective that the NCAA's, then why isn't it the standard? Why isn't the NCAA (or the N&O) investigating or at least regulating these "contacts" Williams has with the NBA? Yet another way UNC writes the rulebook to suit its needs and everyone else allows it.

04/23/08 at 13:27
All college coaches that check on early entry to the NBA for their players do the exact thing that Roy Williams is doing. He is not getting any preferential treatment. He is using the guidelines that are in place for this.

04/23/08 at 14:01
Agreed, no preferential treatment or rule-breaking. Dean Smith used to call his NBA contacts on behalf of players as well. Neither one strikes me as a selfish coach who would lie to his players to get them to stay. Both Dean and Roy have good records of sending underclassmen and graduates to the NBA.

04/23/08 at 17:09
I see it as making a decision and standing up for it. If you're finished with playing college ball, then declare for the draft and turn pro. If you're not, stay in college. Williams is doing his best to give the players impartial information. He's not putting words into the NBA contacts' mouths. He's getting information particular to each player, and passing it on to that player. With that information..why would they consider that no agent angle. If you've got information saying you're a shoe in round 1 pick, it all depends on where you are going to go in round 1. If it's where you'll think you are going to top out whether you stay are not, just declare, quit going to class and start working out for teams full time in advance of the draft.

04/24/08 at 12:51
I don't have a huge problem with providing an opportunity for players to "test the waters" in this way. Many of these kids have an unrealistic view of their prospects and this is a chance for them to get a dose of reality before they make an irrevocable decision.

However there is a legit argument to be made that a major part of life is making decisions and living with the consequences, good or bad. Of course, this flies in the face of the politcal rhetoric that you'll be hearing in the next couple of weeks, which is that if things don't go your way or something bad happens, it has to be someone else's fault.

(Sorry, the all-encompassing media coverage of the Democratic Presidential campaign has pushed me over the edge and into the abyss.)