Tuesday, April 14th, 2009 at 5:06 pm  |  51 responses

Will John Wall Even Go to College?

by Ryne Nelson

There’s been a lot of John Wall talk this year, and this here is its crescendo folks.

The nation’s No. 1 prospect wasn’t eligible for the McDonald’s game due to a bum provision that bars fifth-year seniors for playing. He threw down thunder on The World at this weekend’s Nike Hoop Summit. He even managed to indirectly cause NC State’s athletic department to violate the First Amendment (more on this later). Oh, and he now might be going to the NBA in a couple months.

Check out Tom Ziller’s detailed report for more of the nitty gritties. What ultimately will determine Wall’s NBA eligibility is his graduating class. Can he be considered part of the Class of 2008? This article of the Collective Bargaining Agreement is what League officials will have to mull over should Wall apply for early entry into the 2009 Draft.

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);

If the goal of the one-year out of high school provision is to better prepare players, I’d bet on the League declining Wall’s application… and then quickly working to make it two years out of high school/20-year-old age minimum.

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  • http://slamonline.com/ Ryne Nelson

    No. 1 pick overall if he’s eligible IMO.

  • http://www.hibachi20.blogspot.com BETCATS

    JOHN WALL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • mr. carter

    Go on!…bust…

  • http://www.slamonline.com Ryan Jones

    That’s why he couldn’t play at McDonald’s — past his eighth semester, therefore not eligible because (essentially) “his” class was ’08. Would LOVE to see this pop in the League’s face.

  • http://slamonline.com Yknot

    Wall and Hamilton got robbed. Gotta love
    Miles Brand.

  • Tyler Whitcomb

    3rd or 4th pick overall this year and early favorite to be number 1 next year.

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com DP

    Based on what I saw for the remaining two minutes of the world-usa game, Wall is ready to do some damage right now. play wit it.

  • http://aol.com truf

    Gitties?? Ryne, u mean gritty?

  • http://slamonline.com/ Ryne Nelson

    Truf, would you be *my* editor from now on, please? ;-)

  • http://nbacheapseats.blogspot.com Chendaddy

    No. 1 over Blake Griffin?? This ain’t no Derrick Rose/Mike Beasley II.

  • http://nicekicks.com MeloMan13

    LET HIM GO. wow i didnt kno Jihn wall was older than me. it makes me feel better about myself

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    If he gets into this draft, he probably won’t go number one over Griffin, but probably top 5…Also, IF he does make the leap, I agree with Ryne that the league will probably hustle like hell to make it two years or were gonna be seeing a lot more 5th year seniors trying to come straight to the pros.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    the L is fvcked. how can they not say that his class was 08 when mickey d’s ruled him out because his class was 08?! them lawyers gon get real creative in a hot second.

  • RBGdUP

    kid is a beast, you know, i think he might be trying to play the loopholes. he’s got a million schools on the list, and he really seems to be indifferent, usually kids will be leaning one direction or the other. Maybe he will declare or at least appeal for the NBA Draft. Interesting situation. I’d like to see him play in school for a year, but if he can get it done more power to him. I don’t think its fair that Ricky Rubio who just turned 18 is able to declare and not our guys.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Izzo

    I was hoping he’d come to Europe,but this is waay better.

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  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYa5u-lPS8c MooButter

    Forget the L John, come to Baylor anyway! We need you!

  • knock knock

    lmao at these guys thinkin hes real good..i dont see any prep players lately including this john wall who would be good in the league. the worlds? the game where usa LOST. Just because he’s the number one player in his class dont really mean anything..besides that hes number 1 after 5 years in high school LMAO. not impressive.

  • http://www.broy7.com/roy/index nate the great

    iv seen videos of john wall, and man he is simply amazing, and i saw the usa thing, and man o man he is awesome!
    i cant wait to see him in the league.

  • http://www.triplejunearthed.com/dacre Dacre

    Morning all…
    I just came back from McDonalds for breakfast… I think JWall just served me up a large OJ and two sausage and egg mcmuffins.
    O_o

  • kwame

    why did he do a 5th year of high school instead of going to college?

  • http://hibachi20.blogspot.com/ Moose

    ^Either his grades were bad, or he went postgrad (PG) to polish his game for the next level. Or he was secretly aware of this rule.^

  • Kozmic

    Imagine he secretly knew. I like this guy. Stick it to them desperate SOB’s lookin for a couple of extra dollars. Wall to NBA. Yezzur

  • http://itsadcthing.blogspot.com Squad

    wait, Paul Wall is black?

  • Dave

    Probably one of the last two – unlikely a basketball phenom would have bad grades in high school.

  • john wall

    school’s for fools.i want to play for mike D’antoni.I’m made for broadway.”broadway john” baby, book it.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    The People’s Champ!

  • Quail

    but… but… but… i wanted him to go to kentucky too. Cousins, Patterson, Wall and Jodie (if he comes back) would be dominant.

  • http://rocketmail.com V

    He actually is in 5th-year of eligibility because he started playing varsity in the 8th grade. That goes out to all you fools making jokes about him being dumb and all that.

  • chintao

    Stern should be careful. I smell a discrimination lawsuit in the works.

  • http://www.slamonline.com Justin Walsh

    V, he’s not dumb, but it’s not an 8th grade thing.

  • so…

    So if he dropped out of high school he’d be eligible? That’s the way I read it.

  • http://www.for-sports-sake.blogspot.com/ Faz

    Imagine how good college would be for this kid. It’s a shame people don’t use the opportunities they have in the US. If he went to college, he could improve on his game (which is already amazing anyway), learn something else except basketball and become a role model for a lot of kids everywhere. I would love to see this kid go pro, but one serious injury in the league and ya’ll would forget he even existed in a couple years. Get a degree dude if you can dude or at least get into to college!

  • http://Courtcred.com Coop

    Slam should have covered to Knoxvegas Heat tournament. Courtcred.com was there and saw Noah Cottrill, Jelan Kendrick, Ian Miller, and more. We have player interviews from the tournament coming soon.

    Courtcred.com!
    Courtcred.com!
    Courtcred.com!

  • Cdub

    All i have to say is john is extremely talented but maybe he should talk to Sebastian Telfair About how hard it is to jump directly out of highschool to the league as a point guard.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    Faz: He could also shatter his leg in a million pieces and never make a penny. There are lots of benefits from going into the NCAA, but he’s risking 50-100 million every year he stays in college.
    Just saying.

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    Now if he declares for the draft and forgoes college and breaks his leg the first game, he still has made around five million of guarenteed money. You see why college isn’t entirely smart?
    I think the age limit rule is great for the game. I think it’s terrible for the players.

  • underdog

    No way the League allow this to happen.

  • http://www.for-sports-sake.blogspot.com/ Faz

    Jukai: True. What you said makes complete sense. But depending on the influences he has in his life, and his level of financial aptitude 5 million could be blown away in no time. Then after he has spent his money and people realise he ain’t as good as they thought or injury occurs (Hypothetically speaking) – what is he gonna do? The media may portray someone as stable with a good family. But money changes everything, even the best families and smartest kids. Families get greedy and everybody around you become YES men. Education is incalculable dude. Hundreds have opted for the millions and end up with nothing but memories. At least the kid can say he got a degree out of all of it! Anyway. I am on you side on this one. Millies sound great to me. But it would be great to see more educated black people, rather than has-beens’ you know. Especially when you have the best injury rehab available at the university and you grow to understand the nature of the professional aspects of the game more. Ask anybody who opted to go to college, VERY VERY few will say it was a mistake. You make a great point though!

  • http://www.for-sports-sake.blogspot.com/ Faz

    Underdog: The league is very capable of allowing this to happen! If it can happen, you know they will allow. It about how much money he brings to the leagues and how many tickets and shirts he sells. Organisations eat kids like this for breakfast son. Once it happens, I just hope all these other kids are not dumb enough to make it an option. Being a 20 year old dude in high school would suck for real.

  • http://nicekicks.com MeloMan13

    Jukai is on point

  • carlosd

    John should come to AZ wildcats and continue it’s tradition as POINT GUARD U

  • http://sfdjilf.com Jukai

    Faz: They can always go back and complete your degree after a career ending injury. It’s not like once you enter the NBA draft, you suddenly can’t get a degree anymore.

  • Raleigh’s Finest

    Wall will more than likely go to the NBA which is probably the best for him. He can get in the league and pay for his education in the offseason. But from what I’ve heard he can’t pass the SAT so who knows…

  • http://ittakesanationofmillionstoholdthissac.blogspot.com ciolkstar

    I know Jordan Hamilton has committed to Texas, but by this logic, if Wall is eligible for the draft Hamilton would be as well… right?

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  • nastierthanyou

    Kid’s nasty but We are losin alot of folks in chapel hill including a phenom pg. Love to see him in a carolina uni.

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  • Will

    He will go to college, he promised his father(who is deceased) and his mother that he would attend college. I heard him say that in an interview at the Jordan Brand Classic game this past weekend.

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