While this project is meant to look at the NBA’s limit on when players can turn pro, it’s also important to compare the policies of other pro sports. Here are some of the major ones:
Baseball: MLB has an interesting dual system. A player is allowed to enter the draft right after graduating from high school, and even later on as long as they don’t attend college or junior college. For those that decide to go to college and play, they are eligible to enter the draft if they are at least 21 years old and have completed at least their junior year of school. In addition, any junior college player can declare for the draft, regardless of how many years of school they’ve completed.
Much like the decision of Brandon Jennings to play in Europe for a year before entering the NBA draft, high school phenom Bryce Harper is taking a different path to the MLB draft. Harper, a 16-year-old standout catcher in Arizona, is forgoing his final two years of high school to earn a GED and enroll in and play baseball at a community college. Harper’s plan will make him eligible for the MLB draft as early as 2010 and could set a precedent for others, much like Jennings did for Jeremy Tyler and Latavious Williams.
Football: To be eligible for the NFL draft, a player is required to be either three years removed from their high school graduation or graduation of the class year with which he entered high school, whichever is earlier. There isn’t an explicit minimum age enforced by the NFL, which explains Amobi Okoye’s unique situation.
Okoye, then 19-years-old, became the youngest player ever taken in the first round of the NFL draft when the Houston Texans selected him No. 10 overall in 2007. After immigrating from Nigeria, Okoye tested into the ninth grade as a 12-year-old, which allowed him to graduate high school at 15, and at 16 become the youngest player in college football.
Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett tried to challenge the NFL’s draft policy in court but failed. I’ll examine this case more closely in the next few days as part of an interview with Clarett’s lawyer, Alan Milstein.
Hockey: The NHL may have one of the more complicated draft eligibility policies, but it still allows far more flexibility for youngsters than the NBA or NFL. Any player who turns 18 by Sept. 15 and is not older than 20 by Dec. 31 is eligible for the NHL draft. Further, any non-North American players over 20 are eligible. North Americans who are not drafted by age 20 become unrestricted free agents. All non-North Americans have to be drafted before they can be signed by an NHL team, regardless of their age. Finally, a rule change in 2004 allowed for 18-year-olds from NCAA Division I schools to be drafted and still be able to maintain college eligibility if they don’t hire an agent or play for a pro team. Many of the NHL’s best players, such as Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin, got their start in the league while still teenagers.
Freddy Adu started playing in MLS at the age of 14 with DC United. He is now a regular on the USA men's national team.
Soccer: MLS doesn’t really have any age limits as the draft is open to anyone who declares for it. However, players that put their names in are knowingly giving up some or all of their college eligibility. The league signed then-14-year-old Freddy Adu (AP photo) to a contract in 2004, so age is not a very big issue in professional soccer. In many ways, MLS follows what European clubs do in snapping up the best talent irregardless of age.
Arin Karimian
