As said in RealGM Wiretap yesterday, the NCAA board of directors decided Thursday that high school players can now declare for the NBA draft, be drafted, and still retain their college eligibility.  But the surprising detail, Robyn Norwood of the Los Angeles Times is reporting, is that the group determined that the rule will take effect this season.

This means that a team like the New York Knicks could draft a player like Amare Stoudamire who could then turn around, go to college for three seasons, win the National Player of the Year, and then join the Knicks as a developed talent without having to go through the draft once again.

While the NCAA was earlier under the impression that a player?s rights would stay with the team who drafted them for one year, the NBA?s Collective Bargaining Agreement states that a team would retain a player?s rights until one year after his college career ends, and the player will not be allowed to enter back into the draft.

The rule would have been beneficial for players like Korleone Young (drafted by Pistons), Leon Smith (drafted by Spurs, traded to Mavericks) and Ousmane Cisse (drafted by Denver), players who were drafted straight out of high school then faltered in their NBA ambitions for one reason or another.

As long as a player does not sign a contract or hire an agent they are able to retain their eligibility, meaning that a player who was unsure of his draft status could take a punt and see where they would be selected, if at all.  If they go into the second round or not at all then go to college and becomes a top prospect they will have gambled away their chances to become a lottery pick while the team which took a chance could land itself a steal.

This would not be an entirely new situation for NBA teams, with some facing similar situations in the past after drafting foreign players.  The Chicago Bulls drafted Toni Kukoc in 1990 and had to wait until 1993 for Kukoc to arrive in America, while Arvydas Sabonis ? who many consider to be the best European ever to play in the NBA ? was drafted by the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1985 draft and did not arrive in the NBA until 1995, his career peak missing the spotlight of the NBA faithful.

"We're only talking about a few high school kids," Marty Blake, the NBA director of scouting, said. "Somebody thought a bus was going to deliver 100 high school kids. It hasn't happened."