2005 was the last year a high school player could have gone straight to the NBA after graduation.
The NBA set a rule that high school seniors have to be one year removed from their graduation class and be at least 19 years of age.
Since that time talented teenagers have treated the college basketball scene like a a resting station.
It's like they are just killing time until David Stern calls their name in Madison Square Garden.
As in any profession, basketball players are ambitious, they can't be blamed for wanting to play at the top of the apex, the NBA. To do so they take advantage of the system.
They turn up on campus, go through the pretense of being a student athlete, but in reality they are just building their own brand.
Some schools open their doors to such recruits knowing full well that they won't hang around for a second year. The trade off is a top ranked team and the chance to be seen on TV all the time, if not a deep NCAA tournament run.
Is Duke one of these schools?
Since the rule change, Duke had only one player leave college for the NBA after their freshman year and that was Kyrie Irving in 2011.
This hardly translates into a one and done factory.
A one and done factory suggests they actively encourage players to come to Duke for a season then rush them out the door to the NBA, as they have another talented class coming in.
Austin Rivers was the No. 1 player in the 2011 recruiting class before being overtaken by Anthony Davis. Today, if any No. 1 rated recruit stays in college past his freshman year without a good reason, they are considered to be overrated.
Will Rivers have to declare for the NBA to earn the respect of his peers? Maybe. He does not have a rock solid excuse like Jared Sullinger, the consensus No.1 recruit of the 2010 class.
Sullinger had the benefit of a looming NBA lockout as his excuse to return to Ohio State. The only way Rivers ends up back at Duke is if he gets injured or does not live up to the hype. At least that's what the detractors will say.
Even if Rivers leaves early, Duke could hardly be viewed as a one and done factory. They brought in five recruits this year, only one has the potential to leave early.
If most of those players leave for the NBA, only then can Duke be considered as a one and done factory.
In the past, Duke's name was linked to several players that were assumed to be one and done players. John Wall and Harrison Barnes. Recently they were reported to be recruiting Andre Drummond.
None of these recruits enrolled at Duke. Obviously coaches are not allowed to talk about recruiting targets. We are not sure if Coach K was really recruiting some of these players.
It is possible that some players do embellish when revealing who is recruiting them. Duke is a prestigious school. A recruit could stand out if he lists Duke as a potential destination. Who knows!
The fact is, no college team can afford to turn a recruit away because he may not stay past a year.
So long as they are cleared to play by the NCAA, there is nothing wrong with recruiting them. Just don't accuse Duke of being a one and done factory.
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