Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers was once a shining example for top high school prospects of how the “one-and-done” model of college basketball could work. After all, Rivers was a star player for a year at Duke before becoming a lottery pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.
But he’s no longer convinced that it’s always the best route. Earlier this month, five-star prospect Jalen Green bypassed college basketball to enter the G League’s new professional pathway program, and Rivers said he could see more top prospects going that route in the future.
In a Facebook Q&A with Houston broadcaster Craig Ackerman, Rivers was asked if Green’s move could be part of a new trend for elite high school athletes. This is how the 27-year-old responded:
It’s definitely going to be a new trend, depending on how well it goes for Jalen Green. If these guys go into the G League and are able to be solid, play decently well, be accepted, and then go high in the draft as a top two or three pick… players are going to be like, ‘Why wouldn’t I do that?’
Because then if you go into the G League, they can get paid other things. Shoe contracts can already start. It’s just going to open up doors. I think NCAA basketball as a whole has been exposed over the past couple years, just in terms of how much money these colleges and people running it are making, and how these players are being treated in general.
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While Rivers was able to parlay his success at Duke into becoming an NBA lottery pick, he then pointed out that he’s an exception to the usual rule.
“I’m fine,” Rivers said. “The guys who are the 0.01 percenters who are only going to college for just one year, it makes no difference.” He continued:
But you’ve got to understand the 99.9% of college sports, they go to college for four years, they graduate, and they’re like, ‘What now?’ They’ve given their bodies and everything, and they haven’t made a dollar. A lot of them leave and don’t have an idea of what to do, and it’s tough. I think some players are now going to go that route, if they can go to the G League right away and fast track their way of making money earlier for their family.
Rivers said that while playing internationally is also a longstanding option, he sees that as too logistically cumbersome for most prospects. However, the G League program could be different.
“You saw a couple guys go overseas, but that’s just way more of a move,” he said. “That’s a long way to go, flying across the world. That’s just different. But this is interesting. I never thought I’d see something like it.”
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