According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, NBA Vice President Kiki VanDeWeghe sent a memo to NCAA coaches to inform them that the league is accepting applications to the NBA’s Undergraduate Advisory Committee. The advisory committee, which has been in existence since 1997, gives feedback to prospects on their potential draft stock.
Wojnarowski adds that players may have to make decisions on whether or not to enter the 2020 NBA Draft with a realistic chance that there may not be an opportunity to audition for teams in individual workouts or even in a combine setting. Due do the COVID-19 pandemic, the pre-draft process has become increasingly obscure and unpredictable.
Players may have to make decisions on entering 2020 NBA Draft with reality that there could be no opportunity to audition for teams individually, or attend a combine. The unknown certainly extends to college underclassmen. https://t.co/yQ3b3q3Vof
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) March 17, 2020
Though there are likely a number of prospects who will still declare for the 2020 NBA Draft regardless of their ability to attend workouts or a combine, many prospects — especially those from smaller schools or who play for large programs with multiple highly-touted prospects — use the league’s pre-draft process to separate themselves from the pack.
Not only could it decrease the number of players who declare for the upcoming draft but it could have a significant impact on the types of prospects who would be best served by going through the pre-draft process. Likely, many undergraduate players who see themselves as fringe first-round round picks or on the bubble to be undrafted will find themselves opting to remain in school.