Nix Decommits From UCLA; Opts For NBA G-League

[mvpreed2]

UCLA's top prospect, 5* PG Daishen Nix has decommitted and will be heading to the new NBA G-League modified to attract HS seniors that are looking to bypass spending a year in college.
Nix is now the 3rd prospect in the 2020 class to bypass college to head straight to the NBA, along with ESPNU #1 prospect Jalen Green and #13 prospect Isaiah Todd, a former Michigan commit.

https://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/29108600/five-star-pg-daishen-nix-decommits-ucla-join-g-league

[KansasCityCats]

Could you imagine the outrage if he committed here and backed out?  Everybody would be attacking miller. One less bit of drama to worry about.

I personally love the fact that a kid is going pro, rather than I enthusiastically playing as a one and done.

[mvpreed2]

Could you imagine the outrage if he committed here and backed out?  Everybody would be attacking miller. One less bit of drama to worry about.

I personally love the fact that a kid is going pro, rather than I enthusiastically playing as a one and done.

Technically we did have that happen to us, twice, actually three times right?
Stephen Jackson,Brandon Jennings and Terrance Ferguson.
One entered the NBA Draft instead, and the other two were not going to be academically eligible.

As for Nix, I am sure the raise increase by the G-League from the initial $125K to as much as $500K is going to become another option for HS seniors.
To be able to skip a year of college basketball, play against higher level competition, get more accustomed to a NBA-like schedule/coaching, as well being able to sign endorsement deals is something that is going to attract enough high level prospects.

This move was made to keep American prospects aboard instead of losing them overseas (Jennings/Mudiay/Ferguson/Hampton/Ball).
I am just trying to figure out how the NCAA is going to counteract this new G-League.
The only option would be to allow the student-athletes to make some sort of money off of their likeness.
The biggest question is going to be how is this going to be regulated from player to player, program to program, sport to sport, etc.

[Zona Nation]

[Dryheat]

Why would anyone blame Miller if a kid wanted to earn a living? What people blame Miller for is lack of recent success and lack of control of the program. Kansas-not everyone is like you and never hold Miller accountable for anything; always defending Miller's actions and shortcomings riddled with excuses. I have to give Miller credit for salvaging the incoming class, but I'll wait to see how the coaching and players develop over the course of the upcoming season.

[KansasCityCats]

Seriously?  The half allegiant fans went nuts when Ferguson opted to play overseas. They claimed (on another fan site) that Miller couldn't convince him to play college ball. It's always some excuse to throw at the staff.

Even when UA ruled Shareef academically ineligible (despite Phelps inflating his resume), O'Neal blames the investigation on the recommitment and everybody turned to Miller for not retaining a high end prospect.

I'm sure there are UCLA fan boards ripping Nix AND Cronin now, which is absurd (as you mentioned).

[mvpreed2]

Seriously?  The half allegiant fans went nuts when Ferguson opted to play overseas. They claimed (on another fan site) that Miller couldn't convince him to play college ball. It's always some excuse to throw at the staff.

Even when UA ruled Shareef academically ineligible (despite Phelps inflating his resume), O'Neal blames the investigation on the recommitment and everybody turned to Miller for not retaining a high end prospect.

I'm sure there are UCLA fan boards ripping Nix AND Cronin now, which is absurd (as you mentioned).

I am in agreement with KCC here.
There were some on the old site that did not understand the notion of heading overseas because he was not going to qualify academically; which is former teammate and fellow 5* prospect Emmanuel Mudiay ended up doing for the same reasons.

To have a kid that is not going to qualify does nothing for you.
It is one thing for them to get in, but to KNOW they won't qualify, try to get them in anyway, and play them as long as you can is insane!
Hindsight is always 20/20, but we saw how quickly the PAC-12 ate O'Neal up and he ended using the legacy card on a trip to LSU.

[|ᴘ|ʀ|ʏ|ᴍ|ᴇ|]

Don't forget about Terry Armstrong just last year. Idk if anyone ever did confirm anything on him, but even people in Michigan mentioned subpar academics going all the back to when he was still playing there before he relocated to Bella Vista.
Most fans probably don't give a shit about the kid, but he's the one I wanted to see the most. He likely would have been the most versatile player on the team, and we would have been very difficult to match up with. Oh, what could have been.

Glad to see UCLA get their souls crushed by Nix. They need to know what that feels like. And hopefully Josh Christopher will be the next one to follow. ASU has developed a recent tradition of having 5 star players decommit, so it would just be the right thing to do. Tradition is important.

[mvpreed2]

Damn I forgot all about Armstrong!
Between him and Ferguson, both of them would have been amazing role players here that could have developed into high-impact players by their 2nd/3rd years here.

As for the ASSU situation, it still puzzles my mind why a prospect can hand pick his school of choice and choose to go to ASU.
I have been told the academic qualifications are very "nice" to athletes, but that should not be a problem when his older brother made it into Cal.
Now Cal does lower their requirements for their student athletes, but it still in the top half of schools to get into in the PAC-12 if you ask me.

[ichi]

schadenfreude

scha·den·freu·de
/ˈSHädənˌfroidə/

noun
pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune.

and those fools in LA don't know that Cronin is the best thing that has happened to them since the Wizard, just like those in Tucson looking for the second coming of Lute, having an elite skip the OND bus will be a thing until the NCAA and NBA (and the players union and agents and TV and everyone else that makes bank off the current plantation system) figure out a solution