San Diego State head coach Steve Fisher took some time to speak on the controversial one-and-done rule recently. Like most college basketball coaches, Fisher is in favor of abolishing the rule, but not so players can stick around for another year or two.
According to a report from Nick Canepa of the San Diego Union Tribune, Fisher wants to give high school players the freedom to go straight to the NBA and make a living.
Here’s Fisher’s take from Canepa’s report:“I’m not in favor of restrictions,” Fisher says. “I think people should have the opportunity of employment if it presents itself. Duke won the national championship with three freshmen who are going to be lottery picks. Duke will be good again.
“If a player wants to turn pro out of high school, he should be able to.”
I’m not a fan of the one-and-done. I’d like to see basketball do what baseball does — allow a kid to sign out of high school, but if he goes to college, not be eligible until he completes his junior year. It’s up to the NBA and the players union to collectively bargain it away, and although there’s talk of it, it can’t come up until 2017.
“Maybe it (one-and-done) takes something away from the college and player brand (agreed),” Fisher says, “but I don’t know how much it’s impacted the overall game. It’s a good game now.
“People complain about scoring, but modern technology has done more for defense than offense. There are no surprises anymore in game-planning basketball. I’m all for the (newly installed) 30-second clock, but while it may allow more possessions, I don’t know how much it will affect scoring. They tested it in the NIT, but it didn’t make as big a difference as I thought it might.
“But I am not in favor of restricting kids from opportunities to make a living.”Really interesting that Fisher is in favor of the baseball rule for basketball and you have to wonder if he’s making these quotes in-part for recruiting purposes? Although Fisher has never had a one-and-done player at San Diego State, he has coached plenty of pros over his long career and this is certainly a pro-player take.