The NBA has announced that college players will now get a second chance to enter the NBA Draft, which is now set for Oct. 16. Players will have until Aug. 17 to declare, and after declaring they will have until Oct. 6 to withdrawal from the draft.
With that announcement, the Olivier Sarr situation just became much more suspenseful. Sarr decided in the first period of entry into the draft that he would withdraw from the draft and come back to school. Whether Sarr will decide now to declare for the draft again is a new option for the Wake Forest transfer, but even more this announcement can impact the NCAA’s decision on whether to deem Sarr eligible or not.
Kentucky’s seemingly biggest argument seemed to be that Sarr, once he withdrew, did not have enough time to make a decision on returning to the draft once his former head coach at Wake Forest, Danny Manning, was fired. Due to this, the argument would be that Sarr came back to play for Manning specifically, but now that he is fired, the big-man transferred to Kentucky.
Before the announcement, that argument was likely to win considering how many transfers have been granted eligibility so far by the NCAA, but now that Sarr has another chance to enter the draft, that position could become nearly irrelevant.
So, does Kentucky change their argument? Does Sarr re-declare for the draft? Will the NCAA have mercy and just deem Sarr eligible considering the rule change to soon be put in place by the head association of college athletics would deem him eligible anyways?
We shall see.