Top Prep Prospect Bill Walker Ruled Ineligible for '06-07 High School Season

Bill Walker, the top rated player (by scout.com) at this year's ABCD camp and teammate of O.J. Mayo at North College Hill (Cincinnati High school) and the D-1 Greyhounds (Cincinnati based AAU squad), has no predecessor. Nobody has first-hand experience of what to do in his situation. There is no book written on what to do for the select few that have already participated in 8 high school semesters of varsity basketball by the end of their "junior years", thereby becoming ineligible to play in their senior seasons, after the new "no high schoolers allowed" rule was ratified in the NBA.

There are two issues at hand.
One is whether or not he should be draft-eligible in 2007. To clarify, the "no high schoolers allowed" rule was something that was included in the new NBA Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA), signed last July. David Stern and his cronies wanted to include this clause in order to effectively eliminate the flow of prep-to-pro prospects to the NBA, a phenomenon that was beginning to flood rosters with callow talents. The section of the CBA that I am referring to reads something like this: "(i) The [domestic] player (A) is or will be at least 19 years of age during the calendar year in which the Draft is held... at least one (1) NBA Season has elapsed since the player’s graduation from high school (or, if the player did not graduate from high school, since the graduation of the class with which the player would have graduated had he graduated from high school)," according to nbapa.com. This rules high schoolers that take the traditional route through school eligible for the NBA draft only after their freshman years of college.

As far as Bill Walker is concerned - superficially, it does appear as if he should be draft eligible in '07. He will be 19 years old - according to multiple sources, Walker's birth date is October 9, 1987. The grey area is the "if the player did not graduate from high school, [one NBA season must have elapsed] since the graduation of the class with which the player would have graduated had he graduated from high school" segment. Walker was technically a "senior" this past year, but was taking classes as a junior due to a transcript error made when he changed schools a few years back. Commissioner of Ohio State Athletics, Dan Ross, explains, "Based on the information we have received, Bill has exhausted his eligibility because he has participated at the high school level for eight semesters, which is the maximum permitted according to our bylaws." Therefore, it looks like he could be eligible for next year's ('07) draft.

NBA spokesman Tim Frank believes that the NBA has a legitimate case in trying to keep Walker out of the 2007 draft. He says, "It's when you graduate (or when your class would have graduated), not when your eligibility is up," Frank said via e-mail. "So just because Walker is ineligible [to play high school basketball], he still hasn't graduated, so his class is the 2007 class." Still, though, it is debatable when Walker "should have" graduated.

Michael McCann, a Harvard Law School grad, offers this on the subject: "An honest interpretation of the CBA dictates that conclusion: His high school class would have graduated, and he would satisfy the requirement that he be at least 19 years old during the calendar year in which the 2007 NBA Draft is held. I believe that the NBA would ultimately recognize the expertise of the Ohio High School Athletic Association (which presumably knows its schools better than the NBA), because if it doesn't, it may unwittingly invite Walker to challenge the age restriction in court, something which the NBA likely wants to avoid."

The second issue at hand is what Walker will do between now and the 2007 draft (or college... instead of entering his name in the draft, as long as he "qualifies," he will be able to go to college - he has heavy interest in Kansas State). He has a few options to consider, none of which are proven to be better than the other (remember, Walker has no predecessor). The likely options are as followed:
1) Go to a prep school (NCAA does not count "5th year" prep schools as high schools), such as South Kent Prep (Ct.) or the Patterson School (N.C.)
2) Train on his own or at a specialized facility, such as Florida's famed IMG Academy
3) Play in a domestic lower level pro league such as the CBA
4) Go overseas

It will be interesting to see which route Walker chooses to go, for it will set the precedent for those who will run into a similar situation after him. O.J. Mayo (born 11/5/87 according to a few different sources) is already considering attempting to get into the 2007 draft as well (he has "soft-verballed" to USC, though sources say he will make the jump to the NBA if the opportunity is there); he was left back a year in (supposedly) 7th grade (I can not confirm the year). Mayo's case is much weaker than Walker's, as he was held back long ago; Walker actually had enough credits to be a high school senior last year, whereas Mayo did not.

We will now stand by and watch how the story unfolds.

Special thanks to Michael McCann & "Sports Law Blog" for supplying helpful information for this article!