National Basketball Association

NCAA president fires back at Ben Simmons, who said college felt 'like wasting time'

Published Nov. 15, 2016 2:43 p.m. ET

Brett Pollakoff

Ben Simmons spent one season at LSU before going on to become the No. 1 pick in the 2016 NBA Draft, but it wasn't because he had his sights set on a college education.

Simmons was merely showcasing his talent in the states for league personnel while he fulfilled the NBA's minimum age requirement. The rule states that a player must be 19 years old and a year out of high school before he can become draft-eligible, and that makes for a one-and-done college scenario that essentially mocks the educational system.

In a documentary for Showtime chronicling Simmons' LSU season, he was very outspoken against the unfair treatment that so-called student-athletes receive from the NCAA, and made it extremely clear that he had no interest in attending class during what he perceived to be solely an NBA audition.

“I feel like I’m wasting time,” Simmons said, via SB Nation. "It really was a joke. It was a class about preparing for better study habits or skills. I’m going to the NBA next season. So why bulls--- if it’s not going to help me?”

As it turns out, NCAA President and former LSU Chancellor Mark Emmert is no fan of the rule, either. But he wants the blame for the one-and-done setup to be placed where it belongs.

“I was reading today where someone who played basketball at LSU was very unhappy with the one-and-done rule," Emmert said, via The Advocate. "That’s not our rule. That’s the NBA’s rule. But (he says) it’s another stupid NCAA rule."

"If someone wants to be a pro basketball player and doesn’t want to go to college, don’t go to college,” he said. “We don’t put a gun to your head. First and foremost, it’s about being a student at a university. We’re in the human development business."

Academically, this setup doesn't help either side. But universities receive a financial benefit from getting top-level talent for a season -- which is something the documentary demonstrated, and Simmons sharply criticized.