Cuban wants players in college longer

Published Apr. 5, 2012 6:23 p.m. ET

foxsports

Add Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban to the list of NBA folks who would like to see college basketball players stay in school longer than one year.

Before the start of the Mavericks' game Wednesday night in Dallas, Cuban said he'd like to see players forced to wait three years after high school before becoming eligible for the NBA Draft.

"It's not even so much about lottery busts," Cuban told The Dallas Morning News. "It's about kids’ lives that we’re ruining. Even if you’re a first-round pick and you have three years of guaranteed money -- or two years now of guaranteed money -- then what? Because if you’re a bust and it turns out you just can’t play in the NBA, your 'rocks for jocks’ one year of schooling isn't going to get you far.

"I just don't think it takes into consideration the kids enough. Obviously, I think there’s significant benefit for the NBA. It’s not my decision to make, but that’s my opinion on it."

Cuban added that during CBA negotiations he proposed that the NBA Draft be expanded from two rounds to four. But when revenue sharing became the dominant issue during negotiations, the draft talk ended.

"I just think there's a lot more kids that get ruined coming out early or going to school trying to be developed to come out early than actually make it," Cuban said. "For every Kobe (Bryant) or (Kevin) Garnett or Carmelo (Anthony), there's 100 Lenny Cooke's."

Cuban was referring to the 6-6 guard who skipped college and went undrafted in 2002. Cooke was widely considered the top prospect in the country at the time.

"I don't think we do it the right way by a long shot," Cuban said. "We shoot ourselves in the forehead."

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