A.J. Abrams is heading back to Texas by taking his name out of the NBA Draft. If there was anyone out there that I was hoping would stay in the draft, it was him.
I'm not saying that to slight Longhorn fans. In fact, even if he stayed in the draft, he may have still played for Texas next season anyways. Ya see, an underclassman can enter the NBA Draft and still play college ball.
If Abrams, as was kind of projected, went undrafted and still didn't sign with an agent ... he would have 30 days after the draft was held to go back to school. He would -- in the NBA's eyes -- be a undrafted free agent and able to sign with whomever he wanted whenever he wanted.
You may remember that Kentucky's Randolph Morris did this a couple years ago. Morris entered the draft but didn't sign with an agent. He kept his eligibilty requirements (which were heavily scrutinized by the NCAA) and when he went undrafted ... he came back to Kentucky for his sophomore season. Due to the NBA's collective bargaining agreement, since he entered the draft and no one selected him, he wouldn't be able to enter any future NBA drafts and was, in their eyes, a free agent.
Once the Wildcats' season ended, he signed a two-year deal with the NBA's New York Knicks and was immediately available to the team. If the Knicks (or any other NBA team) came with him with an offer at any time during Kentucky's season, he still would have been able to sign it and play for the team. Of course, that would immediately end his college eligibility and he couldn't play at Kentucky anymore.
So, in a selfish way, I wanted to see someone take the same route. Abrams looked like the best shot (aside from UNC's Danny Green, who didn't look as if he was seriously entering the draft).
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