LEXINGTON, Ky. _ Nike announced Friday that the first two sessions of the Elite Youth Basketball League have been canceled due to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, and the NCAA placed a full ban on all in-person recruiting for college coaches.
The Nike EYBL is the premier travel league for high school basketball recruits, producing most of Kentucky's future players over the past few years. It's also the circuit where UK's coaches spend most of their time during the offseason recruiting evaluation periods.
Nike EYBL play was scheduled to begin April 17 in Indianapolis, with the second session set for April 24 in the Atlanta area. Those two weekends also fall during the only two spring evaluation periods that the NCAA has set aside for college coaches to watch prospective recruits.
The first two girls sessions of the Nike EYBL _ set for Hampton, Va., on April 24-26 and Portland, Ore., on May 15-17 _ were also canceled.
The spring periods give coaches a chance to evaluate players they are already targeting, and those sessions often lead to breakout performances for less-known recruits, who accumulate scholarship offers and can rise in the rankings as a result of their play.
The NCAA also announced Friday afternoon that it has suspended all in-person recruiting activities for college coaches in all sports _ on and off campus _ until at least April 15. The NCAA noted that telephone calls and written correspondence between schools and prospective recruits would still be permitted during this period.
Under normal circumstances, the NCAA's recruiting calendar would have allowed for college basketball coaches to continue to have off-campus recruiting contact though the end of March while hosting on-campus recruiting visits though April 3. Such recruiting contact will now be forbidden due to ongoing concern over the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus.
The NCAA had previously scheduled evaluation periods for June _ centered on the annual NBPA Top 100 Camp and USA Basketball events _ before the final evaluation period in July, when Nike's Peach Jam finals and other major recruiting showcases are played.
The SEC announced later Friday that all organized team activities, including competitions, team and individual practices, meetings and other organized gatherings, will be suspended through April 15. The league had previously announced all competition was suspended through March 30.
The Herald-Leader was told that Friday's directives will also apply to any individual workouts between coaches and players, meaning UK's current basketball players _ whether they're thinking about entering the NBA draft or not _ won't be permitted to have in-person, on-the-court contact with the Wildcats' coaching staff during this period.
UK coach John Calipari said Thursday night on SportsCenter that he had planned to meet individually with all of his players Friday, and he said he hoped they would stay in Lexington and work out with the Wildcats' coaching staff as they mulled their next step.
"You need to get back here and let us train you," Calipari said. "And we will spend our time, three times a day if we have to, training you and getting you ready for what's ahead. But you may not know where the end of the road is. ... This is a hard thing for these kids. Think about it."
The draft combine is currently scheduled for May 21-24, with the draft withdrawal deadline for players looking to return to college set for June 3. The NBA craft is scheduled for June 25 in Brooklyn, but with the league activities currently suspended, it's unclear if any or all of those dates will remain the same.
