Tom Izzo, men's basketball coach
Michigan State University
USA Today

"This is a question I ask myself once in a while. Who's winning? I don't believe the NBA is winning. I don't believe the colleges are winning. I can't believe the kids are all winning. One or two, or five or six, winning for a while. Are they winning battles? Are they winning the war? I don't believe they're totally winning. So then it's the outside people that must be winning. I mean, who's winning?

"In the meantime, we'll keep beating the bushes, looking for a 7-footer that's good enough to play but not good enough to go."

Billy Donovan, men's basketball coach
University of Florida
Florida Times-Union

"I think the NBA is making a legitimate statement when they say they'd rather see these kids get developed (in college) than sit on the bench for an extended period of time (in the NBA). If you look at the NBA playoffs, you look at Allen Iverson, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, Kobe Bryant, Kevin Garnett. These are all young kids that have come either out of high school or spent one year in college and are now the superstars in the NBA. As long as these NBA teams are going to take the chance on high-school kids, it's going to keep on happening."

Lon Kruger, coach of the NBA's Atlanta Hawks
Chicago Tribune

"I don't think the NBA benefits at all from kids coming out early. I think the NBA would be much better off if the kids were more developed, more mature, further along. Certainly the NBA isn't positively affected by it. Nor are the colleges. And, interestingly enough, neither are the players. Who benefits from this?"

Cedric W. Dempsey, NCAA president
Atlanta Journal and Constitution

"We've had many discussions with (NBA commissioner) David Stern on this topic. And we've come to the conclusion that any fundamental change in the process will have to come from the NBA side. All we can do is educate a young player on his options and what the realities are out there."

John Thompson, former men's basketball coach
Georgetown University
New York Times

"(W)hen asked by those opposed to the NBA's proposed rule that would deny entrance to anyone younger than 20 years old by what right I would deny a 19-year-old (or a 15-year-old) his immediate shot at the NBA, I answer by the right society has to improve itself by encouraging education. ...

"As a society, we are creating a new disenfranchised segment of the population, because we are baiting young men into following role models who have avoided college in the pursuit of wealth. This inexperienced, badly undereducated group (how much do your grades in high school mean if you don't plan on college?) are increasingly reliant upon 'advisors' -- agents, lawyers, family members and acquaintances -- rather than upon themselves. ...

"While I would be the last person to deny the importance of money, we need to keep the bigger picture in mind. Teaching young people that education is unimportant and may be skipped in the pursuit of money hurts everybody. Because of basketball's popularity, failing to adopt some rule that stems the tide will flood the nation with this lesson in a way that baseball, hockey, golf and tennis never could. We need to motivate young people to pursue education, not avoid it.

"Although the NBA's 20-year-old rule stops short of demanding that kids stay in school, it at least puts us on a path where we have the time to get out the message of the importance of education. I'd ask those who oppose it why they are so eager to live in a world of the undereducated. I'd also ask why they are so eager to keep the floodgates for young potential open at the expense of experience.