Depending on who you ask, John Calipari either ruined college basketball, or is one of the smartest coaches in NCAA history.
Calipari has taken the one-and-done rule and turned it into an ever-rotating system of elite prospects, where talented players spend a year at Kentucky before making the leap to the next level.
But now, the Hall-of-Fame coach is working to make the professional leap even easier for high school players.
In an interview with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, Calipari says he has recently met with representatives from the NBA Players Association in the hopes they'll be more actively involved in developing high school players and preparing them for the NBA.
He even suggested the creation of a high school combine.
"The players and the families need to know — here are the ones who should be thinking about the NBA, and here are the ones who should not," Calipari said. "That's why you need a [high school] combine."
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Calipari has been an advocate for student-athletes for quite some time. He believes the ideal system gives athletes as much freedom as possible.
"If they want to go out of high school, go," Calipari said. "If they want to go to college and then leave, let them leave when they want to leave. Why would we force a kid to stay? 'Well — it's good for the game?' It's about these kids and their families. Because let me tell you, if we [get rid of one-and-done], the kids that do come to college will stay for two to three years."
From the collegiate level, the Big East and Pac-12 have sent out proposals to the NBA to end one-and-done.
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver has expressed his support for changing the one-and-done rule. While sweeping changes might recquire a methodical approach, the ultimate decision falls on him — and that change may come closer than fans think.
"It's clear that the college community doesn't seem to want the one-and-done players any more," Silver said on ESPN earlier last week. "Putting aside the self-interest of the NBA, we have to be responsive to the larger basketball community."