The pleasant side effect of the mad dash for cash is ameliorating the pro basketball development pipeline, one long prone to premature harvesting and eating its young. Instead of fleeing for an uncertain NBA future, talented college players possess the option to run it back on campus, where they can get paid, improve their craft, and show up at the NBA’s doorstep more prepared.

It’s a win, win, win scenario.

The top of NBA drafts are still likely to be littered with one-and-done players like sure-shot No. 1 pick Cooper Flagg of Duke, the pride of Maine. But for players on the first-round fence or the outskirts of lottery land, there’s a choice. That played out last Wednesday, the deadline for players to opt out of the draft and maintain college eligibility.

There were 106 early-entry candidates (including international players) for the 2025 draft, to be held June 25-26. That was the lowest in a decade (2015 had 91) and down from 195 last year.

According to the NBA, 50 players — all but two of whom played college basketball last season — withdrew by the May 28 deadline. (The NBA’s deadline to withdraw as draft eligible is June 15.)

That potential sea change might not be great for the Celtics, who possess picks No. 28 (first round) and 32 (second), but it’s good for a basketball ecosystem ravaged by the vicious cycle of ill-prepared, inchoate, and immature players flooding the draft pool each year and leaving holes in college basketball rosters.

“This year’s draft class more than any ever has been affected by the NIL and affected by the new pay-for-play,” Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens told NBC Sports Boston, “but I think that this draft more than any other will probably be affected by that, as far as the backend of the draft and even into the late first [round] people will have really hard decisions to make.

“Do I come to the NBA and make this much money, slotted for this many years? Or do I take a huge payday from some school? And that’s the world we live in.”

It’s a world where college players don’t have to choose between getting compensated for playing or prioritizing improvement.

Assuming the settlement in the landmark House vs. NCAA case is approved, power conference schools will be able to (officially) pay athletes, with each allotted approximately $20.5 million. The bulk of that will go to football and basketball.

Coupled with the transfer portal, college players enjoy unfettered free agency thanks to NIL. The NCAA and its president, former Massachusetts governor Charlie Baker, detest that depiction of the system, but that’s effectively what it is — a free market.

Instead of being assigned to an NBA locale and slotted into a rookie contract, players can spark an NIL bidding war and choose their destination. Call it college basketball capitalism.

Rookie salaries prescribed by the NBA collective bargaining agreement get lower with each pick. Flagg will earn about $11.5 million in his rookie season, but the 17th pick is set to make $3.5 million — a number sought-after college players can approach in the NIL market.

Every pick after the 20th selection is projected to make less than $3 million as a rookie, and only the first two years of rookie salaries are guaranteed for first-round picks. That’s why some prominent prospects extended their school days.

Among the high-profile college basketball returnees:

⋅ Alex Condon, the fourth-leading scorer for national champion Florida.

⋅ Associated Press second-team All-American PJ Haggerty, who transferred to Kansas State.

⋅ Houston point guard Milos Uzan, who helped the Cougars reach the national title game.

⋅ Highly recruited class of 2024 guard Boogie Fland, who transferred to Florida.

⋅ Auburn freshman sensation Tahaad Pettiford.

⋅ All-Big 12 first-team forward Darrion Williams, who transferred from Texas Tech to North Carolina State.

⋅ University of Kentucky leading scorer Otega Oweh.

⋅ Labaron Philon, an SEC All-Freshman team selection.

⋅ All-Big Ten center Nate Bittle of Oregon.

You don’t have to be Dick Vitale to know those names if you’re passionate about college hoops.

The apotheosis of this NIL-fueled trend is Michigan big man Yaxel Lendeborg. One of the most sought-after transfers in the country, Lendeborg landed in Ann Arbor from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. A versatile forward, Lendeborg piqued the interest of NBA teams, drawing first-round buzz.

Last season, he joined Larry Bird (heard of him?) as the only Division 1 college players ever to compile 600 points, 400 rebounds, and 150 assists in a season.

When Lendeborg pulled out of the draft, he offered a statement thanking Michigan coach Dusty May for his patience with the process and “the Champions Circle collective for making this opportunity possible.”

That’s the NIL collective bankrolling University of Michigan athletes. Michigan’s NIL money was the siren song luring Lendeborg back to school.

Some will find that unsavory, but this is the new reality. The presence of Lendeborg and his brethren in the college game represent a rising tide that should lift all basketball boats.

That’s the silver lining of the NIL golden goose.

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Christopher L. Gasper is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at christopher.gasper@globe.com. Follow him @cgasper and on Instagram @cgaspersports.

When former Michigan TE Jake Butt speaks, the college football world listens. And that is not because he was one of the best tight ends the Wolverines have produced. Butt, a two-time All-American and Big Ten Tight End of the Year, went on to play at the NFL with Denver before turning to the analyst seat at Big Ten Network.

Nowadays, Butt’s got the platform, the credentials, and a front-row seat to the chaos of the NCAA dealing with NIL legislation. The NIL era has changed college football. And while it is sweet for the players cashing in, it has been messy for the NCAA trying to keep up. And according to Butt, the NCAA’s grip on the game is slipping.

“NCAA’s Inability to Enforce” — Jake Butt Exposes NIL Dilemma Amidst Power Four’s New Proposal

Jake Butt was recently on an episode of “Next Up” podcast with Adam Breneman, and he didn’t mince his words. What’s the biggest pain point in this whole NIL saga? As Butt puts it, “The hypocrisy and the disconnect in how the rules get enforced.” And this is not coming from someone on the sidelines.

Butt has been on the field and has been through the maze. As he laid it out, there was always money moving behind the curtain in college football, even long before NIL deals were above board. However, now the NCAA’s acting like a traffic cop in the middle of a Formula One race. And no doubt, that comes with the fear of being sued.

“They’re just scared to death. Because they have been getting sued, and they’re basically paralyzed,” Butt claimed.

Currently, the Power Four conferences are proposing a new College Sports Commission to take over the NIL side of the NCAA. The commission will introduce a revenue-sharing cap and have a committee in charge of policing NIL deals for “fair market value.”

Now that sounds good on paper, but the schools that sign this can’t sue the new commission. And if they don’t like the rules, well, too bad, or the school can step out.

And that is where Jake Butt’s frustration cuts deepest. The NCAA, in his eyes, has already lost control.

“I don’t know what they can do—seriously,” he admitted. Looks like even the Power Four proposal is not convincing enough. Butt seems to think that the only way is for the players to step forward.

RELATED: Georgia HC Kirby Smart Exposes Wild $20,000-Per-Month NIL Deals For High School Commitments

As Butt sees it, “The players almost have to propose a CBA… because otherwise, the NCAA can’t be the first to bring this. They will just simply get sued.”

Here, Butt is referring to the House v. NCAA settlement, where $2.78 billion in backpay is on the line and the future of roster limits, Title IX, and NIL disclosures are being hashed out like a last-minute play call.

If it all falls apart, states like Tennessee already have laws that could bulldoze over NCAA policies anyway. And so, as power players scramble, conferences realign, and legal threats loom, Jake Butt’s idea does not sound bad at all.

While college football is changing by the minute, one thing remains painfully consistent: “hypocrisy and disconnect” still seem to be running the show.

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ATHENS, Ga. – Oklahoma State dropped a 12-5 contest to Duke in its opener at the NCAA Athens Regional Friday night at Foley Field.
 
With the loss, the third-seeded Cowboys fell to 28-24, while No. 2 seed Duke is now 38-19. OSU will face fourth-seeded Binghamton in an elimination game Saturday at 11 a.m. (CDT).
 
The Cowboys smacked four home runs in the loss, with Kollin Ritchie, Garrett Shull, Ian Daugherty and Brock Thompson all going deep, but left nine runners on base in the game.
 
Mario Pesca took the loss on the mound to fall to 7-3 on the season. The right-hander worked three innings, allowing nine runs on nine hits with two walks and a pair of strikeouts.
 
Brennan Phillips was strong out of the bullpen, finishing the final five innings on the mound and racking up a career-high eight strikeouts while allowing three runs.
 
Duke jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the second inning. Following a single and a hit by pitch, a double by Sam Harris brought both runners home. Later in the frame, a two-out single plated the Blue Devils’ third run.
 
The Blue Devils rallied for six runs in the third to extend their lead. Ben Miller got things started with a solo home run to lead off the inning, and Duke tallied five more hits, including a pair of two-run homers, to take a 9-0 advantage.
 
OSU got on the scoreboard in the fifth as Ritchie delivered his 11^th homer of the season, a no-doubter to right field, and added its second run in the sixth when Shull went deep for the third time this year.
 
The Cowboys plated three runs in the eighth, cutting their deficit to 12-5, as Daugherty delivered a solo homer and Thompson smacked a two-run blast over the wall in right field.