Arizona AD Dave Heeke takes a stand on basketball commission's recommended rules changes

The movement to implement the Commission on College Basketball’s recommendations could begin this week, when the Pac-12 and several other conferences hold annual meetings in Scottsdale.

As the athletic director overseeing one of college basketball’s marquee programs — and one of many involved in the federal investigation into the game — Arizona’s Dave Heeke could be in the middle of it.

After a fan function outside McKale Center last week, Heeke said he supported the commission’s recommendations, which largely paralleled those of the Pac-12’s own task force.

“I believe we’re at a point of time where we need to closely examine the sport of college basketball,” Heeke said. “This is another step forward in addressing some really problematic issues in the sport.”

Here’s where Heeke said he stands on some of the commission’s key recommendations, in his own words:

• Heeke supports maintaining the NCAA’s amateurism guidelines, which prohibit athletes from being paid to play or for endorsements.

“I’m certainly very supportive of student athletes and providing them with the support necessary to meet their goals and be successful. But I’m a huge college model proponent. Amateurism is important to me and there are tremendous benefits to being a student athlete that sometimes get swept under the rug to a degree. We forget the value of a college experience, of obtaining a college degree, of being immersed in a college lifestyle, growing up as a person and being on platforms that are incredible.

“Let’s not forget that the opportunity to play at great places like Arizona, to excel at your sport, is a great benefit. That’s something that elevates you to a level where you can do other things with that and that may be an ability to professionalize or monetize it. I get pretty passionate about that. I’m a student-athlete experience person and I believe that — while looking for ways to improve those experiences — we should closely guard the college model.”

• He supports commission recommendations to allow players to receive advice from agents in high school and return to college if not taken in the NBA Draft — even if it means UA coach Sean Miller might have to hold open roster spots until the end of June.

“The devil’s in the detail a little bit on those but I think we should allow athletes across the board the opportunity, like any student or any other person, to get all the advice necessary financially with advisors so they can make the very best decisions. And I think we can create some model that allows people to explore that option to go into the draft. If it doesn’t work out, why shouldn’t we accept them back?

“Now, there needs to be a commitment. Maybe you can only do that once in a three-year period or once you do it, you have to come back and commit that I’ll be there for X years. We need to work though that. But why not? Why wouldn’t we do that? Because all we do (now) is continue to kind of force these things underground and that causes stress and strain in the sport.”

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• Heeke and the Pac-12’s own task force support a “baseball-style rule” that would require players to remain in college for three years if they choose not to turn professional out of high school. The commission recommended against such a rule because players could be kept in school against their will and become “magnets” for corruption.

“I get that but … you make a commitment and again, this is combining an education, college experience and athletics. You go play for championships, you play for schools and you play for teams, you get to know your teammates and all those things that I think are important. I’m not trying to control anyone’s life but you’ve gotta have something that you can hold the programs together with.”

• Heeke agrees with the commission’s plea to the NBA and its players association to end the “one-and-done” rule that essentially mandates athletes spend a year in college — unless they play pro overseas or in the G League — because they can’t be drafted until they turn 19 and are a year removed from graduation.

“I don’t like it because I think it holds the universities hostage to be a means to an end. Then we all have to work through that when we know these are very short term relationships. We’re just not designed for it, that’s all.”

• Heeke says his belief applies even though Arizona wouldn’t theoretically have fan-pleasing talents in the future such as Deandre Ayton, who arrived last season as a one-and-done and now could be the No. 1 pick in the June NBA Draft.

“It’s all relative. If the 10 or 15 best players move to the professional ranks there are other stars. There are other success points that are centered around the program that bring attention to it. We’re still gonna have championship teams. You can still compete at the highest level. All of those things.”

• UA already has a program funding former athletes who want to complete their degree after they’ve finished playing for the Wildcats. The commission recommended all schools provide such funding for athletes spend at least two years in school, then leave.

“We’re committed to help people finish their degrees at Arizona no matter what. It’s kind of a case-by-case but we have a program that we continue to fund. We work with donors for a degree completion program. It’s not exclusive just to pro athletes or people who leave early. It’s all of our athletes who leave for some reason and they don’t get a degree in that four or five year period.

“It’s always in our best interest to bring them back to get that degree. That’s ultimately our goal … How we get that on a more national level? That’s hard for some schools that don’t have revenue streams like some of the power five. Even on the power-five level, that’s a hard investment to make.”

• The commission recommended stricter allowable penalties for rule-breakers and said school presidents and ADs “cannot be permitted to turn a blind eye” to infractions, but Heeke said he already expects to be held accountable.

“I don’t know the details of that recommendation but they want to make sure that people are focused on ‘we’re all in this together,’ that the coaches ands administrators make sure our programs have integrity, that they’re held accountable. I think that’s our job already. We’re already responsible for that and accountable for the outcomes. We have the systems in place. And if we have the systems in place we can say we did everything we could to maintain the integrity of our athletics program.”