Mike Miller College basketball editor • E-mail

For once, college basketball got a boost from the NBA. Not a big one, but a boost nonetheless.

Mike Davis, Tom Izzo, Thad Matta and Skip Prosser just upped their recruiting efforts for Indianapolis high school star Greg Oden.

Mike Krzyzewski, Tubby Smith and Roy Williams are doing the same with Nashville, Tenn., forward Brendan Wright. Lon Kruger, Rick Pitino and Bill Self can fully concentrate on Lynwood, Calif., star Davon Jefferson, because, finally, they know that these guys will play college ball.

When the NBA and the players’ association hit on a new collective bargaining agreement Tuesday, part of the deal was setting a minimum-age limit for the draft — which ends the exodus of prep players directly to the NBA. Before, players were eligible when their high school class graduated. Now players must be at least 19 by draft night and they must wait at least one year until after their high school class graduates (so, technically, some players could be in the NBA at 18 if they graduated high school at 17).

Think of players like Sebastian Telfair at Louisville instead of waiting on the Blazers bench for some playing time. Or Dorrell Wright starring for DePaul rather than sitting on the Heat bench. Robert Swift at USC, not with the Sonics. Even someone like Al Jefferson, who played a significant role for the Celtics, would have turned Arkansas into an SEC power last year.

It’s not a perfect solution — more on that later — but it’s preferable to what’s been in place. Especially for the college game.

It means colleges get 2006 high-school graduates like Oden, Wright and Jefferson for at least one year, maybe more. After all, Connecticut forward Charlie Villanueva seriously considered declaring for the draft out of high school. Instead, he spent two years at UConn, won a title and gave fans a chance to watch a player who otherwise would’ve been sitting on an NBA bench. The odds that Oden stays in school after his freshman year are small, but a guaranteed look at one of the best center prospects in the last 10 years is priceless.

(Especially to Ohio State fans. Matta has commitments from two other top 25 recruits, guards Daequan Cook and David Lighty. Getting Oden would make the Buckeyes among the teams to beat in 2006-07.)

Especially to the team that eventually signs him. Think of Oden in these terms: Carmelo Anthony.

Oden’s “once-in-a-lifetime” label as a player that can carry a team to a title is well-deserved. He’s received LeBron-like attention for the last three years thanks to his size, footwork, athleticism and work ethic. He’s the kind of player that coaches crave and fans love.

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So if he attends school for one year and delivers a title, he’s in that Carmelo mold. And the NBA would love that development. Yes, it excludes someone like LeBron or Dwight Howard, who were ready for the NBA. But surely they can hold out for one year.

The downside of the agreement? It’s far from a solution.

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