Amateur athletes often make misinformed decisions when declaring for the draft and once they decide, there’s no going back.

Until now.

ESPN’s Andy Katz reported Wednesday that the NCAA, through a proposal by the men’s basketball committee, could have a new system in place by next season that allows college basketball players to change their minds and return to school a week after declaring, if that’s the best option for them.

Under the proposal, which was a coordinated effort by the NCAA, the National Association of Basketball Coaches and the NBA, underclassmen would be allowed to attend the Chicago pre-draft combine in May, get evaluated by team personnel and given a true reading on their draft status. The players would then be able to decide if they wanted to stay in the draft or return to school. They couldn’t sign with an agent, though.

Newly-appointed SEC commissioner Greg Sankey likes the idea of college football following the same path, allowing players to go through combine workouts with the NFL’s help before deciding which option is more suitable for their career — entering the draft or returning to school after declaring.

As it stands, no football player is allowed to return to school once they’ve declared at the mid-January deadline. In recent years, nearly one-third of all underclassmen who have declared haven’t been drafted.

“It’s not something that has been made portable for other sports,” Sankey said according to The Sporting News, “but I would not forgo that that direction could be pursued.”

Alabama’s Nick Saban touched on the idea earlier this spring, but provided an alternate route to help players make better decisions.

He offered that only players with a third-round grade and higher should be invited to the combine, and that underclassmen should be able to compete in a mini-combine to get a more accurate draft grade projection before they declare.

“The way it’s going right now, I don’t think the NFL really wants all these guys coming out for the draft. They know they can develop better in college if they stay and play more, unless they’re going to be high draft picks,” Saban said. “It’s difficult for them to develop players the way they practice now, so if a player’s not a high pick, it’s much more difficult for them to develop as an NFL player. I even made the point that if we’re not going to do something like (an underclassman combine), maybe if a guy doesn’t have at least a top-three-round grade, you don’t even invite him to the combine.

What say you, SEC fans? Do you like the idea of players having options after they’ve declared for the draft?