Draft Pick To College

College Basketball’s Eligibility Issues

Photo by Ryan on Unsplash

This season for college basketball began like any regular season, multiple upsets, new true freshmen who were changing the game and new teams who were breaking out onto the scene. However, the Baylor Bears started their season worse than usual. The Bears were 10-2 overall, but were just 1-2 against Power 5 opponents. For the Bears, this could have shown rumblings to a bad year ahead because they could not beat any quality opponents. Due to that, Bears coach Scott Drew recruited a mid-season freshman, but he did not recruit any normal player, Drew recruited a former NBA draft pick James Nnaji, this then started chaos in college basketball.

In past seasons, mid-year additions were used sparingly. However, a player who was drafted in the NBA draft has never come back to college basketball. Nnaji was the 31st pick in the 2023 draft and was drafted to the Charlotte Hornets via trades from the Detroit Pistons and Boston Celtics. After the draft, Nnaji followed the process of an NBA player, he played with the team in the NBA summer league and with them in training camp. However, Nnaji was drafted from FC Barcelona, a professional basketball club in Spain, this meant that the Hornets could wait to sign Nnaji but retain his rights for when the team is ready for him. Since Nnaji never signed an NBA contract, this allowed the loophole for him being able to play college basketball. This allowed Drew to recruit Nnaji to the Bears, and through court cases showing that he never signed an NBA contract and had never played a second of college basketball, Nnaji was granted four years of eligibility, the same as an 18 year old who is fresh out of high school

When Nnaji was granted his 4 years of eligibility, the college basketball world started to freak out. Most notably, Arkansas head coach John Calipari was furious in a post game press conference where Calipari said, “We don’t have any rules,” and “Does anybody care what this does for 17- and 18-year-old American kids…There aren’t going to be any high school kids. Who other than dumb people like me are going to recruit high school kids?” Calipari’s point about recruiting is extremely true in this current view, why would a coach recruit a high school kid who does not have any professional experience when they can go recruit a former NBA draft pick who has never signed a contract. Calipari was not the only coach who voiced their feelings about Nnaji being able to play college basketball. Legendary Michigan State coach Tom Izzo said, “Shame on the NCAA, shame on the coaches,” and “We're (the NCAA) just worried about getting sued and we're not gonna fight anybody.” Many fans believe that Izzo is right for his point about getting sued, it is also believed that the NCAA wants a court case to make it to Congress for change regarding eligibility requirements to begin.

Nnaji is not the only case where a professional has chosen to come back to college. Alabama has made headlines most recently with the team bringing back former center Charles Bediako. Bediako had originally declared for the 2023 NBA draft after his second year at Alabama, Bediako then went undrafted and played 2 seasons in the NBA G league. However, like Nnaji, Bediako was unable to sign an official NBA contract, and through a court order was given 10 days of eligibility to play college basketball for the 2025-26 season. Though Bediako’s eligibility can be overturned this season, he has already played in one game for the Crimson Tide and made a big impact on the team.

College basketball is a sport that is extremely exciting, but will the new eligibility rules stay in place, or will they be changed around to bring in more revenue for the sport.