NCAA attempts to clarify NBA stance after Baylor adds 2023 draft pick | College sports
The NCAA said Tuesday it will not grant eligibility to any player who signed an NBA contract after Baylor’s midseason addition of a 2023 draft pick who had played professionally in Europe drew criticism from college basketball coaches.
The Bears announced the signing of 7-foot center James Nnaji from Nigeria on Christmas Eve. He could make his debut Saturday in Baylor’s Big 12 opener at TCU.
Nnaji was the first second-round pick, 31st overall, of the Detroit Pistons two and a half years ago. His draft rights have since been traded to Boston, then to Charlotte and most recently to the New York Knicks in October 2024. Nnaji, 21, who was playing in Europe before being drafted, was not on an NBA roster. He was 18 when he was drafted.
International players from various backgrounds, including professional leagues, have been playing college basketball for years. While players are now paid under name, image and likeness (NIL) agreements, college teams have added players from the NBA’s developmental G League.
The NCAA said players would not be eligible if they signed regular NBA contracts or two-way deals involving G League affiliates. But the association said that would not necessarily apply to players in the G League without an agreement with the NBA, nor to other professional leagues in the United States and elsewhere.
“As schools increasingly recruit individuals with experience in international leagues, the NCAA exercises its discretion in enforcing actual and necessary spending regulations to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not disadvantaged compared to their international counterparts,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement released by the association. “The rules have long allowed schools to register and play individuals without prior collegiate experience mid-year.”
Arkansas coach John Calipari said he’s not criticizing Baylor’s Scott Drew or others who are trying to add players in a changing college landscape. But he said one rule should clearly disqualify any NBA draft pick.
“I don’t blame the coaches,” Calipari said. “Let me tell you this, very simple… If you put your name in the draft – it doesn’t matter if you’re from Russia – and you stay in the draft, you can’t play college basketball. Well, it’s only for American kids. What? If your name is in this draft and you got drafted, you can’t play, because that’s our rule. But it’s only for American kids. OK.”
Drew defended the decision by pointing to other undrafted international players who are currently playing college basketball. Nastja Claessens, a third-round pick in the WNBA draft in 2024, is averaging 10.6 points in 11 games for the Kansas State women this season.
“Until we bargain collectively, I don’t think we can come up with rules that are acceptable or enforceable,” Drew said. “In the meantime, I think we all have to be willing to adjust and adapt to what’s out there. Initially, when it first came out with the G League players, I wasn’t in favor of that either. But again, we don’t set the rules and as we figure things out, we’re always going to adapt to put our program in the best position to succeed, because that’s what we’re paid to do.”
The NCAA has said court rulings in lawsuits challenging eligibility standards make its rules difficult to enforce. Lawyers for Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who is suing for more eligibility, have latched onto Baylor’s signing of Nnaji to try to bolster their argument.
“While the NCAA has prevailed in the vast majority of eligibility-related lawsuits, the recent aberrant rulings prohibiting the NCAA, nationally, from enforcing rules that have been in place for decades – without even having a trial – are extremely destabilizing,” Baker said in the statement. “I will work with DI leadership in the coming weeks to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.”
