There has been a recent surge of former NBA G League players and international pros getting the green light to play college basketball around the country, sparking widespread debate on whether this should be allowed.
According to NCAA rules, basketball athletes can make a case for college eligibility if they maintain “amateur status” — five years or less removed from high school graduation; NCAA qualifiers out of high school; didn’t enter the NBA Draft (or did but never signed an NBA contract).
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo recently spoke out about this issue after Baylor received a commitment from James Nnaji, the 31st overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, on Christmas Eve. The 21-year-old Nnaji, a 7-foot center from Nigeria, was granted immediate eligibility as a midseason addition and will have four years of eligibility remaining.
Nnaji never actually played in the NBA or the G League, the NBA’s developmental league, but he did appear in five NBA Summer League Games for the New York Knicks in July and played professionally overseas last season. He was even part of the monster three-team trade that shipped Karl-Anthony Towns to the Knicks for Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves in October 2024; the trade also included Donte DiVincenzo and draft assets, including rights to Nnaji and a 2025 top-13-protected first-round pick from the Knicks via the Detroit Pistons.
“I thought I’d seen the worst — then Christmas came,” Izzo said. “What happened just topped it. … Now we’re taking guys that were drafted in the NBA and everything? … If that’s what we’re going to, shame on the NCAA. Shame on the coaches, too, but shame on the NCAA because coaches are gonna do what they gotta do, I guess, but the NCAA is the one.
“Those people on those committees that are making those decisions to allow something so ridiculous. … I just don’t agree with it.”
Baylor coach Scott Drew responded to Izzo’s comments, saying that he’s simply rolling with the punches.
“Coach Izzo and I are friends,” Drew said. “I’ve got a lot of respect for him. … As he said, most coaches are 99% aligned on things that we would like to see done with our game. At the same … until we get to collective bargaining, I don’t think we can come up with rules that are agreeable [and] enforceable until that.
“I think all of us … got to be ready to adjust and adapt to what’s out there. Early on, when it first came out with G League players, I wasn’t in favor of that either. But, again, we don’t make the rules. As we find out about things, we’re always going to adapt to put our program in the best position to be successful.”
College coaches far and wide have been largely critical. Purdue’s Matt Painter was “at a loss for words,” per Sports Illustrated, when he first heard the news and initially thought it was a joke.
“We just want to know the rules so we can abide by them,” Painter said. “We don’t know what’s going on.”
St. John’s coach Rick Pitino joked on social media that he had “first dibs” on two-time NBA MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo. “So let me get this straight, we can now recruit G League players? Is the NBA next?” Pitino wrote.
On the other hand, first-year Auburn coach Steven Pearl falls in the minority.
“It’s a waste of time to complain about it,” Pearl said, per The Athletic. “If there’s a loophole that you can expose and exploit to help make your team better, that’s what you have to do. I think what Louisville [did] is brilliant. Those guys are creative thinkers, and they’re trying to find ways to be ahead of the curve.
“Every day, every week, [the rules] are changing. So you gotta roll with it.”
Nnaji’s most recent college commitment has reignited a debate that has been gaining momentum as of late.
In September, the NCAA ruled 21-year-old guard Thierry Darlan eligible to join Santa Clara despite his professional track, which included two years in the G League after prepping at NBA Academy Africa in Senegal. Darlan was the first former G League player to suit up in a college game and became the face of a growing trend around the country.
In October, the NCAA ruled to allow 21-year-old guard London Johnson to join Louisville next year with two seasons of eligibility despite him having played three years in the G League.
In November, the NCAA ruled to allow 22-yard-old center Abdullah Ahmed, who spent the past two years in the G League, to join BYU next season. He was granted at least two, possibly three, years of eligibility, per Yahoo Sports.
How many more players will join this rapidly growing list? Only time will tell.
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