NCAA tries to clarify NBA stance after Baylor’s addition of 2023 draft pick prompts criticism

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA said Tuesday it would not grant eligibility to any player who had signed an NBA contract after Baylor’s midseason addition of a 2023 draft pick who had been playing professionally in Europe prompted criticism from coaches across college basketball.

The Bears announced the signing of 7-footer James Nnaji of Nigeria on Christmas Eve. He could make his debut Saturday in Baylor’s Big 12 opener at TCU.

Nnaji was the first pick of the second round, 31st overall, by the Detroit Pistons 2 1/2 years ago. His draft rights have since been traded to Boston, then Charlotte and most recently the New York Knicks in October 2024. The 21-year-old Nnaji, who was playing in Europe before he was drafted, hasn’t been on an NBA roster. He was 18 when he was drafted.

International players with varying backgrounds, including professional leagues, have played college basketball for years. With players now getting paid under name, image and likeness (NIL) deals, college teams have added players from the NBA’s developmental G League.

The NCAA said players wouldn’t be eligible if they signed regular NBA contracts or two-way deals that involve G League affiliates. But the association said that won’t necessarily apply to G League players without NBA deals, or other professional leagues in the U.S. and elsewhere.

“As schools are increasingly recruiting individuals with international league experience, the NCAA is exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts,” NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement released by the association. “Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear.”

Arkansas coach John Calipari said he wasn’t criticizing Baylor’s Scott Drew or others trying to add players amid a shifting college landscape. But he said a rule should clearly disqualify any NBA draft pick.

“I don’t blame coaches,” Calipari said. “Let me give you this, real simple … If you put your name in the draft — I don’t care if you’re from Russia — and you stay in the draft, you can’t play college basketball. Well, that’s only for American kids. What? If your name is in that draft and you got drafted, you can’t play, because that’s our rule. But that’s only for American kids. OK.”

Drew defended the move by pointing to other undrafted international players who are playing college basketball right now. Nastja Claessens, a 2024 third-round WNBA draft pick, is averaging 10.6 points in 11 games for the Kansas State women this season.

“Until we get to collective bargaining, I don’t think we can come up with rules that are agreeable or enforceable,” Drew said. “Until that, I think all of us have 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 and as we find out about things, we’re always going to adapt to put our program in the best position to be successful, because that’s what we get paid to do.”

The NCAA said court rulings in lawsuits challenging eligibility standards are making its rules difficult to enforce. Attorneys for Vanderbilt quarterback Diego Pavia, who is suing for more eligibility, latched on to Baylor’s signing of Nnaji to try to bolster their argument.

“While the NCAA has prevailed on the vast majority of eligibility-related lawsuits, recent outlier decisions enjoining the NCAA on a nationwide basis from enforcing rules that have been on the books for decades — without even having a trial — are wildly destabilizing,” Baker said in the statement. “I will be working with D-I leaders in the weeks ahead to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.”

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