NCAA president Charlie Baker on Tuesday clarified his organization’s position on college eligibility for players with NBA experience.
The official stance came in the wake of Baylor signing former NBA draft pick James Nnaji and amid reports that current NBA player Trentyn Flowers is pursuing college eligibility.
“The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract),” Baker said in a statement. “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. Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear.
“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. I will be working with DI leaders in the weeks ahead to protect college basketball from these misguided attempts to destroy this American institution.”
On Christmas Eve, Baylor announced the signing of Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA draft. Although Nnaji played in the NBA summer league and was involved in the October 2024 trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks, he has never played in an NBA game and spent the past five years in the FC Barcelona organization as part of the EuroLeague.
In line with several other international players who never previously enrolled in college and never played in an NBA game, Nnaji was cleared by the NCAA last week. He could make his debut for the Bears as early as this weekend.
Nnaji’s situation is the latest in a growing trend of professional basketball players fighting to play college basketball, following dozens of players with experience in European pro leagues and several former G League players.
It has sparked outcry from a long list of prominent college basketball coaches.
“Real simple. The rules be the rules, so if you put your name in the [NBA draft], I don’t care if you’re from Russia and you stay in the draft, you can’t play college basketball,” Arkansas coach John Calipari said in a wide-ranging rant on the state of college basketball Monday night. “‘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.”
Gonzaga coach Mark Few told reporters Sunday: “It’s wild out there right now. We really don’t have any organizational or any real rules right now. I think guys are just trying to do whatever they can. Until there’s a rule that says you can’t do it, it’s hard to blame anybody for doing what they’re doing. Our lack of leadership has really shown.”
The NCAA’s official stance could be tested in court, as with previous amateurism and eligibility rules.
Flowers, a former top-50 high school recruit who once committed to Louisville before signing a professional contract in Australia, is on a two-way contract with the Chicago Bulls and their G League affiliate, the Windy City Bulls. He appeared in two NBA games earlier this month for Chicago but is currently exploring the possibility of playing college basketball, sources told ESPN.
