In a country where college sports are becoming more and more like professional sports—just with far less talented players—questions continue to pile up. This time, it’s not the usual concerns surrounding NIL money, the transfer portal, recruiting violations, or coaches pushing the limits of the rulebook. Instead, the NCAA has once again exposed a loophole so glaring that it’s downright embarrassing.
Ask people in most other countries what college team they root for and they’ll look at you like you escaped an insane asylum. The United States is one of the only nations that pours massive amounts of money into collegiate athletics, to the point where the educational mission feels secondary at best. Tuition rises, facilities get shinier, and winning games often matters more than learning in classrooms.
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And just when it seems like everyone has realized the NCAA has completely lost control of its sports, we get another stunning decision.
The NCAA has ruled that Nigerian center James Nnaji is eligible to enroll at Baylor with four years of college eligibility remaining. This is a player who has already played professional basketball overseas and was drafted in the first round of the 2023 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons.
Yes, Nnaji has not appeared in an NBA regular-season game, but he has played professionally. This isn’t even the first time the NCAA has gone down this road recently. In September, the NCAA cleared Thierry Darlan to play college basketball after he signed with the G League Ignite out of high school. Former Ignite teammate London Johnson followed in October. The key difference? Neither of those players were actually drafted in the NBA Draft.
That distinction matters—or at least, it used to.
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Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo didn’t hold back when asked about the situation:
“I’m anxious to see what he tells me. Not saying we’re holier than thou or anybody shouldn’t do this or that, but if we’re dipping into that—if it’s like I’m hearing—we’re taking guys who were drafted in the NBA and everything. I said it a month and a half ago, come on Magic and Gary, let’s go baby. Why not? If that’s what we’re going through, shame on the NCAA. Shame on the coaches too, but shame on the NCAA—because coaches are going to do what they have to do.”
Izzo jokingly referenced bringing back Magic Johnson or Gary Harris, but beneath the humor was a very real point. For a brief second, everyone probably had the same thought—wait… could that actually happen now?
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As ridiculous as it sounds, that’s essentially the precedent the NCAA is setting. You can argue Nnaji never played in the NBA, but that doesn’t change the fact that multiple teams held his professional rights, and he even appeared on the Knicks’ Summer League roster this year. Now, he’ll be eligible to suit up for Baylor and dominate players who never sniffed professional basketball.
And let’s be honest—this isn’t about giving athletes a second chance. This is about allowing players who couldn’t stick at the professional level to return and overwhelm college competition.
It’s ludicrous. It’s asinine. And it’s another example of the NCAA flailing without a real plan. Anyone who has been paid to play professional basketball should not be eligible to return to college sports—full stop.
I don’t want to sound like an extreme old-head, but it’s impossible not to think back to situations like Mike Williams and Maurice Clarett, who were forced to sit out simply for signing with agents. Now, players can be drafted into the NBA and still come back for four years of college eligibility?
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It feels wrong—because it is wrong.
Izzo is right, and most fans agree: the NCAA is becoming a complete joke. One can only wonder what’s next, as the organization continues to bend over backward to keep money flowing into campuses that claim to be about education—until winning is on the line.
