How’s this for a midseason plot twist: We’re about to flip the calendar to January and abruptly unranked Baylor has turn out to be the Black Hat of school basketball.
Earlier than I clarify why BU coach Scott Drew is catching warmth, here is the need-to-know background on how faculty basketball has reached a brand new degree of the weird in an more and more unstable roster-building surroundings.
On the morning of Christmas Eve, the NCAA despatched phrase to Baylor’s compliance employees that 7-foot Nigerian-born middle James Nnaji had been cleared for competitors. The controversial choice was groundbreaking in males’s faculty hoops. Nnaji is the primary individual to reverse course and play faculty basketball after being chosen within the NBA Draft. And it is not like this man was simply off the board final June. Nnaji was the No. 31 total choose in 2023. He performed for the Charlotte Hornets in NBA Summer time League that yr.
Crucially, Nnaji has by no means performed in an NBA recreation, which is purportedly nonetheless a key distinction for a participant’s faculty eligibility. (Although we must always brace for that rule to be examined in 2026, I am certain.) Nonetheless, the man guarded Victor Wembanyama in Summer time League and was even a part of the massive commerce that shipped Karl-Anthony Cities to the New York Knicks in trade for Julius Randle to the Minnesota Timberwolves in October 2024.
Dan Hurley perplexed by Baylor including former NBA choose in-season: ‘Faculty basketball wants a commissioner’
Matt Norlander
Whereas the Knicks nonetheless personal Nnaji’s draft rights per the phrases of the Cities/Randle commerce, Nnaji will not be signed to an NBA contract. Extra essential context: Nnaji was by no means paid exterior of his Summer time League and journey per diems throughout his temporary time within the NBA pipeline. For almost all of the previous 5 years, he is been taking part in EuroLeague basketball.
That being the case, he had a path to pursue faculty eligibility, since he by no means performed faculty ball previous to 2023. (Nnaji was within the FC Barcelona program within the years earlier than he was drafted.) As a result of Nnaji by no means enrolled in faculty right here within the States, and since he is inside a five-year window of what equates to his highschool commencement, his five-year NCAA eligibility clock begins now.
Sure, it is loopy, however price emphasizing that though Baylor is on the receiving finish of quite a lot of outcry over the state of school basketball, Drew’s program is way from the one one doing this. The principles preserve altering as a result of the specter of authorized motion is prompting one fold after one other.
BYU (Abdullah Ahmed), Dayton (Sean Pouedet), Washington (Nikola Dzepina) and others have additionally introduced aboard in-season roster additions from different skilled ranks. The one distinction between all of them and Nnaji is that he was promising sufficient greater than two years in the past to have an NBA group choose him within the draft. Even inside the Large 12, Kansas State’s girls’s group rosters Nastja Claessens, who’s second on the Wildcats in scoring at 10.6 factors per recreation.
Do you know Claessens, who hails from Belgium, was the thirtieth choose within the 2024 WNBA Draft?
In hockey, Colorado Faculty simply added the son of a notable NHL participant and somebody who’s already skated with professionals for years.
Drew did what many — however definitely not all — coaches in his place would do in a interval of want. At Oklahoma, Porter Moser simply welcomed a 6-11 Russian middle named Kirill Elatontsev. It was overshadowed due to the Baylor information, however the latest Sooner arrived on Christmas. Moser instructed me he is in all probability going to play him instantly. The previous two seasons, the Sooners misplaced their beginning facilities to harm down the stretch. Now Elatontsev is an insurance coverage coverage. His causes had been the identical as Drew’s.
“I’ve by no means taken a mid-year switch that may play instantly, it is by no means been a part of the sport, but when the NCAA clears it and say it is OK, you need to take a look at it and see if it is good to your state of affairs,” Moser instructed CBS Sports activities. “In my state of affairs, I’ve two 5s on the roster and one is presently damage. We did it for depth. And if he helps us win one recreation, it was price it. Again-to-back years we have now misplaced our beginning 5s down the stretch and nobody was pulling out a violin to speak about our lack of depth.”
However as a result of Baylor made a roster addition with a man who was an NBA choose, not like all of the others, it is not sitting effectively with loads of faculty sports activities followers who go searching and see the elemental nature of the game altering to a degree that’s unrecognizable from what faculty basketball was for many years.
Drew tells CBS Sports activities why he pursued former NBA choose
Fifty-five years previous and in his twenty third season with the Bears, Scott Drew is not attempting to be a villain or the poster coach for renegade roster constructing. He is merely doing what many, many different coaches have been doing — and all inside the guidelines. You’ll be able to like it, hate it or be detached to it, however Baylor hasn’t achieved something mistaken right here. Nnaji went by the vetting course of on the NCAA degree. He’s allowed to play beneath the present (fluctuating) construction of school basketball.
Drew is conscious that he and his program will nonetheless be considered in a detrimental mild by some. He instructed me his tenet was to do what was greatest for Baylor.
“We (coaches) do not create the foundations, and if we agree by them or not, I equate it to the pace restrict,” Drew instructed CBS Sports activities. “You undergo a development zone, it modifications. You get on the freeway, it modifications. Proper now, the NCAA has pace limits, and it modifications. I do not blame the NCAA as a result of quite a lot of it is about what they really feel they will win within the courtroom. To me, till we get to collective bargaining, there’s not going to be an answer. Till that point, my job is the coach of our program and we would have liked so as to add a participant at semester break as a result of we have had two season-ending accidents to 2 of our greatest gamers and had a 3rd participant out. When you’re teaching a group, aren’t you going so as to add one of the best participant you possibly can add that matches your program? That is what we did.”
Excessive Level switch Juslin Bodo Bodo was anticipated to be the Bears’ beginning middle, however he is been injured because the summer season and will not play this season. The identical goes for one more frontcourt participant, Maikcol Perez. Take into account, the Large 12 might be one of the best league within the nation in 2025-26 — and positively the strongest on the high. Drew has endured a few seasons with main roster points because of accidents, and with a possible stopgap, he and BU basic supervisor Jason Smith pursued Nnaji’s eligibility case relationship again to early October. The connection happened as a result of Smith has a working relationship with Nnaji’s agent, who additionally represents former Baylor lottery choose Jeremy Sochan.
“For the great of the sport, I believe most coaches are about 99.9% aligned on issues we’d have achieved to vary issues,” Drew mentioned. “The NCAA, athletic administrators would really feel the identical manner, however till we have now collective bargaining, it is not going to occur. If it is solution-based, how lengthy have we been speaking about congressional assist? That is not wanting like it will occur.”
Michigan State’s Tom Izzo had some pointed phrases concerning the state of affairs just a few days in the past, although he hadn’t spoken to Drew when he was requested about Baylor/Nnaji in a media scrum after a Michigan State follow. Izzo and Drew spoke over the weekend, Drew mentioned.
Tom Izzo rips Baylor’s NBA Draft choose loophole signing of James Nnaji: ‘Disgrace on NCAA, disgrace on the coaches’
Brad Crawford
“Me and Izzo are mates, I respect him and it was an amazing dialog,” Drew mentioned. “On the finish of the day, each of us agree on issues we might wish to see achieved with guidelines for the longer term. When he first got here out and talked about G League guys attending to play, I used to be in opposition to it too, nevertheless it’s so much like NIL and the portal. You’ll be able to agree or not agree, however you could have a job to do. We will wait on congressional motion or we are able to get to the inevitable of collective bargaining.”
Drew would not anticipate something from Congress within the months/years to come back. He is open to having a hard-line stance on who’s and is not allowed to enroll to play faculty basketball, however till there’s readability, are you able to blame him?
“When you say you possibly can have a shot in basketball price 5 factors, who’s not going to take it?” he mentioned.
Execs pivoting to varsity hoops a possible rising development
Drew will not be the final coach to do that, that is for certain. He is simply the most recent, and the problem may exacerbate within the weeks forward. Think about the case of former Louisville commit/top-40 highschool prospect Trentyn Flowers. Like Nnaji, he by no means performed in faculty. However not like Nnaji, Flowers logged actual NBA minutes earlier this month for the Chicago Bulls. And in latest days, his agent has been exploring avenues to perhaps attempt to leap all the way down to the school ranks. Flowers is presently within the NBA’s G League, however has a two-way contract. And though an preliminary report concerning the variety of faculties “” in Flowers went viral on Sunday was inaccurate, there are just a few kicking the tires.
“Doing our due diligence within the new world, haven’t got a alternative,” one power-conference assistant instructed CBS Sports activities about the opportunity of recruiting Flowers. “At this level it is a little bit little bit of each: agent reaching out however faculties discovering out and reaching out. Extra two-way avenue than some assume.”
Now we watch for the subsequent stage of this story: The second Nnaji will step on the ground for Baylor. Drew instructed me he has to go a bodily earlier than any additional steps are taken, however clearance is predicted Tuesday. Baylor’s Large 12 opener is Saturday at TCU. Will Nnaji see the ground then?
“Undoubtedly may,” Drew mentioned. “However till he is aware of our offense, is aware of our protection, it would not matter how good anybody is, you possibly can’t put him on the market [for too long]. I believe it will be a gradual course of. If he was prepared for the NBA, he could be taking part in within the NBA.”
Do not anticipate Nnaji to be logging north of 25 minutes for the Bears within the weeks to come back. However later within the season? We’ll see. In any case, he was adequate to be drafted No. 31. It is not such a attain to assume he may be the important thing to getting Baylor to a sixth consecutive NCAA Match. In-season free company is now formally a factor in faculty basketball, and it may be right here to remain.