Sometimes, cooler heads need to prevail.
But did you think the NCAA would be those cooler heads? Don’t worry, you’re not alone.
“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 by law 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.”
This ruling is coming 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.
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.
This is where college athletics has come to, but thank goodness cooler heads are prevailing. One of those cooler heads is also, ironically, former Kentucky head coach John Calipari, who spoke on this recent whatever you call it earlier this week.
“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 on Monday. “‘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.”
Thank you, Coach Cal.
On Sunday, Joe Tipton of On3 reported that the Wildcats are showing interest in Trentyn Flowers, a former 5-star recruit who is currently on a two-way NBA contract with the Chicago Bulls. Michigan, Florida, and Kansas were also reported to be monitoring Flowers, setting up what could become a high-profile recruitment if he were to pursue a return to college basketball.
However, it turns out the report was not accurate, so much so that On3 CEO Shannon Terry later apologized for the report. Kentucky is not believed to be in the mix for Flowers.
Thank goodness. Simply put, if you’re in the NBA, you should not be allowed to return to college basketball.
