INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — The NCAA Division I Cabinet has approved changes to eligibility rules, including one that would bar athletes who have entered and remained in a professional sports draft from competing in college.
The Cabinet met this week, and the rules changes went into effect when members adjourned Wednesday.
One of the rules requires prospects to withdraw from opt-in professional league drafts, including the NBA draft, to bring pre-college enrollment
draft rules in line with post-college enrollment draft rules. Men’s ice hockey and baseball would not be affected because athletes don’t opt in to those sports’ drafts.
The change came after two basketball players, Alabama’s Charles Bediako and Baylor’s James Nnaji, played in college this season after entering the 2023 NBA draft.
Bediako played two seasons at Alabama and entered the draft. He wasn’t selected but played three years in the G League, the NBA’s minor league. He played in five games this past season before the Alabama Supreme Court upheld a ruling that made him ineligible.
Nnaji was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round. He played professionally overseas before he enrolled as a freshman at Baylor in December. He was granted eligibility because he had never signed an NBA contract or played in the G League. He would be ineligible in 2026-27 under the new rules.
In other changes, athletes are allowed to sign with agents prior to enrolling for purposes other than name, image and likeness and are allowed to accept prize money in their respective sports without impacting eligibility.
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