Baylor’s addition of James Nnaji continues to make waves within college basketball. Despite being drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the 2023 NBA Draft, Nnaji was ruled eligible by the NCAA and the 21-year-old Nnaji could suit up as early as Saturday for the Bears.
Since that development, a number of college basketball coaches have offered opinions on Nnaji joining Baylor. With the exception of Michigan State coach Tom Izzo — who was critical of Baylor coach Scott Drew — most of those high-profile coaches who have spoken about the situation have ripped or questioned the NCAA for allowing Nnaji to play for Baylor.
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Following his team’s 103-74 win over James Madison on Monday, Arkansas coach John Calipari became the latest big-name coach to tear into the NCAA for its decision. When asked about the Nnaji situation, Calipari gave an impassioned speech about how it opens up the NCAA to plenty of challenges down the road.
Calipari’s answer included him switching between his own words and the arguments he expected the NCAA to make to justify its decision.
“I don’t blame coaches. I’ve got friends that are playing with 27-year-olds and they feel bad. I said, ‘Don’t feel bad. We don’t have any rules. Why should you feel bad?’
“The rules be (sic) the rules. So if you put your name in the draft, I don’t care if you’re from Russia and you stay in the draft, you can’t play college basketball. ‘Well, that’s only for American kids.’ What? If your name is in that draft and you got drafted, you can’t play college … because that’s our rule. ‘Yeah, but that’s only for American kids.’ OK.
“Now, here’s the next lawsuit. ‘Well, we don’t have a say over European players.’ You do if they are playing in college basketball. So that means you don’t have a say over high school kids. So whatever a high school kid does before he comes here, don’t you do one thing because there’s a suit. Because what you’re saying is, ‘If he’s in Europe, we don’t have the same rules.’ What?
“If he puts his name in the draft, he can’t go to college! He left his name in. ‘Well, that’s different because he’s European.’ OK, you’re not doing anything with a high school player then. We don’t have any jurisdiction over a high school player, do we? We don’t.”
Calipari then spoke about the NCAA’s decision to allow Nnaji to play immediately. He explained that was a slippery slope, and that most coaches would start going out and bringing in NBA players or G League players or European players at the expense of American high schoolers.
He then made a plea to the NCAA to explain its decision.
“Why did they let that kid play? Tell us all, here’s the reason. Then we’ll all go get pros. We’ll go find them.”
Calipari also proposed a rule in which the NCAA would not allow players to become immediately eligible in the middle of the season. He said that rule wouldn’t apply to players already on the team who had to become academically eligible, but to those just coming in. He later added, “We can do it without having Congress or the Senate getting 60 votes. We can do that.”
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After speaking for nearly seven minutes straight, Calipari concluded his rant by saying, “I wish you wouldn’t have asked me that question.”
Dan Hurley calls for NCAA to hire a commissioner
Calipari wasn’t the only notable college coach to spend a few minutes opining on the situation Monday. UConn’s Dan Hurley sent a three-minute voice memo to CBSSports.com’s Matt Norlander expressing his thoughts on the NCAA ruling.
In that memo, which Norlander transcribed in full, Hurley urged the NCAA to hire a commissioner and adopt rules and guidelines to cover situations like this.
“But I would say my biggest thing is: who’s looking out for the shield, the college basketball (shield)? Who’s protecting college basketball, one of the most special things we have in sports. College basketball, March Madness, the second-biggest annual sporting event every year. We need a commissioner. We need rules, we need guidelines.”
Hurley added that he thought the Nnaji news was a joke when he originally stumbled upon it.
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While both Calipari and Hurley called on the NCAA to take action, the organization doesn’t seem willing to do that. The NCAA released a statement Monday calling on Congress to intervene and fix things.
That statement read:
“Schools are recruiting and seeking eligibility for more individuals with more international, semi-pro and professional experience than ever before and while the NCAA members have updated many rules following the House injunction, more rules must likely be updated to reflect the choices member schools are making. At the same time, NCAA eligibility rules have been invalidated by judges across the country, wreaking havoc on the system and leading to fewer opportunities for high school students, which is why the Association is asking Congress to intervene in these challenges.”
But it appears Calipari’s and Hurley’s comments did make an impact. On Tuesday, NCAA president Charlie Baker released a statement asserting that the NCAA will not grant eligibility to players who have signed NBA contracts.
Baker’s full statement read:
“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). 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.”
While Baker’s statement was necessary after the backlash the Nnaji decision drew, it won’t impact Nnaji’s eligibility. Despite being drafted to the NBA, Nnaji never signed an NBA contract.
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