Rutgers coach flouts NCAA eligibility rules as NBA players head to college hoops

The debate over NCAA eligibility for athletes with backgrounds that include NBA experience was reignited after James Nnaji joined the Baylor Men’s basketball team.

As the list of athletes who have spent time in the NBA’s G League or compete at the international level and want to play college basketball in the US grows, several prominent college basketball coaches have spoken out against the practice. Rutgers men’s basketball coach Steve Pikiell is among that group, but in his critique, he floated an outside-the-box theory.

“Whoever is there, try to follow. It’s a strange world,” Pikiell told reporters when discussing coaches who don’t cancel the sale of players during the season.

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Pikiell’s comments came shortly after Rutgers beat Delaware State on Monday. He continued his remarks by jokingly adding that he has no problem having a child at the age of 36 with a family on the Rutgers roster.

“I’d like to find a 36-year-old who has four kids and is hungry for a job. I’d like to find one of those guys. We’ll see if one of those guys is available. But yeah, you have to follow whatever lead you have from anybody and go through all the steps to try to make that happen. It’s very complicated.”

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Thierry Darlan and London Johnson both skipped the college basketball route, going straight to the defunct NBA G League Ignite. Earlier this year, both players received approval for their NBA eligibility.

Elsewhere, Baylor confirmed that Nnaji signed with the program on Christmas Eve, nearly 2½ years after the Detroit Pistons selected him in the second round of the NBA Draft. He has participated in the NBA Summer League but has yet to appear in an NBA regular season game.

Barcelona’s James Nnaji takes a shot during the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Round 34 match between LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne and FC Barcelona at LDLC Arena on April 12, 2024 in Lyon, France. (Eurasia Sport Images/Getty Images)

Still, Nnaji’s move from the EuroLeague to the NBA Draft to Baylor added to the appeal of college coaches and others.

Arkansas men’s basketball head coach John Calipari said no one should be allowed to play college basketball after being drafted, regardless of international status.

“It’s really simple. The rules are the rules, so if you put your name in the [NBA Draft]I don’t care if you’re from Russia and you’re on probation, you can’t play college basketball,” Calipari said Monday. “‘Well, that’s only for American kids.’ What? If your name is in the draft, and you’re drafted, you can’t play because that’s our rule.”

The NCAA Official Game Ball logo is seen on a basketball before the NCAA Division II National Championship Basketball game between the Minnesota State Mavericks and the Nova Southeastern Sharks on March 30, 2024, at the Ford Center in Evansville, Indiana. (Michael Allio/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Longtime Michigan State men’s basketball coach Tom Izzo also weighed in, joking that he might ask Spartans legends Ervin “Magic” Johnson and others about returning to the college hardwood.

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“Why? I mean, if that’s what we’re going to do, shame on the NCAA,” Izzo said. “Shame on the coaches. But the NCAA is ashamed, because the coaches will do what they have to do, I think. But the NCAA is the one. Those people on those committees that make those decisions allow something that’s ridiculous and don’t think about the kid.”

Gonzaga coach Mark Few appeared to take aim at NCAA leadership, saying, “It’s weird right now. We don’t really have federal rules or real rules right now. I think guys are trying to do whatever they can. Until there’s a rule that says you can’t do it, it’s hard to blame anybody for doing what they’re really doing.

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