James Nnaji, 2023 NBA Draft pick whose college eligibility sparked uproar, enters transfer portal

Baylor 7-footer James Nnaji, the 2023 NBA Draft pick whose eligibility sparked criticism across college basketball, plans to enter the transfer portal, his agency told Draft Express on Tuesday.

Nnaji joined the Bears in January after the NCAA ruled he was eligible to play college basketball even though he had played professionally in Europe and in NBA Summer League. He became the first NBA Draft pick to play college basketball. He was selected No. 31 overall by the Detroit Pistons, and his rights were traded to the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks.

International pros and some former G League players have flocked to the college game because it has become a more lucrative option, with players being paid through name, image and likeness deals and revenue-sharing agreements with their schools. Nnaji, 21, was ruled eligible because he had never attended college and had never signed an NBA or G League contract.

Nnaji played 18 games for the Bears and made little impact on a team that finished tied for 13th in the 16-team Big 12 and missed the NCAA Tournament. He averaged 1.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in about eight minutes per game.

The ruling had college coaches frustrated with the precedent it would set, and it did pave the way for forward Charles Bediako to return to Alabama for a few games, two seasons after he declared for the NBA Draft and also played in the G League. Because of that G League participation, Bediako had been ruled ineligible by the NCAA, but a judge’s ruling lifted the NCAA’s ban for a little while. A different judge later overturned that ruling, and Bediako ended up playing just five games for the Crimson Tide.

The NCAA recently proposed a rule change that would make players with Nnaji’s background ineligible in the future. The proposal would require prospects to withdraw from opt-in professional league drafts such as the NBA’s to be eligible for college basketball.

The change could be in place before the start of next season and would apply to athletes entering college in the 2026-27 school year.