boognish_bear said:
Reading through the comments…the haters are coming out.
I can't really say that I blame them... if it happened with another team besides BU I would be thinking this doesn't really sound right.
Don't hate the playa, hate the game!
Baylor men’s basketball has received a commitment from Nigerian center James Nnaji, a 7-foot-0, 250-pound big man who will be a midseason transfer. He is expected to be able to play for the Bears either in their final non-conference game on Dec. 29 or at the start of the second semester in January.
It’s an unprecedented move considering that Nnaji was selected 31st overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2023 NBA Draft. Nnaji’s draft rights were traded to Charlotte, as he played on the Hornets’ Summer League Team. In 2024, his rights were traded to the New York Knicks, along with star big man Karl-Anthony Towns, as part of a three-team trade. Nnaji played on the Knicks’ Summer League team in 2025.
Nnaji, however, has never played in an NBA game, but is another case study in pushing back the curtain on the NCAA’s powers, especially after it was determined that G-League players could return to play college basketball.
As Yahoo Sports put it, “The trend is a byproduct of the NCAA’s definition of amateurism loosening as college athletes have gained economic freedom. The line between pro and college athlete has blurred with the NCAA permitting athletes to profit from NIL deals.”
Nnaji spent time with FC Barcelona from 2020 to 2024 before being loaned to Girona of the Spanish Liga ACB, where he averaged 5.3 points, 4.1 rebounds and 0.8 blocks per game across 14 games.
He then finished the 2024-2025 season with Merkezefendi of the Basketbol Super Ligi in Turkey, averaging 7.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 1.3 blocks in eight contests.
Baylor was forced to explore a midseason transfer because it had just one healthy big man on the roster, senior Caden Powell. Nnaji, who boasts a 7-foot-7 wingspan, should be another impactful big man as conference play heats up.
High Point transfer center Juslin Bodo Bodo was injured in the offseason and is now expected to redshirt. True freshmen bigs Maikcol Perez (ACL) and Mayo Soyoye (redshirt) are both out for the year as well.
Nnaji is just 21 years old, and will have four years of eligibility. He has no relation to former Arizona star and current Denver Nugget Zeke Nnaji.
boognish_bear said:
Reading through the comments…the haters are coming out.
I can't really say that I blame them... if it happened with another team besides BU I would be thinking this doesn't really sound right.
boognish_bear said:Just when some counted @BUDREW out, @BaylorMBB lands a haymaker. @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/JgsTR2H7wP
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 24, 2025
Crawfoso1973 said:
If he was another guard or wing player I would agree. But Nnaji fills such a vital need for our team: rim protection, rebounding, setting screens, 5 hard fouls to give. His presence will create a cascade effect in our rotation, allowing Rataj and Skillings to play to their strengths on the wing instead of in the post. Carr and Tounde will look that much bigger going against opposing guards instead of opposing post players. It's kind of like in football when you bolster your offensive line your skill position players suddenly look so much better. By platooning Nnaji with Powell who is playing at an elite level, we will have a true post player in the game at all times instead of mixing/matching with Rataj and Skillings. With the Powell/Nnaji combo anchoring the 40 minutes in the post the rest of our team will look so much better especially defensively and on the glass. I also don't think integrating him will be too hard because we won't be featuring him offensively. Just setting screens and getting dunks on lobs and offensive rebounds.
BluesBear said:boognish_bear said:Just when some counted @BUDREW out, @BaylorMBB lands a haymaker. @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/JgsTR2H7wP
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 24, 2025
Let's be real. 1 player isn't going to immediately take this team from .500 middle of the pack conference team to the Top of the pile. Just isn't happening.
BluesBear said:boognish_bear said:Just when some counted @BUDREW out, @BaylorMBB lands a haymaker. @Big12Conference pic.twitter.com/JgsTR2H7wP
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 24, 2025
Let's be real. 1 player isn't going to immediately take this team from .500 middle of the pack conference team to the Top of the pile. Just isn't happening.
Big12Fan2024 said:
I love it!!!! I hope Drew and every other coach push the absurdity so far to the point that someone has to step in and define what college athletics are going to be.
Quinton said:Big12Fan2024 said:
I love it!!!! I hope Drew and every other coach push the absurdity so far to the point that someone has to step in and define what college athletics are going to be.
Agree. I wish they would have gone all in for a high level euro/g-league PG at break while they're at it. Take this thing to its logical extreme and watch everyone lose their mind. Get Drew that second title and end the madness.. two birds one stone type deal.
Quinton said:
Strong point and the first thing I thought of when announced. I was thinking Rataj specifically but your whole point is good. This could unlock Rataj, who clearly isn't comfortable in his current role. If he can relax into a skilled forward role, we might see a signficantly improved player while having a big presence at all times.
And I don't get some of the comments here. If he is good, it drastically improves this team. With Josh, last year's team would have won 3 more conference games at mimiunum, and this dude's tape is much better than Josh. The only real question is if he is legit (for the college level). We just don't know. He seems to have stagnated in recent years but Drew is proven at getting good minutes out of rangy bigs.
If he is good and Drew can get him in the flow.. the team gets significantly better. Again, the only difference is D1 and especially the big 12 allow teams to hack constantly. Euro is phyiscal too but skill is emphasized. Other than that, high euro is miles better than D1.. not sure what some here are talking about.
If you want stay in step as a college coach in the “new normal,” you will need to conform to survive:
— Fran Fraschilla (@franfraschilla) December 26, 2025
1. Academic requirements & graduate rates mean nothing to most families of star athletes. It’s about the money.
2. Accept that agents now run college basketball. And, unlike…
WA Jim said:Quinton said:
Strong point and the first thing I thought of when announced. I was thinking Rataj specifically but your whole point is good. This could unlock Rataj, who clearly isn't comfortable in his current role. If he can relax into a skilled forward role, we might see a signficantly improved player while having a big presence at all times.
And I don't get some of the comments here. If he is good, it drastically improves this team. With Josh, last year's team would have won 3 more conference games at mimiunum, and this dude's tape is much better than Josh. The only real question is if he is legit (for the college level). We just don't know. He seems to have stagnated in recent years but Drew is proven at getting good minutes out of rangy bigs.
If he is good and Drew can get him in the flow.. the team gets significantly better. Again, the only difference is D1 and especially the big 12 allow teams to hack constantly. Euro is phyiscal too but skill is emphasized. Other than that, high euro is miles better than D1.. not sure what some here are talking about.
I know you know this, but High Euro is a different game than D1 - especially B12 - the guy has never played that top level D1 (Big12) - not quite sure High Euro is miles better than B12 top half - with the allowed hacking, smaller key, play style, etc. But before this add I had us hoping for .500 in B12 play. Even with this add, I would be shocked if we end up top 4.
Johnny Bear said:
Hope he's able to get to campus and be at least acclimated enough to see the floor for a few minutes against Arlington Baptist on 12/29.
i actually don't hate this move
— Jason McIntyre (@jasonrmcintyre) December 26, 2025
the # of guys who CAN do it is so small
so what, more good players in college?
we're talking maybe a dozen at top 75 schools
There's a lot of inaccurate stuff in this post to address.BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Man, I don't know. As bad as college sports was getting, this was a line that should not have been crossed, and I'm not happy that it's our Baylor that crossed it, even if allowable by the NCAA. A smelly can of worms has been opened, which was likely inevitable, but I just wish it was someone else who had opened it. Baylor has tirelessly built a highly respected program, and I fear it will now lose some, if not a lot, of that respectability. More will cheer on our losses than our wins now.
Well, I guess we now know why Drew was smiling so big when asked earlier about a possible mid-season roster addition. I also guess that Baylor will now be known as the school that not only sends its players to the first round of the NBA draft.... it GETS its players from the first round of the NBA draft as well.
Mitch Henessey said:BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Man, I don't know. As bad as college sports was getting, this was a line that should not have been crossed, and I'm not happy that it's our Baylor that crossed it, even if allowable by the NCAA. A smelly can of worms has been opened, which was likely inevitable, but I just wish it was someone else who had opened it. Baylor has tirelessly built a highly respected program, and I fear it will now lose some, if not a lot, of that respectability. More will cheer on our losses than our wins now.
Well, I guess we now know why Drew was smiling so big when asked earlier about a possible mid-season roster addition. I also guess that Baylor will now be known as the school that not only sends its players to the first round of the NBA draft.... it GETS its players from the first round of the NBA draft as well.
There's a lot of inaccurate stuff in this post to address.
1) The line has already been crossed by a number of programs. For example, BYU added a former G League player who's already completed for them this season. Louisville had a guy walk off his G League team and play for them last weekend. Illinois is almost entirely comprised of former pro Euro players. We're by no means breaking any new ground here, except for the fact that Nnaji was drafted in 2021.
2) I got news for you, buddy. No one was rooting for us to succeed anyway. Far more already cheered on our losses. I personally don't give a rip what fans of other schools think about us.
3) The NBA only has 30 teams. As such, there are 30 picks in the first round, which means Nnaji was an early second round pick. Second round picks do not get guaranteed NBA contracts, and Nnaji was never signed to one, and has never gotten a dollar of compensation from the NBA. As stated above, the NCAA obviously doesn't consider any league other than the NBA to be "professional," evidenced by the fact that they've allowed European professional players to compete in the NCAA for years. This guy, according to the NCAA's interpretation, has maintained his amateur status.
I don't like the path the NCAA has gone down, but acting like we're the ones who crossed the Rubicon first is ridiculous.
If you want to be technical about it, Larry Bird was drafted by the Celtics in 1978 and returned to Indiana State and competed in 1979. So, we're not the first there, either.BusyTarpDuster2017 said:Mitch Henessey said:BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Man, I don't know. As bad as college sports was getting, this was a line that should not have been crossed, and I'm not happy that it's our Baylor that crossed it, even if allowable by the NCAA. A smelly can of worms has been opened, which was likely inevitable, but I just wish it was someone else who had opened it. Baylor has tirelessly built a highly respected program, and I fear it will now lose some, if not a lot, of that respectability. More will cheer on our losses than our wins now.
Well, I guess we now know why Drew was smiling so big when asked earlier about a possible mid-season roster addition. I also guess that Baylor will now be known as the school that not only sends its players to the first round of the NBA draft.... it GETS its players from the first round of the NBA draft as well.
There's a lot of inaccurate stuff in this post to address.
1) The line has already been crossed by a number of programs. For example, BYU added a former G League player who's already completed for them this season. Louisville had a guy walk off his G League team and play for them last weekend. Illinois is almost entirely comprised of former pro Euro players. We're by no means breaking any new ground here, except for the fact that Nnaji was drafted in 2021.
2) I got news for you, buddy. No one was rooting for us to succeed anyway. Far more already cheered on our losses. I personally don't give a rip what fans of other schools think about us.
3) The NBA only has 30 teams. As such, there are 30 picks in the first round, which means Nnaji was an early second round pick. Second round picks do not get guaranteed NBA contracts, and Nnaji was never signed to one, and has never gotten a dollar of compensation from the NBA. As stated above, the NCAA obviously doesn't consider any league other than the NBA to be "professional," evidenced by the fact that they've allowed European professional players to compete in the NCAA for years. This guy, according to the NCAA's interpretation, has maintained his amateur status.
I don't like the path the NCAA has gone down, but acting like we're the ones who crossed the Rubicon first is ridiculous.
So we didn't cross a rubicon.... but he was drafted, so we did. Makes sense.
I know it helps to feel better about all of it by rationalizing it. But the truth is so many people are saying this is a complete joke, and the association is with Baylor. The only Baylor fans not bothered by this are likely the ones who were perfectly fine with selling the soul of college sports with NIL, and thus wouldn't mind losing a little dignity for the sake of wins. And that's sad.
Mitch Henessey said:BusyTarpDuster2017 said:Mitch Henessey said:BusyTarpDuster2017 said:
Man, I don't know. As bad as college sports was getting, this was a line that should not have been crossed, and I'm not happy that it's our Baylor that crossed it, even if allowable by the NCAA. A smelly can of worms has been opened, which was likely inevitable, but I just wish it was someone else who had opened it. Baylor has tirelessly built a highly respected program, and I fear it will now lose some, if not a lot, of that respectability. More will cheer on our losses than our wins now.
Well, I guess we now know why Drew was smiling so big when asked earlier about a possible mid-season roster addition. I also guess that Baylor will now be known as the school that not only sends its players to the first round of the NBA draft.... it GETS its players from the first round of the NBA draft as well.
There's a lot of inaccurate stuff in this post to address.
1) The line has already been crossed by a number of programs. For example, BYU added a former G League player who's already completed for them this season. Louisville had a guy walk off his G League team and play for them last weekend. Illinois is almost entirely comprised of former pro Euro players. We're by no means breaking any new ground here, except for the fact that Nnaji was drafted in 2021.
2) I got news for you, buddy. No one was rooting for us to succeed anyway. Far more already cheered on our losses. I personally don't give a rip what fans of other schools think about us.
3) The NBA only has 30 teams. As such, there are 30 picks in the first round, which means Nnaji was an early second round pick. Second round picks do not get guaranteed NBA contracts, and Nnaji was never signed to one, and has never gotten a dollar of compensation from the NBA. As stated above, the NCAA obviously doesn't consider any league other than the NBA to be "professional," evidenced by the fact that they've allowed European professional players to compete in the NCAA for years. This guy, according to the NCAA's interpretation, has maintained his amateur status.
I don't like the path the NCAA has gone down, but acting like we're the ones who crossed the Rubicon first is ridiculous.
So we didn't cross a rubicon.... but he was drafted, so we did. Makes sense.
I know it helps to feel better about all of it by rationalizing it. But the truth is so many people are saying this is a complete joke, and the association is with Baylor. The only Baylor fans not bothered by this are likely the ones who were perfectly fine with selling the soul of college sports with NIL, and thus wouldn't mind losing a little dignity for the sake of wins. And that's sad.
If you want to be technical about it, Larry Bird was drafted by the Celtics in 1978 and returned to Indiana State and competed in 1979. So, we're not the first there, either.
Maybe facts just aren't you thing.
You jest, but this does open someone like him up to go and play NCAA football if he were to choose to do so. Maybe he can realize his lifelong dream of playing TE at tOSU.IowaBear said:
Great pick up for BU. But it furthers just how absurd college athletics have become. The guy was drafted 3 years ago… what's next? Lebron retiring from the nBA to take a stab at the college game as a 40 something freshman.
Tom Izzo on James Nnaji enrolling at Baylor:
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) December 27, 2025
"I'm a little surprised. I've got a call in to Scott (Drew). I'm anxious to see what he tells me. If we're dipping into guys who were drafted to the NBA... shame on the NCAA. And shame on the coaches, too" 😳pic.twitter.com/5nyS4jp1sC
boognish_bear said:
Izzo with some critical comments about CSD making this moveTom Izzo was asked about James Nnaji enrolling at Baylor. Nnaji, 21, was selected 31st in the 2023 NBA Draft but he never signed an NBA contract, choosing instead to play professionally in Europe, before appearing with the Knicks in the 2025 Summer League. Here's Izzo's answer: pic.twitter.com/yPWHLyy6Sw
— Spartans Illustrated (@Spartans_Illo) December 27, 2025
NEWS: Trentyn Flowers, an NBA player on a two-way deal with the Chicago Bulls, is receiving interest from several colleges, a source tells @recruitsnews.
— Recruits News (@recruitsnews) December 28, 2025
Kentucky
Kansas
Florida
Michigan
BYU
Texas Tech
LSU
Washington
Indiana
USC
The 20-year-old has appeared in 8 NBA games. pic.twitter.com/JpaXEoqQH6
boognish_bear said:Why is this so bad? He didn’t play in the NBA. Isn’t that a fair dividing line? Larry Bird was drafted and played another year of college. What is really the harm?
— Matt Jones (@KySportsRadio) December 24, 2025
My man scored points in an NBA game THREE WEEKS AGO.
— Made For March (@madeformarch) December 28, 2025
Ludicrous stuff. https://t.co/DV3w1k8kW6
BREAKING: 21-time NBA All-Star LeBron James drawing interest from Horace Mann Elementary school: https://t.co/Ly6uN903oO pic.twitter.com/vPMaPxeHlU
— College Sports Only (@CSOonX) December 28, 2025