James Nnaji starts his NCAA adventure under the whistle

The current attraction on the university circuit played (but lost) her first match with Baylorat TCU. Author of 5 points and 4 rebounds in 16 minutes, James Nnaji he wasn’t particularly flashy, but he certainly got his NCAA career going.

About ten days later created controversy by joining Bearsdespite being a professional player since 2019. Especially since the 21-year-old Nigerian has already been drafted into the NBA!

It was 2023 — the Pistons’ 31st pick — and, while James Nnaji has yet to play in the big leagues, settling for experiences in Europe and appearances in Summer League, he officially belongs to the Knickswho own their rights.

That’s what earned the pivot the TCU crowd booing him when he received the ball Saturday, while Baylor fans took the opportunity to cheer him on.

A signature that got people talking

« We knew we would probably have to add someone at the beginning of the semester, due to injuries to several players at the end of the season » pointed out son coach, Scott Drew. « James has finally arrived with us and we are very excited to have a new healthy player in our midst. He arrived after Christmas and hasn’t played 5v5 since the summer, so when you don’t play for seven months, it’s going to take some time. »

Following the announcement of the signing of James Nnaji, who will finish the season with Bears and who can play three more on the university circuit, if he wants, a few votes – including that of Tom Izz – stood up to condemn this new “fashion”.

The “fad” created by the NIL and the lost trials, which paved the way for the recruitment of international players who had already played professionally.

Faced with this emerging and growing controversy, The NCAA then had to clear things upstating that she ” does not and will not entitle any prospective or former student-athlete signed to an NBA contract (including two-way) ».