Tom Izzo on pro players eligible for college: ‘Shame’ on NCAA, coaches

Long-term Michigan State coach Tom Izzo doesn’t mince words when it comes to the recent surge of exes NBA G League players and international professionals get the green light to play college basketball across the country.

on Christmas Eve, Baylor received a commitment from James Nnaji, the 31st overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft. Nnaji, 21, a 7-foot center from Nigeria, became immediately eligible as a midseason addition and will have four years of eligibility remaining, according to USA Today.

“I thought I’d seen the worst — then Christmas came,” Izzo said, according to USA Today. “What happened just topped that. … Now we’re taking guys who are drafted into the NBA and all that? … If that’s what we’re going to do, shame on the NCAA. Shame on the coaches, but shame on the NCAA because the coaches are going to do what they have to do, I guess, but the NCAA is the one.”

“Those people on those committees that make those decisions to allow something so ridiculous … I just don’t agree with that.”

Nnaji never actually played in the NBA or the G League, but he did to appear in five NBA summer games for New York Knicks July and played professionally abroad last season in Spain and Turkey.

This is not the first time a situation like Nnaji’s has arisen. In October, the NCAA decided to allow guard London Johnson, 21, to join Louisville the following year with two seasons of eligibility despite playing three years in the G League.

Izzo revealed that he received a text from a “very famous, great coach” criticizing these fluid eligibility rules. “What we did at the NCAA was an absolute travesty to me,” the message read, according to USA Today.

Izzo went on to predict that if polled, “maybe 5-10%” of DI coaches would agree with these changes.

“If that’s the case, and if I have to make those adjustments, then let’s make them,” he added. “Let’s be professional if so, but let’s not be half-assed you-know-whats.”

“Because there is no such thing as half of it.”

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