USF will have to face James Nnaji, "the most polarizing pickup" in college hoops

You may have noticed the recent announcement that USF has started a home-and-home men's basketball series with George Mason University.

About 24 hours after that became public, there was another story about Patriots basketball. They signed 7-foot center James Nnaji, who was at Baylor last season but entered the Transfer Portal after one year with the Bears.

But that's just scratching the surface of his story.

Nnaji was taken 31st overall by the Detroit Pistons in the 2023 NBA draft and was traded to Charlotte on the same night. He played in some summer league games for the Hornets and later for the New York Knicks they acquired him. He never signed an NBA contract or played in an official NBA game.

However, he did play 132 games professionally for five seasons in Europe before opting out of his contract because he wanted to play college ball in the U.S.

Baylor gave him a shot, allowing him to join its team last year on Christmas Eve. By the way, USF fans, Baylor also uses the colors of green and gold. But I digress.

Nnaji made history by becoming the first NBA draft pick to be cleared by the NCAA to play in college. Coaches around the country suddenly had their hair catch fire. The idea that a person with that much professional experience was suddenly OK to play in college was an earthquake.

ESPN called Nnaji "the most polarizing pickup in men's college basketball history."

Michigan State's Tom Izzo said "Shame on the NCAA." John Calipari said "guys that are 28 years old, guys from Europe" were infiltrating college basketball. UConn's Dan Hurley, noting the timing of the signing, tweeted, "Santa Claus is delivering mid season acquisitions...this s*** is crazy!!"

Actually, Coach Calipari, Nnaji is ohly 21. And because Baylor was his first college stop, he still has three years of eligibility remaining. He was only 14 years old in November of 2018 when he left his native Nigeria and enrolled in the Ratgeber Basketball Academy.

His journey was under way.

After all that, Nnaji was a non-factor for Baylor. Struggling to recover from a back injury that required surgery, he averaged 1.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in 18 games. He entered the portal in April, but just now caught on with George Mason. That's presumably because most programs decided he was too radioactive for them.

To be fair, the NCAA now permits programs to sign G League players because the salaries in that league are only $45,000. Those players are probably getting a raise when they return to college. At least seven teams have taken advantage of that -- Besides Baylor, the list includes Louisville, Santa Clara, BYU, Seton Hall, Gonzaga, and our old friend Bryan Hodgson at Providence.

It's perfectly legal to do so.

But the guy who started it all shows that just because a player is good enough to be drafted or play in some G League games, it doesn't automatically translate to success in Division I basketball.

USF will get an up close and personal look at whether that still holds true.

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