Baylor Bears freshman James Nnaji is currently at Virginia for a visit with the Cavaliers, according to a report by his representatives at Gersh Sports. Nnanji is a three-star transfer according to 247Sports, and the 31st pick of the 2023 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons, who eventually traded his playing rights to the Charlotte Hornets, who in turn traded them to the New York Knicks. He’s a former professional basketball player in Spain, where he played with FC Barcelona between 2020 and 2025, becoming a Liga ACB champion.
He played college basketball with the Bears for his freshman season in 2025-26, partaking in 18 games while averaging 1.4 points, 2.1 rebounds, and 0.2 assists per game. He’s originally from Makurdi, Nigeria.
How was James Nnaji allowed to play college basketball as a professional player?
At the time he entered Baylor, there was some controversy about a professional player who was selected for the NBA playing at the collegiate level. Rules in college basketball have become extremely fluid, and seeing professional players from Europe make the jump to this side of the pond to play college basketball has become the new normal. What made it unique in the case of Nnaji is that he also held an option to play for the Detroit Pistons.
Here’s what Bears coach Scott Drew had to say about it at the time:
“We (coaches) don’t create the rules, and if we agree by them or not, I equate it to the speed limit,” Drew told CBS Sports. “You go through a construction zone, it changes. You get on the highway, it changes. Right now, the NCAA has speed limits, and it changes. I don’t blame the NCAA because a lot of it’s about what they feel they can win in the courtroom. To me, until we get to collective bargaining, there’s not going to be a solution. Until that time, my job is the coach of our program and we needed to add a player at semester break because we’ve had two season-ending injuries to two of our biggest players and had a third player out. If you’re coaching a team, aren’t you going to add the best player you can add that fits your program? That’s what we did.”
Regardless of whether he stays at Baylor or moves to the Virginia Cavaliers, James Nnaji’s career is just another sign of how much collegiate basketball keeps changing.
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