USA-based Nigerian basketball player, James Ugochukwu Nnaji is back in the news on another copntroversial note, following his transfer to George Mason University, where he is set to feature in the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) Atlantic 10 Conference.
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Sports247 reports that the latest furore around Nnaji stems from the fact that other teams in the NCAA still regard him as ‘a professional player,’ simply because he was drafted by Detraoit Pistons in 2023, though he never got to play any game for them in USA’s National Basketball Association (NBA).
Nnaji will now aim for a better run this season while playing NCAA basketball fixtures for George Mason University, a public research institution in Fairfax County, Northern Virginia near Washington DC, named in honour of George Mason, a founding father of the United States.
This marks phase two in the saga about Nnaji’s eligibility, as the lad, who was born in Makurdi and first moved to Ratgeber Basketball Academy in Hungary, then played in Spain with Barcelona B, Girona and Merkezefendi, enrolled on December 24th, 2025 to play for Baylor Bears in the NCAA’s Big 12 Conference.
Before then, on June 22nd, 2023, Nnaji had been selected 31st overall in the NBA draft by Pistons, who then traded him to Charlotte Hornets, after which his rights were traded the following year to New York Knicks along with Karl-Anthony Towns, as a part of a 3-team deal – all of which give him a pro-status.
That caused many raised eyeebrows to emerge when the 7-foot centre officialy joined Baylor Bears in the NCAA early this year, but other teams pointed out that, though he never signed an NBA contract nor feature in an official fixture, he did play 132 games professionally for five seasons in Europe.
The argument then was that Nnaji actually opted out of his overseas contract because he wanted to play college basketball in the United States, but controversy erupted when Baylor enrolled him on Christmas Eve, allowing him to make history by becoming the first NBA draft pick to be cleared by the NCAA.
However, while ESPN labelled Nnaji ‘the most polarising pick-up in men’s college basketball history,’ he became a traiblazer, as the NCAA now permits universities to sign G-League players, because the salaries in that league are only $45,000 – and seven teams have taken advantage of the new clause.
Those following Baylor’s lead include Louisville, Santa Clara, BYU, Seton Hall, Gonzaga and Providence, as well as George Mason, who are taking a risk by signing Nnaji for the season, as he could not excel during his short stint at Baylor midway through the past campaign.
