by Arop Kual, Cronkite News
March 24, 2026
PHOENIX – In December 2025, James Nnaji, the 31st overall pick in the NBA Draft, left Spanish basketball powerhouse FC Barcelona to return to college at Baylor. Undrafted center Charles Bediako signed a two-way NBA contract with the San Antonio Spurs, played in five NBA preseason games and also saw time in the NBA G League before returning to play college basketball at Alabama in January.
Thierry Darlan played in the Basketball Africa League and the G League’s Ignite developmental squad before committing to play college ball at Santa Clara in September 2025. Amari Bailey was the 41st overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft (Charlotte) and played in 10 NBA games before attempting to return to college basketball.
There are likely to be more such examples as the rules of NCAA eligibility continue to blur.
What once was impossible has now become a trend. Professional basketball players from the NBA, the G League and European leagues are coming back to play college ball and it is altering the college landscape.
“You kinda get used to it,” Grand Canyon coach Bryce Drew said. ‘It’s been going on for a couple years. I think coaches are smart. They want to get the best players out there and if it is legal then you try and get the best roster you can.”
Here’s why it’s happening: With the introduction of name, image and likeness (NIL) money, the idea of amateurism in college sports essentially ended. Players can now be compensated by a third party for their name, image and likeness, they can hire agents, and the NCAA transfer portal allows them to shop for better deals.
With players paid in the six-to-seven-figure range via NIL deals, international players are now looking to cash in on this potential payday. It is most prevalent among Euroleague players. The highest-paid Euroleague players are making at most $5.6 million per season while in college basketball, BYU forward and an expected 2026 NBA lottery pick AJ Dybantsa was reportedly paid $4.1 million this year.
While the Euroleague’s highest-paid players make more than colleges will pay, the European and American systems are structured differently.
The Euroleague is the highest tier of basketball in Europe, just like in the NBA in the U.S. Unlike the NBA, the Euroleague uses an open-market system and no draft. Prospects are often identified and developed by academies run by Euroleague clubs. For the first time in 2025-26, the Euroleague established a salary cap, which the NBA has had in various forms since the 1984-85 season.
With no draft, there is no structure for rookie contracts in Europe. Meanwhile, U.S. colleges often are willing to pay some players more than their club in Europe, leading young players there to make the jump to U.S. college hoops.
Often, they are players who were seen as their club’s up-and-coming star with a bright future in Europe.
“No matter how much I like the youngest guy and how much I’m willing to play him, it’s unrealistic that I can pay this guy (anything) close (to what colleges are paying) so there’s no way we can compete,” Himar Ojeda, sports director for the professional basketball club Alba Berlin, told The Athletic. “No one can do it.”
The NCAA has granted players eligibility, despite their having received salaries from professional teams overseas – breaking down the door of amateurism in college sports.
The NCAA’s own eligibility rules have opened that door.
Under documentation created by the NCAA regarding eligibility and amateurism in all sports, if players are given just the basic necessities by a team such as boarding and food, those players are still eligible to play.
With the NCAA allowing athletes to be compensated but still jump from professional leagues to college, many are returning to campuses.
In January, ESPN’s Dan Murphy reported that Bailey had announced that he would be returning to college basketball, although not to his original school, UCLA.
“It’s not a stunt. I’m really serious about going back,” Bailey said. “I just want to improve my game, change the perception of me and just show that I can win.”
Bailey has interest from several schools but has only made one official visit, to Grand Canyon during a Lopes home game against New Mexico State.
Bediako saw time with the Austin Spurs and later the Motor City Cruise in the NBA G League before returning to play college basketball at Alabama. His decision leaves bigger questions to be answered.
Bediako went through a lengthy legal process where he was eventually ruled ineligible by a judge. Bediako had already played in five games after obtaining a temporary restraining order.
A judge denied his request for a temporary injunction that would have allowed him to continue playing for Alabama, ruling he had not suffered “irreparable harm” and did not have a reasonable expectation of winning his case against the NCAA.
Despite that ruling, an overhaul of the eligibility rules is possible – or more legal battles are likely to follow heading into the 2026-27 season.
The NCAA has faced an unprecedented wave of legal challenges in recent years, largely centering on antitrust issues, athlete compensation and eligibility rules. Following a string of court losses – including a 9-0 Supreme Court decision in 2021 – the organization has been forced to shift its business model from a strict amateurism stance to one allowing revenue sharing, with a landmark $2.8 billion settlement approved in 2025 that fundamentally changes the structure of college sports.
The Trump administration recently hosted a “Saving College Sports” roundtable, after which the Administration committed to issuing a sweeping executive order that would overhaul the NIL system and restrict movement through the transfer portal. Such an order would likely lead to more litigation.
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