Baylor’s addition of 2023 NBA draft pick James Nnaji has stirred a storm in college basketball, and unsurprisingly, UConn coach Dan Hurley has thoughts.
“I just had no idea that that was even an option,” Hurley told CBS Sports on Monday. “I thought it was actually a joke when I saw it. I just assumed that when you stay in the draft or you get drafted that you would forgo your college eligibility. I was not aware of the loopholes in it.”
Hurley, who has coached Connecticut to two national titles and has the Huskies ranked No. 4 this season, said the time has come for further institutional leadership atop the sport.
“We need a commissioner. We need rules, we need guidelines,” he said.
“It’s a frustrating game to play when you don’t know the rules and rules are being made up as you go and there’s no communication and there’s no leadership. So I think college basketball needs a commissioner. A Roger Goodell. A David Stern. Somebody that’s gonna make decisions and start making moves that are in the best interest of college basketball, not just having coaches and players do what’s in the best interest of them.”
After growing up in Nigeria and then playing professional basketball in Europe, the now-21-year-old Nnaji was selected No. 31 in the 2023 NBA Draft by the Detroit Pistons but never appeared on an NBA floor. Last week, he committed to Baylor and was awarded four years of eligibility by the NCAA. The Bears hope Nnaji will be ready to play in early January.
“Players have to do what they can to make sure that they’re doing what’s in their best interest,” Hurley said. “They’re taking advantage of those opportunities now with NIL and the portal. The coaches are obviously always going to do what’s in their best interest if they can grab a player from somewhere. It’s gone on forever. Coaches have cheated in recruiting for years. They’ve paid players. I mean, the coaches are gonna find ways to make their team the best they can be.”
Hurley’s comments come days after legendary Michigan State coach Tom Izzo criticized the NCAA for granting Nnaji eligibility, with Izzo joking about bringing back famous Spartans like Magic Johnson and Gary Harris. On Monday night, after Arkansas’s 103-74 win over James Madison, coach John Calipari gave a near seven-minute diatribe on the subject as well.
“You can’t be 30,” said Calipari. “You’ve got five years. Clock is ticking. If you go pro, I don’t care what country you’re from. You leave your name in, you cannot play college basketball. If you transfer midseason, you can’t play. You gotta sit out. How about we just do that stuff? We can do it without having Congress and the Senate getting 60 votes. We can do that. Let them sue us on that stuff.”
“Does anybody care what this is doing for 17 and 18-year-old American kids? Do you know what this opportunity has done for them and their families? There aren’t going to be any high school kids. Who other than dumb people like me are going to recruit high school kids? I get so much satisfaction out of coaching young kids and seeing them grow and make it and their family life changes that I’m going to keep doing it.”
Coaches across the country have spoken up against what they feel is an attack on their sport.
“My biggest thing is: who’s looking out for the shield, the college basketball shield?” Hurley asked. “Who’s protecting college basketball, one of the most special things we have in sports? College basketball, March Madness, the second biggest annual sporting event every year?”
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