Less than three years ago, James Nnaji was the first pick in the second round of the 2023 NBA Draft, but when Baylor men’s basketball tips off against TCU on Jan. 3, he’ll be on the bench for the Bears. Coach Scott Drew signed the 21-year-old center to the team’s 2025-26 roster on Christmas Eve.
The in-season addition of a player who had appeared in NBA summer league games and spent the last three seasons playing professionally in Europe has dominated recent conversation about the sport.
Ohio State men’s basketball coach Jake Diebler had a word for it.
“Fascinating,” he called it. And it wasn’t necessarily a compliment.
“What a fascinating time we’re in,” he said prior to a Dec. 29 practice at the Jerome Schottenstein Center. “What we all want, or at least what I want, is just clarity. We’re having to adjust on the fly. We want to do everything we can to help Ohio State basketball be its best.”
The Buckeyes spent the summer and much of the preseason attempting to add one final piece to their roster. Former North Carolina and Penn State wing Donovan “Puff” Johnson unsuccessfully petitioned the NCAA for a sixth year of eligibility. His goal of playing for Ohio State was again stymied when his legal challenge was denied.
The Buckeyes were also pursuing T.J. Clark, a former NBA G League player who played for Overtime Elite during his high school years. He signed with Ole Miss and is expected to have two years of eligibility remaining. Now, with Baylor’s most recent addition, Diebler said the Buckeyes have their eyes open for roster upgrades but pointed out the myriad challenges.
“There’s a lot of intricacies that go into this stuff, including admissions processes and all sorts of things,” he said. “A lot of people don’t realize those are different at every school. We’re trying to comply with an evolving and really unclear NCAA space, and then we’ve got to comply with Ohio State admissions; so there’s a lot of parts and pieces to the equation, but we are absolutely really all the time exploring everything we can to help this program be its best.”
Although he was drafted by Detroit and traded to Charlotte, Nnaji never appeared in an NBA regular-season game, an important distinction NCAA president Charlie Baker made in a public statement on the situation.
“The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract),” he said. “As schools are increasingly recruiting individuals with international league experience, the NCAA is exercising discretion in applying the actual and necessary expenses bylaw to ensure that prospective student-athletes with experience in American basketball leagues are not at a disadvantage compared to their international counterparts. Rules have long permitted schools to enroll and play individuals with no prior collegiate experience midyear.”
While the Buckeyes still have an open roster spot, Diebler reiterated the unlikelihood of seeing a 15th Buckeye added for this season.
“You’ve got to be very particular about who or if you add somebody,” he said. “If there is a way to do something and there’s a right way to make your team better, we certainly want to look at it, but it’s not just a matter of necessarily adding. Fit’s important. All of those things come into the equation.”
Ohio State men’s basketball beat writer Adam Jardy can be reached at ajardy@dispatch.com, on Bluesky at @cdadamjardy.bsky.social or on Twitter at @AdamJardy.
