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College basketball coaching legend Tom Izzo didn’t hold back when asked about James Nnaji’s return to Baylor after being selected in the NBA draft but never playing a game for a team.
Nnaji announced that he would return to the Bears after a stint at FC Barcelona. He was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in 2023 and has been traded twice during his career. He was part of the trade that sent Karl-Anthony Towns to the New York Knicks ahead of the 2024-25 season.
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Michigan State Spartans head coach Tom Izzo protests a call that benefited the Iowa Hawkeyes during the first half at the Jack Breslin Student Events Center on December 2, 2025. (Dale Young/Imagn Images)
But Nnaji is part of a growing trend of former NCAA-eligible college basketball players returning to school after stints in the G League or elsewhere. Izzo suggested Saturday that he’s had enough.
“Now we’re taking guys who were drafted into the NBA and everything,” the Michigan State men’s basketball coach said, via the Detroit Free Press. “I told you a month and a half ago – come on Magic (Johnson) and Gary (Harris), let’s do it baby, let’s do it. Why not? I mean, if that’s what we’re going to do, shame on the NCAA. Shame on the coaches too. But shame on the NCAA, because the coaches are going to do what they have to do, I guess. But the NCAA is the one. These people on these committees that are making these decisions to allow something so ridiculous and I don’t think so to the child.
James Nnaji of Barcelona takes a shot during Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Regular Season Game 34 between LDLC Asvel Villeurbanne and FC Barcelona at LDLC Arena on April 12, 2024 in Lyon, France. (Eurasia Sports Images/Getty Images)
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“So everyone says I’m thinking about my agenda or being selfish. No. Let me be clear, for all of you. I’m thinking, what would be best for my son if he was in this position? And I just don’t agree with that.”
Izzo claimed he wasn’t going to fight the growing trend, but he also wasn’t going to let it pass without sharing his thoughts on the matter. He argued that if college basketball was going to be more like the professional ranks, then it should go all-in instead of dipping a toe or two into those waters.
James Nnaji of FC Barcelona in action during warm-up before match 1 of the 2023/2024 Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Play Offs matches between FC Barcelona and Olympiacos Piraeus at Palau Blaugrana on April 24, 2024 in Barcelona, Spain. (Rodolfo Molina/Euroleague Basketball)
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He expressed similar sentiments in October when the first generation of G League players returned to school.
