After two high-profile cases in basketball this season, the NCAA Division I Cabinet will consider proposed changes to eligibility rules, including one that would prohibit athletes who entered and remained in a professional sports draft from competing in college.
The Academic and Eligibility Committee proposed the changes on Wednesday and the cabinet could take action within weeks. The new rules, if approved, would go into effect for athletes entering college this fall.
“These proposed changes reflect the continued work of Division I members to modernize our rules and align them with the current era of college sports,” said Illinois Athletic Director Josh Whitman, cabinet chairman. “As Division I members move forward with reviewing all eligibility rules in the coming months, our focus will be on establishing rules that have objective criteria that can be applied consistently for both prospective and current student-athletes.”
One proposal would require prospects to withdraw from professional league drafts, including the NBA draft, to align pre-college enrollment draft rules with post-college enrollment draft rules. Ice hockey and men's baseball would not be affected because athletes do not opt to participate in drafts for those sports.
The proposal comes after two basketball players, Alabama's Charles Bediako and Baylor's James Nnaji, played in college this season after entering the 2023 NBA draft.
Bediako played two seasons at Alabama and entered the draft. He was not selected but played three years in the G League, the NBA's minor league. He filed a lawsuit against the NCAA after it denied Alabama's request to allow him to return to college competition this season.
Bediako's attorneys argued that he remains within his five-year college eligibility period, an NCAA rule that is the subject of numerous other lawsuits. A judge, who later recused himself from the case, issued a temporary restraining order allowing Bediako to play while the case moved forward. He played five games before another judge lifted the order in a decision upheld by the Alabama Supreme Court.
Nnaji, from Nigeria, was selected by the Detroit Pistons in the second round of the draft. He played professionally overseas before enrolling as a freshman at Baylor in December. He was granted eligibility because he had never signed an NBA contract or played in the G League.
The Academic and Eligibility Committee also proposed that prospects be allowed to sign with agents before enrolling in college. Under current NCAA rules, prospects can sign with agents for name, image and likeness purposes only, with exceptions for baseball and hockey players who can enter into agreements with agents if they are drafted.
The committee also proposed that athletes be allowed to accept prize money in their respective sports without affecting eligibility. Currently, prospects can accept prize money only up to actual and necessary expenses, except in tennis, which allows up to $10,000 in prize money.
