Former Detroit Pistons second-round pick James Nnaji has enrolled at Baylor and will immediately be eligible to play for the Bears’ men’s basketball team. Jonathan Givony reports — a major development and an unprecedented path to college basketball.
Nnaji, 21, was 31st overall in 2023 NBA draftwith his rights going to the Charlotte Hornets as part of a trade. His rights were traded to the New York Knicks in 2024. However, Nnaji never signed a contract N.B.A contract, and instead played in Europe, most recently with Yukatel Merkezefendi in Turkey, on loan from Spanish side FC Barcelona. He averaged 7.5 and 4.0 rebounds with Yukatel Merkezefendi.
Nnaji and Barcelona – the team he has been part of since 2020 – mutually agreed to part ways after the 2024/25 season.
Most recently, he played with the Knicks in the 2025 Summer League.
Nnaji was listed at 6-foot-1 and 226 pounds when he was drafted as an 18-year-old, and Givony lists him as 7-foot-2 and 251 pounds with a current 7-7 wingspan.
“There was serious power for Nnaji to push his way to the back of the first round, so Charlotte moving up to acquire him at No. 31 feels like decent value here,” Kyle Boone wrote about Nnaji when he was drafted. “Nnaji’s metrics in terms of his size and length are impressive and he’s a big jumper who can finish above the rim, although he presents as something of a project for the Hornets.”
Instead, in a wild twist, he will be playing college basketball more than two years after being drafted. Baylor is 9-2 this season and has been without Juslin Bodo Bodo (arm) and Maikcol Perez (ACL), two expected players up front.
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