Calipari rips NCAA over unclear eligibility criteria

Arkansas head coach John Calipari took aim at the NCAA following his team's 103-74 win over James Madison, calling out the organization for a lack of clarity over its eligibility rules.

"Look, I don't blame coaches," he said. "I've got friends that are playing with 27-year-olds and they feel bad. I said, 'Don't feel bad. We don't have any rules. Why should you feel bad?'

"But let me give you this, real simple: the rules be the rules. So if you put your name in the draft - I don't care if you're from Russia - and you stay in the draft, you can't play college basketball. 'Well that's only for American kids.' What?"

Calipari is among several Division I coaches who have criticized the NCAA over a perceived lack of eligibility guidance recently in response to multiple players with unofficial NBA experience being permitted to play college basketball this season.

Baylor made Christmas Eve headlines with its midseason addition of James Nnaji, a former NBA Summer Leaguer with the Charlotte Hornets and New York Knicks who was drafted 31st in 2023 by the Detroit Pistons. The 21-year-old was granted four years of college eligibility and will be the first player to play in the NCAA after being drafted by the NBA. He never played collegiately in the U.S., never played in an official NBA game, and was drafted out of Europe.

Baylor head coach Scott Drew on Monday defended the addition of Nnaji, stating coaches "have got to be ready to adjust and adapt to what's out there" until the NCAA negotiates a collective bargaining agreement, according to ESPN's Jeff Borzello.

Purdue's Matt Painter also implored the NCAA on Monday to reach a resolution quickly.

"We've got a governing body right now that they don't know whether they're on foot or horseback," he said, according to Sam King of IndyStar.

"We've got to get some rules so we can abide by them and go forward and just have some common ground."