Maybe Everyone Overreacted About James Nnaji

When Baylor brought in former NBA player James Nnaji, people online acted like the sport was falling apart. Not because he was some five-star monster about to drop 30 a night, but because the NCAA actually cleared him to play. That decision sparked one of the loudest and most over-the-top reactions of the college basketball season. It didn’t matter that he barely touched the floor in the NBA or that he was coming in as a role guy. The conversation immediately turned into, “How is this allowed?” and “College basketball is broken.”

Now that we’ve had a chance to actually watch him, all that noise looks pretty silly. Through his first handful of games, Nnaji is averaging 16.7 minutes, 3.3 points, and 5.3 rebounds. That’s solid bench production, not some wild headline-grabbing performance. He’s not dominating. He’s not flipping games. He’s just giving Baylor some length and energy when they need a breather in the frontcourt.

The idea that this was going to ruin the integrity of college basketball doesn’t really hold up. Nnaji wasn’t brought in to be the face of the program. He wasn’t promised 30 minutes a night or a green light on offense. He’s just a young, raw big who got some pro experience and landed in Waco with a chance to grow in a different system. There’s no scandal in that. The NCAA approved it, Baylor played by the rules, and here we are.

This isn’t a loophole being exploited. It’s a young player taking a new path, which is kind of what this era of college basketball is all about. If anything, the reaction says more about how online the sport has become than it does about James Nnaji. He’s not breaking the game. He’s barely breaking the rotation.