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NCAA deserves to be under fire for chaos of its own making in college basketball
ESPN commentator Jay Bilas. Matt Stone/Courier Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

NCAA deserves to be under fire for chaos of its own making in college basketball

By Andrew Kulha  |  Last updated Feb 17, 2026 11:26 PM ET

Jay Bilas is one of the premier media names when it comes to college basketball coverage. In fact, in the pantheon of college basketball personalities, Bilas may be at the top of the totem pole. 

Perhaps only Dick Vitale is more well-known in the general sports zeitgeist.

That means that what he says about the NCAA carries a lot of weight, and that's especially true when he's criticizing the NCAA. That's exactly what Bilas did on a recent episode of "Pardon the Interruption" on ESPN. 

The longtime college basketball analyst went on the ESPN talk show and blasted the NCAA for the way it has handled eligibility cases this season.

“I think we’ve got an issue where the NCAA doesn’t have eligibility rules that are based on any principle. There’s no age limit in college sports. I’m not saying there should be but people are complaining about that. And we have similarly situated players that are treated differently,” Bilas said (h/t On3). 

“You have international players that never matriculated to college but played pro basketball and made a lot of money, and they’re (ruled) eligible. And you’ve got players, international in nature, that didn’t go to college but went through the draft, and the NCAA deems them eligible.”

Bilas' point is valid, and it's about time the NCAA starts taking some heat. 

Multiple international players who have played professionally overseas have been granted eligibility by the NCAA 

Baylor's James Nnaji was a great example of the lack of consistency by the NCAA. 

He was the 31st overall pick in the 2023 NBA Draft after playing five seasons at FC Barcelona at just 21 years old. The NCAA granted him four years of eligibility.

Thierry Darlan plays for Santa Clara and is a former G League Ignite player. The same can be said for London Johnson at Louisville.

Yet Alabama's Charles Bediako has been deemed ineligible. He played at Alabama from 2021 to 2023, left for the 2023 NBA Draft and went undrafted. He played three seasons in the G League and also signed a two-way contract in the NBA, but he attempted to make a comeback to the college ranks this past season. He played in five games under a temporary restraining order against the NCAA before a judge officially ruled in the NCAA's favor.

Its topsy turvy. Some players are eligible, and some are not. There's not a defining rule or guideline, and that's led to chaos.

“In my view, if the NCAA wants to make this about players of a certain age, then say that college sports are for undergraduate students only and you have a six-year window after your high school class graduates. Problem solved. At least that would be based on some kind of principle,” Bilas pontificated. “But there are so many exceptions out there, and the NCAA is making those exceptions, that to single out Charles Bediako of Alabama as some sort of villain in this, I think, has been wrong on the part of those that have done that.”

Bilas is right to call out the NCAA, because its lack of a backbone (or more realistically, a selective backbone) has led to the mess that college basketball is in. Imagine the insanity that would take place if this bleeds into college football.

We already know college football coaches are watching these situations with intrigue and preparing to find loopholes of their own.

It's a mess, and the NCAA has only itself to blame.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

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