Former Baylor and New York Knicks player commits to George Mason
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21-year-old sophomore center James Nnaji committed to George Mason Thursday morning, bringing three years of college eligibility with him to the Atlantic 10.
Nnaji entered the transfer portal on the opening day back in April and struggled to find a team to take him until settling on the Patriots.
The 7’1” big man has had an unconventional path to his underwhelming college basketball career and has attracted his own share of controversy along the way.
Nnaji's professional journey
Nnaji’s professional career began at just 15 when he left his home country of Nigeria for the first time to go play basketball in Hungary. His journey to Europe was the first time that Nnaji played organized competitive basketball.
Over his year in Hungary the young Nnaji began to dominate the competition around him as he continued to grow leading to an offer in Spain from FC Barcelona. The promising young center played in the Spanish league for the next three years before putting his name in the 2023 NBA draft.
Nnaji was drafted by the Detroit Pistons in the second round and then traded on draft night to the Charlotte Hornets. Nnaji has yet to see actual NBA minutes having only gained playing time in the summer league. The Nigerian center saw summer minutes for both the Hornets and the New York Knicks, who gained his draft rights in the trade for NBA champion Karl-Anthony Towns.
The jump to college ball
Nnaji drew national attention when he signed with Baylor on New Year's Eve of 2025. The mid-season addition for the Bears was a desperate move by head coach Scott Drew to remain competitive after center Juslin Bodo Bodo’s season ending injury.
College basketball fans across the nation were outraged that the former NBA draftee was able to join the ranks of NCAA athletes, let alone as a 21-year-old freshman.
"I was getting a lot of insults and cuss words from people -- like really, really, really rude things coming towards me," Nnaji said in a January ESPN interview. "I was like, 'But what did I do, man?' I'm as young as everybody in here."
Nnaji had a less than subpar season for the Bears, averaging just 1.4 points and 2.1 rebounds in just 18 games. By the end of the season, the controversial center had more than vanished from Baylor’s regular rotation.
Nnaji's next steps
At the close of the 2025-26 season, the Bears had to make a decision about who they would invest in for their big men of the future. When it came down to redshirt freshman Mayo Soyoye or Nnaji to backup Bodo Bodo next season, Drew’s staff chose to put their faith in the younger more promising Soyoye.
Now that Nnaji has found his next destination, George Mason becomes the newest name on a long list of the center’s stops throughout his short professional career.
The 21-year-old has now suited up for or been on the roster of the Detroit Pistons, the Charlotte Hornets, the New York Knicks, FC Barcelona, Girona (another Spanish team Nnaji played for), Merkezefendi (Nnaji’s first professional team in the Turkiye league), Baylor, and now George Mason.
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Dylan is a class of '26 graduate from Baylor and is now pursuing his JD at the University of Massachusetts School of Law. A born and raised Baylor fan, Dylan served as a sportswriter for the Baylor Lariat from 2025-2026, where he won the TIPA award for second-best sports story of 2025. His favorite writing memory was getting the chance to interview both Darryn Peterson and Bill Self at Allen Fieldhouse. In his free time, Dylan can almost always be found playing pickup basketball.
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