Controversial In-Season Addition Enters the Transfer Portal

The James Nnaji era is over, and some would call it the end of an error.

Nnaji was one of the most controversial signings in college basketball history, and his Baylor career likely ended on Tuesday afternoon when it was announced he entered the transfer portal.

The last 10 months have been a whirlwind for Nnaji. He was the 31st overall pick in last year’s NBA draft, but returned to college this season to try and give a boost to Baylor’s frontcourt, which struggled through most of the season.

Instead of standing out, Nnaji was one who fit in. He battled injuries and inconsistency all season to the tune of averaging just 1.4 points and 2.1 rebounds per game in 18 games played.

After playing 18 minutes in what the Bears were hoping to be a big win against Louisville, Nnaji never played more than six minutes for the rest of the season, and most of those minutes came in garbage time.

Baylor is looking to rebuild its frontcourt this offseason after watching two star centers in Tarris Reed and Adey Mara take their respective teams to Monday night’s national championship game, so losing Nnaji from that standpoint simply means that Scott Drew is going to need to find some more reinforcements.

Nnaji’s presence in college was controversial because of his presence in the NBA, and he had played professionally in Europe before landing with the Bears in the middle of the season.

“"I was getting a lot of insults and cuss words from people -- like really, really, really rude things coming towards me," Nnaji said earlier this year to ESPN. "I was like, 'But what did I do, man?' I'm as young as everybody in here.

With all of the rules, or lack thereof in college sports these days, it’s hard to fault Nnaji, or Baylor for trying to exploit them to their advantage.

Unfortunately for them, things simply did not work out.

"You have two choices: one, partake, or two, you'll be left behind," Baylor head coach Scott Drew said to ESPN.

"And when it came out that you could recruit G League players, I was against it at first. I didn't want to do it, but we don't make the rules. If they say you can drive 80, you're going to drive 80. If you drive 70, you're going to get passed."

Drew is right. It’s not his fault that the rules are what they are. If Drew did not recruit a G-League player to play for his team, someone else surely would have. That’s simply the situation that college sports finds itself in these days.

Maybe there will come a day where the rules change. For now, Drew and Nnaji were simply operating within the rules that were given to them.

Nnaji’s transfer, however, signals the end of a failed experiment.

After a stellar season, it was #Michigan who came out on top against UConn.

The Wolverines built a championship-caliber team and #Baylor can use the Wolverines' formula heading into the transfer portal season.https://t.co/N0zq8JfUHP
— Baylor Bears On SI (@BaylorBearsOnSI) April 7, 2026