John Calipari critical of adding pro players to college game - ESPN

Without new rules to stop teams from adding players with professional experience to their rosters, the value of American high school players will rapidly decrease, John Calipari said in a postgame rant about the state of the sport Monday night.

In a six-minute response about college basketball, days after Baylor announced the addition of former NBA draft pick James Nnaji to its roster, Calipari said the sport's youngest talents will suffer if players who've played professionally — domestically or internationally — are allowed to compete.

«Does anybody care what this is doing for 17- and 18-year-old American kids? Do you know what this opportunity has done for them and their families? There aren't going to be any high school kids,» Calipari said after Arkansas' 103-74 win over James Madison. «Who other than dumb people like me are going to recruit high school kids? I get so much satisfaction out of coaching young kids and seeing them grow and make it — and their family and life changes — that I'm going to keep doing it. But why would anybody else, if you can get NBA players, G League players, guys that are 28 years old, guys from Europe? Do we really know their transcript? Do we have somebody over there? Do we really know their birth certificate or don't we?

»We've got no rules."

Both Louisville (London Johnson) and Santa Clara (Thierry Darlan) recently signed players with G League experience to their rosters, but Nnaji — a 7-foot center who played professional overseas after he was drafted 31st in the 2023 NBA draft — is the first drafted player to get cleared to play by the NCAA.

While Scott Drew defended his decision to add Nnaji and said he's «happy» he was allowed to play, UConn's Dan Hurley, Gonzaga's Mark Few and