Kansas coach Bill Self says he needs to learn more about the situation in which Louisville has recruited and added an NBA G League player to its roster for the 2026-27 season before he finalizes his feelings about the NCAA allowing pros to enter college’s transfer portal and apply for eligibility.
“I don’t want to knock it from a standpoint that, who knows, we may be recruiting one before it’s all said and done, but I’ve got to know the rule better, because I didn’t know it was just limited to G League,” Self said Wednesday at Big 12 men’s basketball media day at T-Mobile Center.
“I thought a guy could get cut in the NBA and be eligible for college.”
He did express surprise at Louisville on Monday receiving a commitment from G League player London Johnson a month after another G League player, Thierry Darlan, announced for Santa Clara.
“My personal opinion is I have no idea what we are doing. What are we doing?” Self said.
“So we’re going to go recruit. We’re going to call NBA teams and G League teams to find out who will potentially be available, and that’s who we’re going to recruit now, as opposed to high school kids or even portal kids? And what is the actual rule?” Self added. “Does it have to fit within a five-year window? Can he go to college first? I don’t really understand it well enough to comment too much, other than why wouldn’t everybody declare for the draft? If it doesn’t work out, go back to college?
“I mean, if it is the way that I think it is — which it may not be, because I don’t understand it well enough yet — it’s going to open up some unintended consequences that we’re going to have to deal with.”
On Tuesday, Michigan State’s Tom Izzo told media members as reported by ESPN: “I am going to get myself in trouble, but I listen to people talk about how kids changed. Kids aren’t the problem, we’re the problem. This was sprung on us again yesterday where a guy can be in the G League for two or three years and then all of a sudden, he’s eligible. Most of my people knew nothing about it. ... I’m not real excited about the NCAA or whoever is making these decisions, without talking to us, just letting it go. They’re afraid they’re going to get sued.”
Izzo added: “Someone is going to say, ‘Well, if they go pro and it doesn’t work out, they should be able to come back.’ Well, what about the freshmen you recruited there? That’s somebody’s son and he thinks he’s got himself a good place, and all of a sudden, shazam, they pull out of their hat and bring a 21- or 22-year-old in (from G League). To me, it’s ridiculous. It’s embarrassing, and I love my job. I don’t respect my profession, and I don’t respect whoever is doing that. Whoever made those decisions because they’re afraid that a lawyer is going to sue them, sooner or later, you’ve got to fight the fight. ... Maybe I’m the dummy, but I’ll never agree to that stuff.”
Izzo said the “NCAA has got to regroup” after that ruling.
“That’s my opinion, only my opinion,” Izzo said. “Don’t be mad at anybody else. Be mad at us, but I’m not going to be mad at the players. I’m going to be mad at the adults in the room.”
According to ESPN, “both moves seem to defy the NCAA’s previous amateurism and eligibility rules, which barred any players who had previously competed for money at a professional level from playing Division I basketball. Per the NCAA’s Division I manual, any athlete who has been compensated as a professional beyond ‘actual and necessary expenses’ — a category that includes health insurance, meals, lodging and transportation — cannot play college basketball. But the NCAA has bent those rules recently for multiple international prospects who’ve participated in professional leagues overseas.”