Michael Malone got creative to build his first roster at North Carolina, leaning on international recruiting to replace North Carolina’s Estonian center, Henri Veesaar. Not for a lack of trying in the Transfer Portal, Malone eventually pivoted overseas, taking a trip to Barcelona to land a commitment from Malian 18-year-old seven-footer Sayon Keita from FC Barcelona.
The European talent pipeline, which was opened during the NIL era as former European pros were suddenly granted their eligibility, has become a reliable alternative avenue for coaches to add talent to their rosters. But now the NCAA is trying to turn it off.
As Kevin Sweeney of Sports Illustrated reported on Thursday, the NCAA has distributed new guidance for “updated preenrollment eligibility requirements largely surrounding compensation and professional team involvement,” as Sweeney wrote.
It is not yet clear if, when, and how this guidance will be enforced, but the goal is to push back against the growing trend of former professional players, both international and from American professional leagues such as the NBA and the G League.
That effort could put Keita and UNC’s other center target, Alexandros Samodurov, squarely in the crosshairs, and if enforced across college basketball for this year’s recruiting class, it could leave Keita ineligible and prevent Malone from closing the deal with Samodurov.
New NCAA guidance is aiming to curb the flow of former professional players into college basketball
According to the guidance that Sweeney and SI obtained, “the guidelines state that prospective student-athletes who ‘entered an agreement with, competed on or received compensation from a team that participates in a league with minimum compensation that exceeds actual and necessary expenses’ will not have their college eligibility reinstated.”
Again, enforcement is not yet clear when it comes to those rules, but that is the new guidance from the NCAA, and it could be a big problem for Malone, who is leaning heavily on international talent as a first-time college basketball head coach after winning an NBA Title with Nikola Jokic and the Denver Nuggets.
By the time it was clear that Henri Veesaar was leaving North Carolina and staying in the NBA Draft, many of the top big man options in the Transfer Portal had already found their new homes. And with the sport suddenly supersizing after Florida and Michigan’s consecutive titles, built on massive front courts and rim dominance, seven-footers came at a premium in the portal market.
So, it was wise for Malone to look to Keita, a high-upside 18-year-old rim-running center. Even he, at just 215 pounds, may not answer all of UNC’s questions in the front court, but without him, Malone has virtually no answer at all.
Northwestern transfer Cade Bennerman, who redshirted his freshman season, and weighs even less than Keita at 205, would be thrust into a major role, and forward Jarin Stevenson would likely be asked to play up the lineup as a small-ball five in an era of three-big lineups dominating college basketball.
This guidance isn’t a death knell yet. Keita may still be ruled eligible. It’s a waiting game to see how the NCAA enforces this rule and if it faces legal challenges. But if he isn’t eligible, it would be disastrous for Malone’s first season.
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