The latest hurdle the NCAA faces in maintaining its eligibility rules: keeping former professional athletes out.
Frontiers explored in lesser-followed sports like college tennis and hockey have been thrown into the spotlight after a pair of former NBA G League players committed to play college basketball in recent weeks. The first to make such a move, African wing Thierry Darlan, had spent one year in the NBA’s now-defunct G League Ignite program, then a second splitting time with the Delaware Blue Coats and Rip City Remix before enrolling at Santa Clara. Darlan was granted two seasons of college eligibility by the NCAA. London Johnson, another former Ignite player, committed to Louisville soon after. Johnson spent three seasons in the G League (two with Ignite) and will enroll in college at the end of fall semester before playing the 2026–27 season.
