In September, the NCAA partnered with Amazon to release the official numbers of how many college athletes were international, and the numbers were shocking. Thirteen percent of total athletes, 15% of basketball players, and 62.5% of tennis players were reported as international, which is double the numbers in 2010. However, this number increases when you consider only AP Top 25 men’s basketball players, in which 22% are international, and the number one team in the nation, Arizona, has over half of its roster made up of internationals. This jump wasn’t random.
“[Where the increases come from] depends on the sport, but there are some sports that are heavily recruiting internationals, such as tennis, soccer, and basketball,” said Joyce Anderson, ETHS College Bound Student-Athlete Advisor.
James Nnaji was a young Nigerian pro playing for FC Barcelona basketball. He worked hard and played well enough to get drafted with the 31st pick of the 2023 NBA Draft. However, it didn’t work for him in the NBA. He was traded twice, never playing a single NBA game, and was out of the league within two years. The story doesn’t end there, as in December, he caused outrage when he officially signed with the collegiate Baylor Bears to play basketball. That marked the first time a player drafted into the NBA returned to college to play basketball and continued a trend of players gaining eligibility to play when they wouldn’t have been able to before, due to the lack of NCAA regulations.
This lack of regulations in the new NIL era is a massive reason why more and more overseas players like Nnaji are coming to America to play college basketball. Additionally, in women’s sports, international resources and infrastructure are growing, allowing the number of women’s international players in college sports to triple in the last 15 years.
“Sports continue to globalize, especially in girls’ sports where the US has always been ahead, but other countries are catching up as they have more rights and more opportunities,” remarked Anderson.
Despite this, recently, we have been approaching a plateau of international athletes. That was boosted by a monumental settlement in July between lawyer Grant House and the NCAA, which allowed schools to directly pay players. That, along with NIL, has allowed players to get paid while in college. However, international players can only come and play in college in America with an F-1 visa, which allows non-immigrants to pursue an American education but prohibits off-campus employment, which NIL falls under. This has created many more opportunities for American students.
“We’re kind of at a plateau right now because of the visas and the university system,” stated Anderson.
Although visa restrictions have limited the recent surge, international athletes have and will continue to change the landscape of college sports as regulations shift, and we settle into the era of globalization and NIL. This rise reflects a great globalization and shift in college sports that will be a defining part of sports history. As college sports continue to settle into the NIL era, international athletes aren’t just a small part of college athletics, they’re a huge factor and will continue to define and change the narrative of college sports.
