Trentyn Flowers, NBA Alum and College Prospect? Welcome to the New Era of Eligibility
Trentyn Flowers has played in eight NBA games. That’s right - not Summer League, not the G League, but actual NBA minutes.
And now? He’s reportedly being recruited by a slew of major college basketball programs, including Kentucky, Michigan, Kansas, and USC.
Yes, you read that correctly. A player with NBA points on his résumé is now being courted by college programs.
If that sounds like something out of a basketball multiverse, well, welcome to the new normal.
Let’s rewind for a moment. Flowers was once the crown jewel of Kenny Payne’s recruiting class at Louisville - the highest-ranked player Payne landed during his brief tenure.
Flowers even reclassified to join the Cardinals early, spent the summer working out with the team, and looked poised to be a major piece in Year 2 of the Payne era. Then, just before the fall semester tipped off, Flowers made a sharp pivot.
He announced he wouldn’t suit up for Louisville after all, opting instead to go pro in Australia’s NBL.
That alone was a twist. But now, Flowers is taking things a step further.
According to a report from On3’s Joe Tipton, Flowers is drawing renewed interest from a wide range of college programs - Kentucky, Michigan, BYU, Washington, Texas Tech, Florida, USC, LSU, SMU, Indiana, and Clemson among them. That list raised more than a few eyebrows, and understandably so.
After all, this isn’t just a player who took the overseas route straight from high school. This is a player who’s already logged minutes - and scored points - in the NBA.
But here’s where things get even murkier. CBS Sports' Matt Norlander followed up with some of the schools mentioned in the report.
At least five of them said they haven’t had any contact with Flowers or his camp - and were surprised to even see their names on the list. One source reportedly said, “Not even sure how we got on that list.
No one on our staff has had any contact with anyone associated with him.”
Still, the broader story here isn’t just about one player. It’s about what’s happening across the college basketball landscape - and how the traditional boundaries between amateur and professional are blurring fast.
Louisville, ironically, helped kickstart this shift. Earlier this year, they added London Johnson, a guard who’d spent three years in the G League.
Johnson was granted two years of NCAA eligibility, a decision that raised plenty of eyebrows. Michigan State’s Tom Izzo didn’t mince words when asked about it, calling the situation “ridiculous” and “embarrassing.”
And yet, that was just the beginning.
James Nnaji, the 31st pick in the 2023 NBA Draft, never signed an NBA contract. He played Summer League ball with the Knicks, then pivoted back to college hoops.
He’s now set to suit up for Baylor during the spring semester. The precedent is clear: if you haven’t signed a full NBA contract, the door to college basketball isn’t just cracked open - it’s swinging wide.
What makes Flowers’ case unique is that he did play in the NBA. He’s not just a prospect who flirted with the league - he’s someone who’s been there, done that, and scored.
Whether that complicates his eligibility is still an open question. But if recent history tells us anything, it’s that the NCAA is increasingly willing to explore the gray areas.
Tipton’s report noted that the governing body has shown “greater flexibility” in these cases. And that might be putting it lightly.
The Nnaji decision effectively rendered the NBA Draft withdrawal deadline meaningless. If players can go through the draft process, play professionally, and still return to college competition, then the old rules don’t just feel outdated - they feel irrelevant.
So here we are. A player with NBA minutes is potentially heading back to college.
The toothpaste is out of the tube, and there’s no putting it back in. Whether Flowers ends up back in a college uniform or not, his story is another signpost in a rapidly evolving basketball world - one where the lines between pro and amateur are fading fast, and where the rulebook feels more like a suggestion than a standard.
College basketball isn’t just changing. It’s already changed.