Ellis, Niang and the new NCAA crackdown: could everything collapse? Here is what is happening

The new NCAA crackdown on the eligibility of international players could change the future of some of the most intriguing European prospects expected to enter college basketball. A report by Sports Illustrated has opened a new scenario. Here is what is happening.

NCAA, Ellis and Niang agreements under scrutiny

This is not only about Quinn Ellis, who is expected to join St. John’s after his experience with Olimpia Milano and Trento. The same grey area also involves Saliou Niang, a Virtus Bologna product headed to LSU, along with other European names mentioned by Sports Illustrated, including Marcio Santos, also expected at LSU, and Mantas Rubštavičius, bound for Auburn.

According to Sports Illustrated, the NCAA distributed new pre-enrollment eligibility guidance on May 8, with a specific focus on international players who have already been involved with professional clubs. In other words, the NCAA appears ready to change the rules of engagement while the game is already underway.

The issue is not the reported $4.5 million package currently on the table from St. John’s for Quinn Ellis through NIL and revenue share, nor the seven-figure deals linked to other major arrivals from Europe. This is not about what will happen next. It is about what has already happened. For the NCAA, the key points are previous contracts, compensation received and participation in teams belonging to leagues where minimum salaries exceed simple “actual and necessary expenses.”

To put it clearly, a player who wants to enter the NCAA cannot have previously played in a professional league, or at least cannot have received compensation beyond the costs required to cover his activity. The goal is to reassess cases involving players who previously declared for the NBA or came from major international leagues.

And this is where the problem begins. EuroLeague is viewed as a potentially critical environment, partly because of a CBA rookie minimum salary of €50,000 net. That figure appears to exceed what the NCAA considers “actual and necessary expenses.” This could affect both players coming from clubs such as Olimpia Milano and those developed in high-level programs like Virtus Bologna.

The situation does not automatically mean that everything will collapse, but it does open a real case. The NCAA will evaluate the files during the eligibility review process for the 2026-27 season, one by one, and it is still unclear how aggressively the new guidance will be enforced. What is clear is that the issue is urgent now, not from the 2027-28 season, even though the guidance only became known in early May.

The files of players such as Quinn Ellis and Saliou Niang will therefore be reviewed by the NCAA in the coming weeks. It is reasonable to believe that the review will also consider how long each prospect has received compensation above “actual and necessary expenses,” although no exact reference figure has been provided. Everything is now under discussion, with a potentially stunning outcome still on the table.