College basketball has witnessed its impact through a steady flow of international players each year. NCAA reports Division I men’s listed 800 of them last season and 2000 this year across Division I and II, men’s and women’s. But the process of making it to the list hasn’t always been easy for some of these. While it is the regulation itself for some, fans’ disagreement echo for others.

Just last month, Belgian player, Matthew Hodge went through a tough time proving he was eligible to play college ball at Villanova. “Frustrating,” he had called the situation. Now, an Israeli player is coming to town to give the NCAA a try, but fans are not pleased.

Per On3 reporter Joe Tipton, Or Ashkenazi, currently playing in the Israeli premier pro league, is hoping to experience college sports. While it has not been revealed what school he will go to yet, Tipton did say that some major programs were interested. “After three years playing professionally in Israel, 6-foot-5 shooting guard Or Ashkenazi is exploring the college route, per his agent Yuval Shaham,” the reporter said on X. “The 21-year-old currently plays in the Israeli premier pro league. Currently garnering early interest from several high major programs.”

In a follow-up post, Tipton also revealed the details of Ashkenazi’s team, “Ashkenazi currently participates in the Winner league, the top pro level in Israel. Other high-level European teams in the league include Maccabi Tel Aviv, Hapoel Tel Aviv, and Hapoel Jerusalem.”

However, a faction of the hoops community is not exactly supportive.

One faction of the hoops community can’t believe a pro is coming back to college, even if it’s the NCAA

The NCAA is not always all about sports, as student-athletes have often seen. The criteria for maintaining a GPA must be fulfilled, otherwise a redshirt year is suggested if you still want to play sports. Currently, the rule says, “Student-athletes must complete 16 NCAA-approved core courses in high school, including 10 by the start of their 7th semester. The 10 courses must include 7 in English, Math, or Natural/Physical Science.”

Upon successfully meeting the requirements, Ashkenazi can make it to the NCAA, seemingly regardless of going pro already. It is the latter that the fans are not on board with. Baffled by this decision by Ashkenazi, one fan wrote on X, “Dude needs to get a job.” Another said, “How tf is this allowed??”

Well, it’s not uncommon for athletes to study and play together – after all, a career as an athlete will not last forever, as Michael Jordan only knew too well and returned to UNC in 1986 to finish his bachelor’s degree in geography. But the 21-year-old’s decision to return to NCAA has a few surprised. “I thought if you are a pro you don’t have college eligibility?”

While there are no hard and fast rules about pro players, whether national or international, coming back to college, it’s certainly not a common practice. Most of those who come back to school do it to finish their degrees and not play the sport as well. It’s different rules for different leagues – football requires three years out of high school and not doing anything for those years seems a waste of time. Why not improve your play meanwhile?

Some sports like tennis or hockey don’t require college experience, so players turn pro before turning 18. But in basketball, the WNBA requires four years removed from high school, whereas the NBA requires one. Once an athlete declares for the NBA draft and stays in it, they lose their college eligibility. However, going the opposite route is rather unheard of, the way Or Ashkenazi is doing.

Another fan asked on X, “if colleges can go buy pro players , why r they wasting money on unproven 3 stars ?” While one simply said, “This is dumb.”

There are no clear rules to be followed as of now, as no further updates about the situation have been given. Needless to say, if the Israeli shooting guard does enter the NCAA, he will attract a lot of eyeballs and not all of them will be friendly. As one fan asked, “How in the world does that work? After playing pro he’s going to explore college. I’m not sure that’s gonna fly in the good old US A/NCAA.”