The debates about young athletes with professional experience returning to college sports will not die down anytime soon. At the rate it is going, it looks like the trend will become more of the norm in the near future, unless the NCAA finds a solution.
Many coaches have expressed their disapproval of it. On Sunday, San Antonio Spurs assistant coach Billy Donovan joined the list.
Donovan, who spent the last six years as the coach of the Chicago Bulls, experienced how college programs tried to lure their players in the G League.
“One of the things I noticed being in Chicago last year, there were college coaches even calling around to the players who were on our G League team to see if they wanted to come back and potentially play in college,” said Donovan in a video posted by WCJB TV20’s Olivia Eisenhauer.
“If players are removing themselves from the college atmosphere and going professional overseas to Europe or to the G League or to the NBA, I think they probably need to stay there.”
“In Chicago last year there were college coaches even calling around to the players that were on our G-League team.”
I asked Hall of Fame Head Coach Billy Donovan his thoughts on the NCAA five-for-five rule and players returning from the professional level.
@WCJB20 pic.twitter.com/tIW6qEjshs— Olivia Eisenhauer (@oeisenhauertv) August 31, 2026
Donovan did not name the players, but Noa Essengue, Lachlan Olbrigh, and Emanuel Miller split time between Chicago and the Windy City Bulls last season.
Offering a caveat, the 61-year-old Donovan, who left the Bulls in April before signing with the Spurs in July, said he is fine with undrafted players going back to college.
“It’s not a bad thing. I had a lot of players in the NBA who were young and told me, ‘I made a mistake coming out, I should’ve gone back,’ and I hate to see when a player’s making a decision and not having what’s gonna actually happen on draft night,” explained Donovan.
He also has ample experience in college basketball, steering Florida to back-to-back national titles in 2006 and 2007. He was with the Gators from 1996 to 2015. Before that, he was with Marshall.
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