Sananda Fru is just a college freshman, but a loophole would let him sign with an NBA team whenever he wants.<\/p>\n
The Louisville big guy is no ordinary frosh.<\/p>\n
Fru played professionally in Europe before arriving at the UofL, and he’s not a teenager, either.<\/p>\n
Because of that, The Athletic’s John Hollinger explains<\/a> that Fru, like Virginia’s Thijs de Ridder<\/a>, is essentially an NBA free agent right now.<\/p>\n “The NIL-driven influx of overseas players into the NCAA has also created an interesting sub-species of prospect: the post-draft college guy,” Hollinger writes. “Neither De Ridder nor Fru can be drafted this year, because they were already in the 2025 draft as auto-eligible 22-year-olds \u2014 De Ridder with Bilbao in Spain and Fru with Braunschweig in Germany. Neither was selected, and no NBA team owns their rights. As a result, they are technically eligible to sign into the league at any time.”<\/p>\n These guys were both playing with pro teams in Europe, and those draft prospects get entered into the class when they hit 22 years old, if they haven’t already entered before then.\u00a0<\/p>\n They weren’t drafted, but they’re both good enough college players that an NBA future isn’t an impossible thing to imagine.<\/p>\n Fru, at his 6-foot-11 size, has had moments of great impact in the frontcourt.<\/p>\n NIL money is a relatively new phenomenon that likely pushes back on the idea of Fru just packing his bags and leaving on some random day.<\/p>\n Maybe in a last year of college eligibility for these guys, though, they could leave as soon as their college team’s season is over rather than having to wait for the draft.<\/p>\n It’ll certainly be a fascinating subplot to monitor.<\/p>\n