Are the UCLA Bruins hopping on the next wave of college basketball early? The sport has transformed rapidly since the turn of the century, with American-born players losing the ability to head straight to the NBA and then gaining the chance to earn NIL money at the start of this decade.
The next move for players to optimize their earnings and development might just be three years of high school. Marcus Spears Jr., a Texas Longhorns commit and Duke commit Joaquim Boumtje-Boumtje are both U.S. players who re-classified and will now have to spend two seasons playing college basketball before becoming eligible for the NBA draft.
The UCLA Bruins’ newest commit, Nikola Kusturica, is in a similar boat. While Kusturica was born in Serbia and has played professionally for FC Barcelona in Spain, he’ll have to spend two seasons playing NCAA basketball before reaching draft eligibility.
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It’s smart business for these players. Kusturica is set to earn a reported $6 million per season while with the Bruins, while getting to compete in a very competitive Big Ten Conference, where he’ll face other future NBA players. The decision may be even easier for Spears and Boumtje-Boumtje, who will both make millions this season at the college level, instead of simply dominating their high school competition.
UCLA wasn’t the quickest to adjust to the NIL era in college sports but targeting elite players who are multiple seasons away from draft eligibility is good business by the Bruins. Kusturica is UCLA’s first five-star recruit since Aday Mara in the class of 2023.
Kusturica could make an impact this season for UCLA as a teenager before being a likely NBA lottery pick in the 2028 draft.
This article originally appeared on UCLA Wire: Is UCLA at the forefront of college basketball’s next trend?
