How are players like UNM recruit Tomislav Buljan with pro league experience eligible to play in college?

The bow on Eric Olen’s first recruiting class with the University of New Mexico seemed to be the big news last week that 22-year-old, 6-foot-9 Croatian forward Tomislav Buljan had committed to the Lobos.

He adds size, experience and a skillset Olen and crew clearly feel is ideal for the team’s five-out system — a style similar to the one utilized by numerous NBA and professional European teams.

“With my experience in Europe, I have no doubt I can thrive in UNM’s system,” Buljan told the Journal.

If you were one of the many wondering how this was possible, considering Buljan has played for several years in professional leagues, you aren’t alone.

But the Lobos, in recruiting such a player, aren’t alone either.

UNM and Buljan have not yet received full certification from the NCAA for him to play, but it’s a process currently underway. He and dozens of other players with pro experience overseas — as well as dozens of schools now confident in their cases for those players to earn back at least some of their college playing eligibility — are all going through the same, sometimes lengthy, certification process with the NCAA.

On May 15, C.J. Moore and Brendan Marks of The Athletic, a property of the New York Times, co-bylined an article about the wave of European players with professional team experience hitting the NCAA.

“In the past 18 months, permissive NCAA eligibility rulings, opportunistic agents and rising pools of name, image and likeness money have combined to open the floodgates,” the article states.

While it’s true the financial opportunity for the players (and agents) is there like never before in college basketball in the U.S., those “permissive NCAA eligibility rulings” haven’t exactly changed the core NCAA principle of amateurism.

So, how exactly are these players, like Buljan, who have competed at the highest levels overseas — some for several years — and accepted compensation for playing, as basically all of them have done, now being cleared to play for a college in the United States?

As is the case with UNM and Buljan, there is a process in place — a sometimes lengthy one — in which the player and school get in contact with the NCAA. The international player must do things like disclose all teams and competitions he or she has participated in, as well as disclose agent and payment information.

The NCAA has carved out specific exemptions for earning money in professional competition for some sports. And all NCAA sports, including basketball, have rules that lean heavily on one phrase: “actual and necessary expenses.”

Starting in August, for example, college hockey players who have competed in the Canadian Hockey League can maintain their eligibility to play for a Division I or Division II program, so long as the money they received was essentially only for the essentials like lodging, meals, training, equipment, travel and other necessary costs to compete.

Track and cross country athletes are also allowed to earn up to that “actual and necessary” threshold while tennis players are allowed to pocket up to $10,000 in tournament prize money, and then receive compensation for those “actual and necessary expenses” after that mark.

Now, earning more than that “necessary” amount — whatever the NCAA determines that to be and for whatever expenses the NCAA agrees are essential — doesn’t automatically end the process.

A player can be deemed eligible after sitting out a number of games, or losing an entire year or more of eligibility, all on a case-by-case basis. The formula for how that is determined can be hard to pinpoint in any specific NCAA bylaw or case study.

UNM has declined to talk to the Journal specifically about the details of Buljan’s case or where his NCAA approval stands. But what is clear is, like in the law, precedent is power.

UNM and every other school going through the same process of certification of an international recruit who has professional playing experience are researching and stockpiling all other instances of the NCAA certifying players in the same or similar circumstances.

Two years ago, 7-foot-1 Croatian player Zvonimir Ivišić committed to Kentucky and was eventually cleared by the NCAA to play after missing the first 16 games. He played last year at Arkansas and this offseason transferred to Illinois.

With the Illini, Zvonimir Ivišić joins his 7-2 twin brother, Tomislav Ivišić, who didn’t come over to play in the NCAA until last season. The NCAA allowed him to play, but after reviewing his case and past participation in professional leagues, took a full year of eligibility away, having him start last season as a sophomore.

Along with Buljan, there are dozens of cases this offseason at various stages of the process of certification with international players with at least some past experience participating in high-level, professional leagues, some announced as recently as Thursday morning.

Some of these players have even competed against Buljan in the league’s he’s played in, including the Adriatic League First Division (ABA).

A sample of just some of the higher profile examples of players with professional league experience overseas who this offseason have committed or signed with a Division I team in the United States (with name, age, height, position, nationality and school):

• Buljan, 22, 6-9 forward from Croatia (New Mexico)

• Andrija Grbovic, 21, 6-9 forward from Montenegro (Arizona State)

• Sananda Fru, 21, 6-11 forward from Germany (Louisville)

• Andrija Jelavic, 21, 6-11 forward from Croatia (Kentucky)

• Filip Jovic, 20, 6-9 forward from Serbia (Auburn)

• Andrej Kostic, 18 , 6-5 guard from Serbia (Kansas State)

• Timotej Malovec, 21, 6-7 forward from Slovakia (Miami)

• Sergej Macura, 21, 6-6 forward from Slovenia (Mississippi State)

• David Mirkovic, 19, 6-9 forward from Montenegro (Illinois)

• Mihailo Petrovic, 22, 6-3 guard from Serbia (Illinois)

• Dominykas Pleta, 20, 6-9 forward from Germany (Iowa State)

• Dame Sarr, 18, 6-7 guard from Italy (Duke)

• Vangelis Zougris, 20, 6-8 forward/center from Greece (Louisville)

Clearly, Buljan and the Lobos aren’t alone in this latest trend.

When will UNM and Lobo Nation know what the NCAA’s decision is on his eligibility — whether he can play at all or how many games/seasons of eligibility they may take away, if any? Who knows?

But it is a sign of at least some optimism on his part, and that of UNM, that he told the Journal last week he plans to be on campus in early June, practicing and preparing for the season with his teammates.