For months, there has been discourse in the college basketball world surrounding players drafted to the NBA attempting to return to play at the collegiate level. Clemson legend JP Ball is adding himself to that list of players, the University announced on April 1.
Prior to Ball’s announcement, G League player Charles Bediako was among the list of notable players attempting to return to college, despite him being drafted and part of an NBA trade package. Amari Bailey, another player who attempted the same feat, has appeared in 10 NBA games throughout his professional career.
Throughout his career so far, Ball has appeared in 38 NBA games, nearly half of a full season. With that sort of experience, why does Ball want to make a return to college basketball?
“Everyone else is doing it, why can’t I do it, too?” Ball said. “Sure, I might have played in 38 professional games, but I play for the Hornets. Up until recently, they wouldn’t have been able to beat a high school team, so I think it’s fair.”
While Ball argued that the Hornets barely count as a professional basketball team, he also alluded to another factor that led to his decision to return to collegiate play.
“Imma keep it real, I’m not even making half a million dollars this season,” Ball said. “I’ve seen the deals these college kids are getting with NIL, and I never got that opportunity. Now, I’m finna come back and get the bag I deserved when I was first here.”
Ball’s appeal to return to college faces an uphill battle, as the aforementioned Bediako and Bailey were both refused eligibility, though Bediako did appear in a handful of games before the NCAA figured out how to enforce rules. Within those rules, though, is a loophole that could allow Ball to return to college basketball — so long as he joins another sport he still has eligibility in.
So, enter snake wrangling, the newest sport announced on April 1 that is taking Clemson by storm following the announcement of Lake Hartwell’s snake wrangling competition. When Ball was going through the list of sports to join alongside basketball, he said it was a no-brainer which one he needed to play.
“Someone recommended baseball, but that lowkey seemed boring, I need excitement,” Ball said. “When I saw snake wrangling was coming to Clemson, I knew I wanted to get in on that action.”
Ball is right, this new sport is sure to be anything but boring. There’s just one problem, though: he doesn’t have any experience in the sport.
In fact, he actually has no experience with snakes. At all. He’s never handled a snake, much less wrangled one like a Texas cowboy. In fact, he’s, like, never even seen a snake in his life, apparently.
We asked him to explain what he thought a snake was, and he thought they were basically larger worms. When he was told what snakes actually were, he seemed unfazed as to what he was getting himself into.
“Big whoop,” Ball said. “I’ve played against giant NBA players, what’s the worst a little bitty snake could do?”
Well, JP, I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the answer to that question is. Until then, though, we will be awaiting the 2026-27 college basketball season to find out if JP Ball will be returning to collegiate play while he simultaneously learns what a snake is and how to wrangle one. Grab your popcorn, folks, you aren’t gonna want to miss this.
