When the final ranking for the 2025 national class went live last week, there were only a select few international prospects included on the list, despite the fact that we’ve seen international recruiting reach unprecedented highs this spring. NIL has made it more lucrative for players to come play college basketball than it would be to play in most professional leagues around the globe, but in there lies the distinction.

The vast majority of international prospects that we’re now seeing come to the college ranks are not akin to incoming high school seniors. They are a different type of prospect. They are usually a little older, more experienced, but often with less college eligibility. Many of these international prospects are already 20, 21, or even sometimes 22 years old. Many of them have professional experience and, because of that, are not being granted four full years of eligibility.

That is why we have decided not to rank these types of international prospects with the 2025 class. They follow a different track to college, along with the experience and age component.

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So, while names like Jacob Furphy and Luke Fennell remained in the rankings, since they are incoming freshmen who we have been able to evaluate within the last year at the NBA Academy, the vast majority were not. Instead, these other international prospects now make up almost an entirely new track, like the transfer portal or the junior college ranks, where college coaches can go to build out their roster.

And college coaches have been doing just that in recent weeks and months.

So while not ranked in the traditional sense, these international prospects are still an important part of the college basketball landscape and the upcoming season, and will play significant roles on top teams. So with that in mind, here’s a look at some of the top international names to know, prosects who we fully expect to have a chance to be impact college basketball players next season.

Sananda Fru | Germany | 6-11, F/C | Louisville

Age: turns 22 in August

Measuring in at 6-foot-10 (without shoes) with a 7-foot-2 wingspan, Fru is a long and versatile frontcourt piece who will turn 22 years old in August before his freshman year at Louisville. On film, he shows offensive value as a finisher as well as flashes of floor-spacing potential. He’s a willing ball-mover and doesn’t need to be a focal point to make an impact. Defensively, his size and length are clear weapons while he appears to have real potential to be versatile on that end, both from a positional standpoint and guarding ball-screens in various ways.

Johann Grunloh | Germany | 6-11, C/F | Virginia

College football has experienced radical changes recently, including the first edition of the expanded 12-team playoff, and though reviews were mixed on the new format, the postseason will likely never decrease in size again.

What does seem inevitable, however, is the playoffs’ further expansion.

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According to Ross Dellenger of Yahoo Sports, the potential for a 16-team playoff including automatic bids for conferences is now gaining support among top decision makers.

The four power conference commissioners held an in-person meeting in New York on Thursday to discuss several issues, including a future playoff format, sources tell @YahooSports. Big Ten & SEC – they control future format – continue to favor multiple AQs for their conferences.

— Ross Dellenger (@RossDellenger) May 8, 2025

The agreement would include four SEC bids, four Big 10 bids, two each for the Big 12 and ACC, one bid for the Group of Five, and three at-large bids, which could go to anyone who did not automatically qualify. With the continued rapid pace of developments, it wouldn’t be a surprise to see the change in format enacted after the 2026 season.

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However, perhaps the most intriguing part of speculation from an SEC perspective is the installation of play-in games in the SEC. While the No. 1 and No. 2 teams — who normally would play in a title game — would receive bids, the No. 3 team would take on the No. 6, and No. 3 would take on No. 4 in order to determine who would receive the auto-bids.

The change would once again place a major emphasis on conference races and attempt to keep the regular season valuable, something that the leagues obviously have an interest in doing.

How long the modification will take to actually implement remains to be seen, but by the looks of things, it’s probably time to start preparing for the new format.

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