The Cleveland Cavaliers used one of their 2025 NBA Draft picks on a player who will suit up for the LSU Tigers in the 2026-27 college basketball season.
Of course, the Cavs didn’t know that was in the cards at the time, but Saliou Niang has taken an unexpected path since the time the Cavaliers picked him.
Niang is slated to be part of an LSU roster put together with some serious mystery by Will Wade — it wasn’t until recently that their official team roster page on their website even showed enough players to field a team.
Niang is also part of this new era of hoops in which the order in which players go isn’t as simple as college to NBA anymore.
How Saliou Niang Is Playing College Basketball
While there have been a lot of means by which players have returned to college eligibility in recent seasons, Niang’s case at least makes some sense.
Niang was the No. 58 overall pick by the Cavs in the 2025 NBA Draft, but he didn’t officially come to the league.
He’s been playing in Europe for Virtus Bologna, and he was a draft-and-stash pick. The Cavs didn’t want him in the league right away, but they wanted to retain his rights so that if Niang developed as they hoped, he’d be usable down the road.
Plenty of college basketball players these days also come from European club teams, so that concept isn’t foreign for the NCAA.
This was just a combination of the two concepts in one in a way that hasn’t really been done before.
The NCAA likely ruled that Niang’s path so far hadn’t done anything to make him ineligible. He hadn’t played professional basketball in the United States yet. He was coming on a path that plenty of other college hoopers have come on. Niang just happened to have already been drafted by an NBA team.
BREAKING: Saliou Niang has been cleared to compete for the LSU Tigers, his representatives, Sead Galijasevic and Andrea Grossi, told DraftExpress.
Niang was cleared by the NCAA eligibility process and is now officially eligible to suit up for LSU under head coach Will Wade. https://t.co/6hpRJNTkIF
— Jonathan Givony (@DraftExpress) October 20, 2026
Does Saliou Niang Belong to Cavs?
This is the most interesting question, and the answer would seem to be yes.
The Cavs drafted him, and they just left him stashed in Europe to continue developing. If Niang wants to play in the NBA one day, it seems Cleveland would still have his draft rights — just as if he made that decision from Bologna, but instead it’ll be from Baton Rouge.
Of course, the NBA hasn’t really dealt with anything like this before, so there might still need to be an official ruling.
But in concept, Cavs fans can turn on LSU games this year, watch Niang and know already that his draft rights are held by Cleveland.
Cavs’ 2025 Draft Pick Playing for LSU in Upcoming College Basketball Season