With all the craziness around players seeking fifth years of eligibility through the courts, one former Nebraska basketball player has washed his hands of it.
Jamarques Lawrence has found a new home and will be playing overseas for NKA Universitas Pecs in the Hungarian First Division. The former Husker guard going the European pro basketball route isn’t surprising. Plenty of players that came through Lincoln have done the same. What is a bit surprising is that, in the process, Lawrence is giving up a fight he started months ago and seemed to be winning to get that extra year of eligibility.
Lawrence spent a short time in limbo after last season, waiting to find out if outgoing seniors would be included in the NCAA’s new five-in-five eligibility system. When the NCAA announced the new rules would take effect beginning with the 2026-27 senior class, it seemed he knew his Nebraska basketball and college careers were over. He even talked about looking toward going pro this spring.
Then came the lawsuits. Players who had spent four years of college sued the NCAA in several states and received temporary injunctions, giving them another year of college eligibility for now. Lawrence was part of an injunction filed in California that would have given him a fifth year.
Jamarques Lawrence makes sensible exit from Nebraska basketball eligibility uncertainty
After his group won that injunction, Lawrence started looking around at colleges. There were even hints that he might sign with either Michigan or USC through the Transfer Portal (which he entered during the regular window, just in case he was given a fifth year). That certainly would have made for an awkward reunion between the guard who helped Nebraska to a historic season and his old teammates.
However, the NCAA has fired back on some of these rulings and gotten them overturned in federal court. It’s possible that Lawrence saw the writing on the wall and didn’t want to wait around and see if his restored eligibility would stick.
Considering he, like the rest of the country, saw the eligibility and roster fights hit a fever pitch between the SEC and LSU when Tigers head coach Lane Kiffin signed two players who participated in NFL training camps. Kiffin seemed to single-handedly help swing the national mood against players who fought for more years. Even players like Lawrence, who hadn’t turned pro, were becoming pariahs.
NKA Universitas Pecs went 7-13 last year. Lawrence joined the current roster late after former Oklahoma guard Kobe Elvis was injured before the season, which begins in late September.
Jamarques Lawrence is the fourth former Nebraska basketball player to sign with a professional team over the offseason. Sam Hoiberg and Rienk Mast inked Exhibit 10 deals with the Phoenix Suns and Indiana Pacers, respectively. Jared Garcia will spend the next season with BKM Lucenec of the Slovak Basketball League.
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