These are confusing times for college basketball and its fans, indeed. The transfer portal, NIL and eligibility extensions have put the sport in flux over the last few years, and another example of it was prevalent on Monday.

Earlier on Monday, it was reported that LSU had come to terms on a $5 million deal with Israeli professional player Yam Madar, who is 25 years old.

Not only is Madar 25 years old and already playing professional basketball, he was actually drafted by the Boston Celtics in the 2020 NBA Draft.

By later on Monday, LSU insiders were reporting that the deal is not done, but that Madar is trying to get eligibility to make it happen. There are evidently still hoops to go through, but the fact that this is even a possibility just shows where the sport is at right now.

As noted by CBS Sports, Madar is averaging 11.1 ppg and 3.9 assists and shooting 33.9 percent from three-point range. He's played 16 Israeli league games with Hapoel Tel Aviv. 

He's been a professional player since 2018-19 and has also served in the Israeli military. The military service aspect may help him gain eligibility since it's pushed him out further from his traditional college age, but it may not, based on possible rule changes. 

Also per CBS:

Tennessee guard Ethan Burg was classified as a 23-year-old sophomore for the 2025-26 season, having served two years in the Israeli military. If the same math applied to Madar, he could potentially be classified as a senior for LSU since he is 25.

Madar was a second-round of the Celtics in 2020 but has never come over to the United States for a regular season. He did play in the NBA Summer League in 2021.

2025: Hugo Gonzalez and Noah Penda (traded to Orlando)

2024: Baylor Scheireman and Anton Watson

2023: Julian Phillips (traded to Washington then Chicago)

2022: JD Davison

2021: Juhann Bagarin 

2020: Aaron Nesmith, Payton Pritchard, Desmond Bane (traded to Memphis), Yam Madar

BOLD = on active roster

Jaylen Brown is now engaged in a war of words with ESPN personality Stephen A. Smith. 

The reason? Frankly, it seems like the two just don't like being talked about negatively.

We covered the full story here, but the two men have history that goes back until at least 2024. Smith had some things to say about Brown's perceived marketability and him not making the Olympic team, while Brown had some comments after the Celtics won the 2024 NBA Finals. 

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