National opinion: As you watch Final Four, know the risks international players face

As the NCAA basketball tournament heads to the Final Four this week, international athletes playing for American teams on student visas have far more at stake than winning a championship.

The journey to becoming — and remaining — a high school or collegiate basketball player can be dangerous and tumultuous. It can leave young players vulnerable to exploitation and facing immigration problems once their playing careers end.

According to university rosters, there are 22 international players in the Final Four, including eight at the University of Arizona — the most of any team playing on Saturday.

About 15% of NCAA college basketball players are international, most entering the U.S. on the F-1 Student Visa. That visa was designed for well-resourced students to study at U.S. universities, not for a multibillion-dollar college athletic system.

The NCAA reports generating $1 billion from the tournament alone. At the same time, international participation in Division I basketball has increased 175% since 2010.

Students are recruited from places on the African continent, in Europe, Australia and Latin America — sometimes when they’re in middle school — to play basketball for American high schools and colleges. They are recruited by a diverse array of middlemen, scouts and many basketball academies.

But for international students, it is not just about cost. Their immigration status is tied to continuous enrollment. When that ends, so does their legal ability to remain in the country.

Coaches rely on recruiting pipelines, often returning to the same regions for talent. In basketball, where height is highly valued, many look to the African continent. In this year’s Final Four, two players are from African countries — South Sudan and Senegal.

At the same time, college athletics are changing. Players can now profit from their name, image, and likeness, and schools have money to compensate athletes. But international players cannot easily access these benefits because the F-1 visa prohibits most forms of paid work.

Securing the visa itself can be difficult, depending on a player’s country of origin, family resources, and application costs. Still, it remains the primary pathway for international athletes chasing an American basketball dream.

Eventually, that journey ends. A few players, like Khaman Maluach or Joel Embiid, reach the NBA. Most do not. Their careers end through graduation, injury, coaching decisions, or exhaustion of eligibility.

When that happens, players must leave the United States unless they can secure another legal status — often an expensive and complex process.

Without a clear exit plan, they risk overstaying their visas, placing them in legal jeopardy. Without resources to leave and reapply, they risk detention and deportation.

This happened to South Sudanese player John Bol Ajak, who came to the U.S. at 14 to play high school basketball. After graduating from Syracuse University in 2022 and taking graduate courses, his student visa expired.

Once his visa expired, he would have to leave the U.S. to apply for lawful immigration status — an impossibility without financial resources. Plus, as a South Sudanese national, the scrutiny and possibility of denied re-entry is higher — an important factor many discount.

In February, while between living situations, Ajak was arrested on campus and charged with third-degree criminal trespass. He was later detained by ICE and transferred to a detention facility in Pennsylvania.

Colleges and universities are not legally responsible for athletes once their playing careers end. The student visa system places that responsibility on the individual.

But institutions and individuals who recruit these young players should be invested in what happens after the game. Because many of these athletes are left navigating a complex system on their own.

When rooting for your team, remember that many of the players have more than a W on the line.