Auburn forward Chad Baker-Mazara is one of the biggest villains in college basketball. Not only does he play a crucial role for the top-ranked Tigers, he talks a lot of trash along the way and loves to gloat.
His personality, while not for everybody, makes the sport more exciting. People love to hate him!
Although Baker-Mazara’s fifth year of college basketball will conclude with the NCAA Tournament later this month, it is very possible that he could return for year six. Bruce Pearl teased the idea on Friday.
“Without any kind of appeal, Chad Baker-Mazara has another year of eligibility because he fits the criteria. Chad is the one that, right now, qualifies.” Bruce Pearl on the possibility of Chad Baker-Mazara returning to Auburn next season pic.twitter.com/iJWR43mDDm
— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) March 7, 2025
Should that happen, which it sounds like it will, Chad Baker-Mazara would turn 26 years old during the third-to-last month of his final season of eligibility. Some of his opponents would be eight years younger.
So how did this happen?
This expansive timeline started in 2017. Baker-Mazara, born in the Dominican Republic, moved to the United States to live his with grandfather prior to his junior year of high school. He played two seasons at Colonia High in New Jersey and one postgraduate year at SPIRE Academy in Geneva, Ohio.
That put him back a year from the rest of his true graduating class to begin with. From there, it was off to college.
Baker-Mazara played his freshman season at Duquesne in 2020-21. Despite his talent, he and the staff had “philosophical issues” that made it necessary for him to leave the program at the end of the year so the rising sophomore entered the transfer portal. He eventually committed to San Diego State.
His time with the Aztecs was a great success but academic issues forced him to re-enter the transfer portal in the spring of 2022 after being named as the Mountain West Sixth Man of the Year. The decision was made for him.
Baker-Mazara ultimately landed at Northwest Florida State College for the 2022-23 season before Auburn gave him the opportunity to transfer back up to Division-I. It has been a wild ride on the Plains, full of technical fouls and constant disapproval from opposing fanbases.
This current season is his fifth. It was also going to be his last until the Diego Pavia ruling gave eligibility back to players who spent time at a JUCO.
Thus, Chad Baker-Mazara can return to college basketball for another year if he chooses to do so. The full breakdown is as follows:
- 2020-21: Duquesne — eligibility did not count because of the pandemic
- 2021-22: San Diego State — first year of eligibility
- 2022-23: Northwest Florida State College — eligibility did not count because of JUCO
- 2023-24: Auburn — second year of eligibility
- 2024-25: Auburn — third year of eligibility
- 2025-26: ???
Should Baker-Mazara decide to run it back, he would finish his career at the age of 26!