Kansas State made a late addition to their roster last week when they announced the signing of Belgian forward Nastja Claessens.
It’s a newsworthy pickup for a few reasons.
First and foremost, Claessens is a really good player. The 6-foot-1, 20-year-old has played professionally in Spain and her native country, and she also featured for the Belgian national team at the 2024 Olympics in Paris, and this summer in the FIBA Women’s EuroBasket. Belgium won the EuroBasket title with Claessens averaging 5.2 points and 1.8 rebounds per game while shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point land.
Earlier in 2024, before the Olympics, Claessens also played in the FIBA U20 Women’s EuroBasket with Belgium and averaged 17.7 points, 8.1 rebounds and 3.6 assists per game across seven contests. For Jeff Mittie’s Wildcats, Claessens could be a crucial addition following the graduations of talented players like Serena Sundell and Ayoka Lee.
There’s something else that’s interesting about Claessens too.
She was drafted by the Washington Mystics with the 30th overall pick of the 2024 WNBA Draft.
Now, Claessens never signed with or practiced with the Mystics, so she retained her NCAA eligibility. But questions arose about her professional future after she joined with Kansas State. Fans — and even quietly, some coaches and front office folks — wondered aloud, could she be drafted again by another team? Or would the Mystics retain her rights?
The collective bargaining agreement that the WNBA and its players agreed to in 2020 offers some insight.
It states: “If the player does thereafter play intercollegiate basketball, then the team that drafted her shall retain the exclusive WNBA rights to negotiate with and sign the player for the period ending one year from the date of the draft following the date on which such player finally exhausts or loses her intercollegiate eligibility, provided that such team makes a Required Tender to the player within seven (7) days of such draft.”
In the simplest terms, the policy says that should a player not sign with the team that drafted them and then gain NCAA eligibility, the team would retain that player’s WNBA rights up to a year after they have exhausted their college eligibility. A source within the WNBA’s office who is familiar with the inner-workings of the CBA confirmed the accuracy of this interpretation to SB Nation.
So, hypothetically speaking, if Claessens plays four years of college basketball, she would exhaust her eligibility in 2029. The Mystics, as long as they make a required tender to her within seven days of the 2029 WNBA Draft, would then still have exclusive rights to negotiate a contract with her for up to a full year, through 2030.
Of course, the current CBA expires this year. It’s possible that this element of the agreement could be reworked.
If you’re wondering how Claessens was drafted before she could play college basketball, it’s because the WNBA has different eligibility rules for international players. Players from outside of the U.S. are eligible for the draft that occurs during the year of their 20th birthday. Claessens turned 20 last December.
What the Mystics do with Claessens’ rights is worth monitoring.
She was drafted by the organization under its previous regime, when Mike Thibault was the general manager and his son Eric was the head coach. Both were fired at the end of the 2024 season and replaced by general manager Jamila Wideman and head coach Sydney Johnson. The Mystics did not immediately respond to SB Nation’s request for comment.
It’s worth noting that Mike Thibault was hired to coach the Belgian national team this past January and guided the Cats to the EuroBasket title this summer. Eric Thibault is now an assistant coach with the Minnesota Lynx.
