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Yale’s Makai Mason will transfer to Baylor after next season

Duke v Yale

PROVIDENCE, RI - MARCH 19: Makai Mason #11 of the Yale Bulldogs dribbles the ball in the first half against the Duke Blue Devils during the second round of the 2016 NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament at Dunkin’ Donuts Center on March 19, 2016 in Providence, Rhode Island. (Photo by Jim Rogash/Getty Images)

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Yale junior guard Makai Mason will transfer to Baylor ... but not until the fall of 2018.

Sources confirmed to NBC Sports on Thursday evening that Mason will graduate from Yale next spring and will enroll at Baylor, eligible to play immediately for the 2018-19 season.

Andrew Slater of 247Sports first reported the news.

According to a source, he committed to Baylor after taking a visit in April.

Mason was the Ivy League Preseason Player of the Year but missed all of this past season due to a foot injury he suffered during a scrimmage. An archaic Ivy League rule prohibits student-athletes from redshirting due to athletic reasons. Student-athletes can apply for a fifth year but only if it’s based on academic reasons. It is the Ancient Eight’s way of emphasizing academics over athletics.

There’s a loophole, though. Withdrawing from the university and being readmitted for the following fall semester preserves that year of eligibility. Alex Rosenberg dropped out of Columbia in October 2014 when he suffered a fracture in his right foot only to return for his senior season next fall. Harvard point guard Siyani Chambers did the same thing, leaving school after tearing his ACL two summers ago. However, both of those injuries were at least conveniently timed. By the time Mason suffered his season-ending injury he was more than halfway through the semester.

The plan of finishing out the school year -- and his undergraduate at Yale -- and becoming an eventual graduate transfer was in his best interest. Mason, who declared for the NBA Draft in 2016 without hiring an agent, gets to earn a degree from an Ivy League school and then can use his final season of eligibility to prepare for the 2019 NBA Draft at a high-major school.

I’m sure any talks about Mason’s inevitable departure weren’t some of the best conversations the Yale coaching staff had but there doesn’t appear to be any sort of strained relationship. Two weeks ago, he was named the captain of this year’s team.

For Baylor, this is obviously a tremendous addition, especially with Manu Lecomte exhausting his eligibility at the end of the 2017-18 season.

Scott Drew and the Bears are very familiar with the type of offensive firepower Mason will bring to the program. He did hang 31 points on Baylor back in 2016 when the Bulldogs upset the Bears, 79-75, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.