Cody Zeller graduates from Indiana four years after leaving for the NBA Draft

It's graduation season, when college students across the country don their gowns, walk across a stage, and receive their diplomas — most after four straight years of hard work.

Or after four years in the NBA. 

That's what Cody Zeller did, as the 24-year-old graduated from Indiana Friday, four years after leaving school early to enter the 2013 NBA Draft. (And he rocked some amazing pants while doing it)

@bigten Champion @NBA Lottery Pick @KelleySchool Graduate.
@CodyZeller #iubb pic.twitter.com/NyCk28ASZC

— Indiana Basketball (@IndianaMBB) May 5, 2017

Zeller was taken by the Charlotte Bobcats (now the Hornets) with the fourth overall pick in that draft, but apparently he promised his mom that he would finish school someday.

If momma's happy, everyone's happy pic.twitter.com/6FZFGvJsqv

— Cody Zeller (@CodyZeller) May 3, 2017

It's an impressive feat — taking classes while playing in the NBA — and Zeller was met with a somewhat out-of-the-ordinary level of applause as he walked across the stage at Indiana's Kelley School of Business's senior recognition ceremony Friday evening: