{"id":557983,"date":"2026-01-24T15:44:30","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:44:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/557983\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T15:44:30","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T15:44:30","slug":"charles-bediako-lawsuit-alabama-court-ruling-wreaks-havoc-on-ncaa-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/557983\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Bediako Lawsuit: Alabama Court Ruling Wreaks Havoc on NCAA Rules"},"content":{"rendered":"

The NCAA has\u00a0an eligibility crisis<\/a>\u00a0on its hands. Again. Still.<\/p>\n

This time, the centerpiece is Charles Bediako, who declared for the 2023 NBA Draft and was acquired by the San Antonio Spurs as an undrafted free agent. Earlier this month, Bediako filed an appeal to the NCAA to allow him to return to suit up for the University of Alabama, for whom he played two seasons, in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Upon denial, Bediako sued the NCAA and received a temporary restraining order from a Tuscaloosa judge. That order enables him to join the Crimson Tide\u2019s lineup immediately, and bars the NCAA from \u201cattempting to impose, suggesting or implying any penalties or sanctions\u201d for him or the university, per the ruling. He may play as soon as this Saturday night against Tennessee, in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n

Like\u00a0James Nnaji<\/a>, who signed with Baylor last month, Bediako played in the NBA Summer League. But while Nnaji returned to Spain\u2019s FC Barcelona, Bediako signed an NBA contract. He did not play for San Antonio, but logged 11 games with their G League affiliate in Austin. Per NCAA rules, that contract renders him ineligible to play college basketball.<\/p>\n

The Bediako situation draws serious questions about the NCAA\u2019s ability to enforce its own rules. Seth Davis and Andy Katz have the latest. Watch their full conversation<\/a> \u2014 and an interview with Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg \u2014 on the Hoops HQ YouTube channel<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Seth Davis: Now, we are gonna be talking once again about something that happened off the court, inside of a court, and that is a courtroom in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. County Judge James Roberts issued a temporary restraining order against the NCAA in favor of Charles Bediako, who is a former center at Alabama. He left Alabama to put his name in the NBA Draft and went undrafted. He signed three different NBA contracts, including a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs, played in the G League with three different teams and has never played in an NBA game. This triggers a couple of clauses in the NCAA rule book that leaves him ineligible for competition. They ruled him ineligible, his lawyers took the NCAA to court and the judge instituted a temporary restraining order for 10 days.\u00a0<\/p>\n

He will have a preliminary injunction hearing on Tuesday. Meanwhile, Bediako\u00a0is on campus at Tuscaloosa and hasn\u2019t yet practiced with the team. He is eligible to play in their game on Saturday against Tennessee. Early indications and reports are that Nate Oats intends to play him. We\u2019ll see if that actually happens.<\/p>\n

Andy Katz: I totally disagree with this decision, and the overall way of trying to use a local court to get your way. I don\u2019t understand it from the Alabama team\u2019s perspective. If you\u2019re Nate Oats, you\u2019re being kind of hypocritical here. He\u2019s been quoted saying that this takes opportunities away from high school players. He was a former high school coach. It\u2019s in his bones. You\u2019re messing with your rotation. You\u2019ve got a rotation. You\u2019ve got a team that \u2014 when they\u2019re on and healthy \u2014 could compete for the National Championship. And now, you want to bring in a guy sort of halfway through the SEC season and throw him in there? By the way, he may only be eligible for a game or two. We don\u2019t know if it\u2019s going to stick.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t like it at all. And I don\u2019t agree at all with the comparison to James Nnaji<\/a>. He did not sign an NBA contract. He did not play in college basketball. Yes, he\u2019s within the five years of his high school, but there is a difference with his case and Bediako\u2019s.<\/p>\n

Seth: So it\u2019s a very dicey situation because people are complaining about the rules \u2014 so make the rules clear? But it raises the even more basic question, which is: can the NCAA legally enforce its rules? Because to your point, all it takes is one judge and one court to put on a TRO or an injunction. They can just kick the can down the road and say, while this is being adjudicated, this athlete\u2019s allowed to play.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0So this hearing that\u2019s coming up next week is huge because if there is no injunction and that could be a sign that the courts are allowing the NCAA to enforce their eligibility rules. This is not like the NBA where you can just bring in a player on February 20th who fits a certain criteria and you can add them to the team. These are still institutions of higher education and somebody has to be enrolled in school.<\/p>\n

\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\tNCAA ELIGIBILITY CRISIS\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"Special
\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/p>\n

Andy: We\u2019re both fathers. And to me, young adults, have to make a decision. When you make that decision, there are consequences. His decision in this particular case was to leave college basketball after a couple of seasons, enter his name in the NBA Draft, and then become a professional. He made a decision. Great. Stick with it.<\/p>\n

Seth: Well, I\u2019m actually gonna disagree with you on that, Andy, to the point where I never begrudge somebody from exercising their legal rights. He wants to play, he wants to be able to make money. Even when Nate Oats made that comment about punishing the high school kids, if you have the opportunity to make your team better, you\u2019re gonna do that. So I don\u2019t necessarily begrudge people from chasing the opportunities that they want to chase.\u00a0<\/p>\n

So many people love to blame the NCAA. It\u2019s not about the NCAA right now, except its relation and efforts with Congress. People talk about making athletes employees and creating a union and a CBA. That stuff is just not realistic. It\u2019s just not going to happen. The hurdles are so high, the logistics are impossible. The NCAA needs to redouble its focus, get with Congress, as difficult as that is, and get some type of baseline of what the NCAA is allowed to do.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Andy: I think if you go into the draft undrafted, you shouldn\u2019t be able to come back to school. We\u2019re talking years since he played. He made a decision. I say grow up, move on with your life. Period.<\/p>\n

Seth: Well, there\u2019s more money coming his way. When people have a choice between growing up and making money, usually the money is going to win.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

\t\t\tMeet your guides<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Seth<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tSeth Davis<\/p>\n

Seth Davis, Hoops HQ’s Editor-in-Chief, is an award-winning college basketball writer and broadcaster. Since 2004, Seth has been a host of CBS Sports and Turner Sports’s March Madness NCAA basketball tournament. A writer at Sports Illustrated\u00a0for 22 years and at\u00a0The Athletic\u00a0for six, he is the author of nine books, including the\u00a0New York Times\u00a0best sellers\u00a0Wooden: A Coach\u2019s Life and When March Went Mad: The Game Transformed Basketball.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\tMore from Seth Davis \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\"Andy<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tAndy Katz<\/p>\n

Andy Katz\u00a0is Hoops HQ’s senior correspondent. He is also an analyst for the Big Ten Network and Turner Sports, and a national correspondent for\u00a0NCAA.com<\/a>. Previously, he spent 18 years at ESPN as a college basketball reporter, host and anchor. He has covered every NCAA Final Four tournament since 1992.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\tMore from Andy Katz \u00bb<\/a><\/p>\n

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