{"id":592035,"date":"2026-02-09T07:24:32","date_gmt":"2026-02-09T07:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/592035\/"},"modified":"2026-02-09T07:24:32","modified_gmt":"2026-02-09T07:24:32","slug":"dick-vitale-doubles-down-on-stance-regarding-charles-bediako-eligibility-youve-got-to-go-by-the-book","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/592035\/","title":{"rendered":"Dick Vitale doubles down on stance regarding Charles Bediako eligibility: ‘You’ve got to go by the book’"},"content":{"rendered":"

While awaiting a judge\u2019s ruling in his quest for a preliminary injunction, Charles Bediako<\/a> was able to suit up again for Alabama<\/a> in the Iron Bowl of Basketball against Auburn<\/a>. A hearing took place Friday, but the judge has yet to issue a ruling, meaning Bediako\u2019s temporary restraining order is still in place.<\/p>\n

ESPN analyst Dick Vitale has been outspoken about Bediako\u2019s eligibility<\/a> considering he played in an NBA G-League game last month. During Saturday\u2019s broadcast, he doubled down on his stance when asked about the situation.<\/p>\n

Vitale stressed the need to abide by the NCAA\u2019s rules, which the association reaffirmed meant no eligibility for anyone who signed a two-way contract. But he noted the landmark affidavit<\/a> filed by SEC commissioner Greg Sankey in support of the NCAA, which Vitale said could be key in the case.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think you\u2019ve got to go by the book,\u201d Vitale said. \u201cAnd the book says very, very black-and-white that you sign a two-way contract, you play in the G-League, you\u2019re not eligible. It\u2019s as simple as that.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think the one thing that\u2019s going to help the NCAA in their battle is they\u2019ve got the enforcement of Greg Sankey, the commissioner. I think the fact that he jumped in said we don\u2019t need guys that signed with NBA teams in our league.\u201d<\/p>\n

The latest on Charles Bediako<\/p>\n

Judge Daniel Pruet oversaw Friday\u2019s hearing<\/a>, but he did not rule from the bench. During the hearing, Pruet initially pressed another of Charles Bediako\u2019s attorney, David Holt, about the plaintiff\u2019s claim that an injunction is needed to avoid \u201cirreparable harm\u201d as laid out in his request.<\/p>\n

Holt responded by revealing Bediako made $530,000 in three years playing in the NBA G League. Any potential NIL<\/a> earnings at Alabama would be variable based on his further exposure through the remainder of the current season.<\/p>\n

After a decision didn\u2019t come down by the end of the business day, it appeared Bediako would be able to continue playing for the Crimson Tide in Saturday\u2019s rivalry game. His attorney, Darren Heitner, confirmed that in a statement to On3<\/a> on Saturday morning.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe TRO remains in place until the judge rules on the motion for preliminary injunction,\u201d Heitner said. \u201cWithout a ruling, Bediako remains eligible to play.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since receiving eligibility to play at Alabama, Bediako is averaging 9.5 points and 5.0 rebounds across four games. During that span, the Crimson Tide have a 2-2 record entering the matchup against Auburn.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"While awaiting a judge\u2019s ruling in his quest for a preliminary injunction, Charles Bediako was able to suit…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":592036,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[7,75501,6,12],"class_list":{"0":"post-592035","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-nba-draft","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charles-bediako-21-img-academy","10":"tag-nba","11":"tag-nba-draft"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116039481261970920","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592035","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=592035"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/592035\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/592036"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=592035"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=592035"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=592035"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}