{"id":594218,"date":"2026-02-10T08:36:47","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:36:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/594218\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T08:36:47","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T08:36:47","slug":"charles-bediako-eligibility-case-alabama-center-denied-injunction-vs-ncaa-by-tuscaloosa-county-judge-per-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/594218\/","title":{"rendered":"Charles Bediako eligibility case: Alabama center denied injunction vs. NCAA by Tuscaloosa County judge per report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet ruled against Alabama<\/a> center Charles Bediako<\/a> in his eligibility case versus the NCAA after Friday morning\u2019s injunction hearing. Bediako was seeking\u00a0preliminary and permanent injunctive relief<\/a>\u00a0after the NCAA previously ruled the former NBA G League player ineligible to return to college basketball last month.<\/p>\n

Friday\u2019s injunction hearing represented a pivotal moment for both Bediako and the NCAA, which is currently facing a multitude of legal challenges to its eligibility rules.\u00a0Next week alone, NCAA lawyers are due back in court for three similar preliminary injunction hearings \u2014 the Diego Pavia<\/a> class action suit on behalf of ex-JUCO players (Feb. 10) and separate suits involving Ole Miss<\/a> QB Trindidad Chambliss<\/a> and Tennessee<\/a> QB Joey Aguilar<\/a> in their effort to play in 2026 (Feb. 12 and 13, respectively). <\/p>\n

During the Feb. 6 hearing, Bediako\u2019s attorney, David Holt,\u00a0revealed Bediako made $530,000 in two full years playing in the G League, but would not reveal any potential NIL deal the 7-footer may have in the works at Alabama, only suggesting it\u2019d be variable based on further exposure while playing this season.<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, NCAA attorney Taylor Askew\u00a0argued Bediako\u2019s case is \u201cabout money,\u201d not academics, and an injunction would be an \u201cextraordinary remedy\u201d and suggested it could lead to \u201c50 more lawsuits\u201d and further \u201cchaos\u201d for the NCAA. Askew also suggest Bediako\u2019s four-year eligibility window has already expired after playing two years at Alabama and two years in the G League.<\/p>\n

The NCAA\u2019s case against granting the 23-year-old Bediako eligibility stems from his decision to enter the 2023 NBA Draft following the 2022-23 college basketball season, as well as the fact that he subsequently signed multiple professional contracts with three NBA teams. That includes a two-way deal with the\u00a0San Antonio Spurs\u00a0in 2023 that would have made him eligible to play in the NBA if the team elevated him from the G-League. Prior to entering the NBA Draft, Bediako played 68 career games across two seasons (2021-22 and 2022-23) in Tuscaloosa.<\/p>\n

Prior to Friday\u2019s hearing, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey took the unprecedented step of siding with the NCAA against a player from his own conference when he submitted a legal affidavit as part of the NCAA\u2019s 48-page motion opposing Bediako\u2019s injunction request<\/a> that was submitted Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u201cI respectfully ask the Court to uphold the NCAA eligibility rules challenged in this case,\u201d Sankey wrote, according to documents obtained by On3\u2019s Pete Nakos<\/a>, \u201cwhich are essential to the integrity of college sports, to the educational mission they serve, and to the opportunities they provide for current and future student-athletes.\u201d<\/p>\n

A prior judge granted Bediako\u00a0a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Jan. 20<\/a>, as well as a subsequent 10-day extension, that deemed him eligible to play in the Crimson Tide\u2019s last five basketball games over the past two weeks. The 7-foot former professional re-enrolled at Alabama last month after three years in the NBA G-League with the hopes of completing the final season of his five-year collegiate eligibility window that began when he first enrolled in 2021.<\/p>\n

Since being granted an original TRO, Bediako has started two of his five appearances for the Crimson Tide (16-7, 6-4 SEC), averaging 10 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game. Yet, despite Bediako\u2019s presence,\u00a0Alabama\u00a0fell from the Top 25 rankings last week after dropping two of the first three games in which he appeared.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet ruled against Alabama center Charles Bediako in his eligibility case versus…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":594219,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3723],"tags":[7,75501,217,231,772,1544],"class_list":{"0":"post-594218","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-ncaa-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charles-bediako-21-img-academy","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-ncaa","12":"tag-ncaa-basketball","13":"tag-ncaab"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116045430386500308","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594218","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=594218"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594218\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/594219"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594218"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594218"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594218"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}