A Tuscaloosa circuit court judge had denied Charles Bediako‘s motion for a preliminary injunction that would allow him to continue playing college basketball for Alabama, according to reports from Nick Kelly of AL.com and Myron Medcalf of ESPN.
Bediako, who went undrafted in 2023 and has since signed three Exhibit 10 contracts with NBA teams (including one that was converted into a two-way deal), never actually appeared in an NBA game. However, he was attempting to become the first player regain NCAA eligibility after signing NBA contracts.
Daniel F. Pruet, the circuit court judge responsible for the ruling, said that Bediako didn’t have a “reasonable expectation” that he’d be permitted to return to college basketball when no player had ever been granted eligibility in his situation. NCAA president Charlie Baker referred to it as a win for “common sense,” while Bediako’s attorney Darren Heitner said he was “deeply disappointed” by the ruling.
“This ruling ignores that an athlete’s NIL value is directly tied to his ability to play, overlooks that NCAA rules do not distinguish between athletes with prior college experience and those without, and contrasts with eligibility grants to many other former pros,” Heitner wrote on Twitter. “We fight on for fairness.”
Bediako is considering his options for a possible appeal, Heitner added.
Here are a few more odds and ends from around the basketball world:
- Hawks forward Zaccharie Risacher will take part in the Rising Stars event at All-Star weekend, having been named an injury replacement for Ajay Mitchell of the Thunder, according to the NBA (Twitter link). With Mitchell battling an abdominal strain, Risacher will take his spot on Team T-Mac this Friday.
- While there have been no announcements or concrete reports to this point, Brad Townsend of The Dallas Morning News (Twitter link) has heard rumblings about the NBA’s Board of Governors potentially voting this summer to expand the league by two teams. Seattle and Las Vegas have long been viewed as the favorites in that scenario, Townsend notes.
- With Nigel Hayes-Davis appearing likely to head back to the EuroLeague after being waived by Milwaukee last week, Hapoel Tel Aviv has emerged as the frontrunner to land the forward, reports Donatas Urbanos of BasketNews. Fenerbahce is also still in the running but isn’t offering as much as the Israeli club, according to Urbonas, who says it would be a surprise if Hayes-Davis ends up with a team besides Hapoel Tel Aviv.