Charles Bediako, a former Alabama men’s basketball player who spent most of the last three years in the G League, is immediately eligible to return to the Crimson Tide and participate in practices and games, an Alabama judge ruled Wednesday.
Judge James H. Roberts Jr. of Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court granted Bediako a temporary restraining order Wednesday, a day after he took the NCAA to court in an attempt to return to the Crimson Tide basketball team for the remainder of the season. The judge’s order is in effect for 10 days, and a hearing on Bediako’s request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Jan. 27.
In a motion filed Tuesday in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama, Circuit Court, Bediako requested a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction that would grant him immediate NCAA eligibility. A 7-foot center from Brampton, Ontario, Bediako previously played for Alabama for two seasons from 2021-2023, averaging 6.6 points and 5.2 rebounds in 70 total games. Bediako, 23, declared for the 2023 NBA Draft with two seasons of eligibility remaining, but went undrafted. He then signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs and played for several G League teams, most recently last Saturday for the Motor City Cruise. He has not appeared in an NBA game.
If Bediako suits up for Alabama, he could become the first example of a former college basketball player returning to the sport after giving up his eligibility to enter the NBA draft in two decades. In 2005, former Kentucky forward Randolph Morris entered the draft, but did not hire an agent and was able to return to UK after going undrafted. (Larry Bird also returned to Indiana State for his senior season after being selected by the Boston Celtics in the 1978 draft.)
And it would be the latest twist in the murky state of who is eligible to play college sports. Bediako’s trial follows a wave of former G League players and international pros join college basketball this season, including James Nnaji, a 2023 draft pick who played in the NBA Summer League and recently earned four seasons of college eligibility at Baylor.
The NCAA has made signing an NBA contract, including a two-way deal, a red line in terms of eligibility. The complaint alleges that Bediako filed suit only after the NCAA denied the University of Alabama’s request to reinstate his eligibility.
“The University of Alabama supports Charles and his continued efforts to be reinstated to competition as he works toward his degree,” the school said Wednesday.
On Wednesday, the NCAA called for government intervention to help enforce its eligibility rules.
“These attempts to circumvent NCAA rules and recruit individuals who have completed college or signed NBA contracts take away opportunities from high school students,” the NCAA said. “A judge ordering the NCAA to let a former NBA player take the court on Saturday against actual college student-athletes is exactly why Congress needs to step in and empower college sports to enforce our eligibility rules.”
The Crimson Tide will play Saturday against Tennessee, but did not say whether Bediako would be ready to play.
THE @NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed a @NBA contract (including a two-way contract). As schools recruit more and more people with experience in international leagues, the NCAA is exercising…
-Charlie Baker (@CharlieBakerMA) December 30, 2025
Bediako’s motion argued that he would “suffer irreparable harm” if he was not immediately reinstated by the NCAA because of the competitive, financial and educational opportunities he would miss. The complaint stated that Bediako was enrolled at the University of Alabama for this semester and, under current eligibility rules, this is the last one he could be eligible for because his five-year eligibility period began in 2021.
“When he chose to enter his name into the 2023 NBA Draft, Mr. Bediako could not have imagined the monumental change in the landscape of college athletics that has occurred since,” the complaint states. “If Mr. Bediako had known that he could have received compensation directly from his university while remaining a student-athlete, he would never have left school to pursue financial gains elsewhere.
The eligibility of Nnaji, who has played in six games since Jan. 3, has caused a stir in college sports, given that he had already been drafted. But Nnaji, like other international and G League players who have earned eligibility, has never played in the NBA or signed an NBA contract, including a two-way deal.
Bediako’s representatives objected to these eligibility distinctions in the complaint, stating that “the NCAA has arbitrarily determined that it is acceptable” for an athlete to compete professionally and then in college, but not return to college.
“There is no principled justification for treating these groups of student-athletes differently,” the complaint states.
The judge’s order issued Wednesday also barred the NCAA from imposing sanctions on Bediako or Alabama if he plays for the team.
Bediako’s case is the latest and most recent incident on a topic that has caused many prominent names in the sport, particularly coaches, to speak out about the confusion and uncertainty of these eligibility disputes. Arkansas coach John Calipari recently wrote an article in the Washington Post in which he supports collective bargaining as a way to resolve current problems in college sports.
