Hearing to Decide Ex-Pro’s College Future Delayed by Snow

Charles Bediako’s college career has been extended by at least 10 more days.

A lawyer for the NCAA was unable to make a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for Tuesday due to “weather issues,” and the judge hearing the case postponed the hearing and extended his temporary restraining order ten more days.

Last week’s order letting Bediako, who played two seasons for Alabama from 2021 to 2023, briefly return to college basketball after three seasons in the pros.

Now, the same judge will decide whether to grant Bediako a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, which would let him play the rest of the season. 

The first temporary order was valid for 10 days.

Bediako had 13 points in 25 minutes in Alabama’s loss to Tennessee on Saturday. His case has become a major story in the college basketball season, with the NCAA blasting the judge’s decision and Alabama coach Nate Oats defending his right to return to college sports.

That judge, Jim Roberts, has donated more than $100,000 to Alabama athletics, according to a booster site. Roberts’s wife, Mary Turner Roberts, is also defending Bediako’s former teammate Darius Miles in a murder trial. Roberts’s office declined to comment on any matters related to the case when reached by Front Office Sports on Monday. 

It would be his second since leaving the Pistons’ G League affiliate, the Motor City Cruise, to return to college basketball. 

Bediako is now set to play in Alabama’s game Tuesday night against Missouri.

“I don’t really know,” Oats told reporters Monday before the hearing was postponed. “I think he should be eligible, so I would assume a judge would but I’m not an attorney, judge. I don’t have a legal background.”

Missouri coach Dennis Gates was asked by reporters on Monday if he’s preparing for Bediako to play. “He’s on the scouting report,” Gates said. 

Bediako never played in an NBA game but signed a two-way contract with the Spurs in 2023 and several Exhibit-10 deals; he appeared in a G League game as recently as Jan. 17. 

The judge’s relationship to the athletic department has drawn scrutiny from other college coaches, who said the Tide got a favorable decision in court because of Roberts’ ties as a booster. 

“They were able to finagle the situation where they got a judge in Alabama that is actually a donor at Alabama to write a temporary restraining order to let this guy play games at Alabama,” Florida coach Todd Golden said on his radio show Thursday. “I think there’s a lot of people that aren’t necessarily happy about it and don’t necessarily agree with it, but with all this intervention from judges, there’s only so much the league can do… We’re going to beat them anyways. If he plays, we’ll beat him anyways.”

“The saddest part is that judges are granting stays based upon their affiliation with schools,” Green Bay coach and former radio host Doug Gottlieb said Wednesday in a since-deleted tweet. “Not right and wrong.”

After the game, Bediako was mum about his upcoming hearing and didn’t elaborate when asked if he would be present for it on Tuesday. 

“Right now I’m just focused on the team,” Bediako told reporters. “Obviously, I’m just going to take what happened today, just continue to do the film, and right now our main focus is on this next game .”

Asked why he left the G League to return to Alabama, where he played from 2021 to 2023 before he declared for the NBA draft, Bediako cited his first stint playing for Oats. 

“Just the relationship I had with Oats,” Bediako said after the game about his decision to return. “That staff really trusts and believes in me and plays to my strengths. Obviously when that opportunity came, it just felt right to come back.”

Oats was asked Tuesday if bringing Bediako back was worth it if it ends up being for a single game. 

“One hundred percent,” Oats said. “I want to do right by my players in every situation as long as they did nothing wrong. Charles did nothing wrong.”

– Amanda Christovich contributed reporting. This story was updated after the hearing was postponed.