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Alabama's Charles Bediako can keep playing. He can thank Mother Nature
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- Alabama's Charles Bediako can keep playing. He can thank Mother Nature
Charles Bediako 's much-discussed return to college basketball will continue for nearly another two weeks – not solely because of a court order or a judge's ruling, but with a little help from Mother Nature.
The Alabama center's temporary restraining order against the NCAA was extended by another 10 days due to counsel's unavailability for the scheduled injunction hearing on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
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In an order on Monday, Jan. 26 , Judge James Roberts Jr. of the Tuscaloosa (Alabama) County Circuit Court wrote that Taylor Askew, an attorney for the NCAA, was unable to attend the hearing because of "weather issues" where he lives in Tennessee. Roberts added that the next hearing will be "reset later by a separate order."
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After three years of playing professionally in the NBA G League , Bediako returned to Alabama, where he played from 2021-23, after Roberts granted him a temporary restraining order on Wednesday, Jan. 21.
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In his first game back with the Crimson Tide, the seven-footer had 13 points, three rebounds, two blocks and two steals while making five of his six field-goal attempts in 25 minutes in a 79-73 loss at home against Tennessee on Jan. 24 .
With Roberts' decision, Bediako will be eligible to compete in at least the next three games for Alabama: Jan. 27 against Missouri, Feb. 1 at No. 21 Florida and Feb. 4 against Texas A&M.
Bediako was not selected in the 2023 NBA Draft, and while he has never played an NBA game, he suited up in 82 G League games over three seasons, including, most recently, for the Motor City Cruise on Jan. 17, one week before his first game back with Alabama.
He's one of several former G League players who has joined a college roster this season, a trend that has raised the public ire of notable figures across the sport, as well as the NCAA itself, which said such moves are "taking away opportunities from high school students." Michigan State coach Tom Izzo described it as "utterly ridiculous." Even Alabama coach Nate Oats, a former high school coach in Michigan, spoke up last month after Baylor brought in former NBA Draft pick James Nnaji, saying the increased prevalence of such players was "taking opportunities away" from high schoolers.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Alabama's Charles Bediako gets NCAA restraining order extended because of weather
