The NCAA clearing 2023 NBA second-round decide James Nnaji to swimsuit up for Baylor lower than a month again grew to become an excellent noisy headline that prompted a flood of response round faculty basketball. Nnaji is the primary former NBA selectee to reverse course and play faculty hoops.
Crucially, the NCAA and Baylor compliance vetted his case and located he by no means signed an NBA contract, which was the very important non-event that enabled him to be a (controversial) trailblazer. You’ll be able to hate that he is taking part in within the Large 12 (although he is been a bit participant at finest), however a precedent was set years prior that allowed him to do it.
There’s additionally been a precedent, a longstanding rule, that prohibited gamers who performed in faculty, then declared for the NBA and signed an expert contract, from returning to NCAA competitors.
Charles Bediako is making an attempt to destroy that rule, one of many final logical and morally clear statutes that retains a line divided between faculty basketball and the NBA.
Not like Nnaji, who was cleared by the NCAA and did not have to go to courtroom, Bediako was turned down by the NCAA. So he went to a circuit decide in Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and acquired a brief restraining order that’s lively for simply 10 days. Meaning he’s eligible to play Saturday in Alabama’s large residence sport vs. Tennessee.
Oh, and: Bediako has been out of faculty basketball for 34 months. The following 8-10 weeks characterize the ultimate stage of his five-year eligibility clock (allegedly). The bare purpose right here for Alabama is to have a mid-January roster addition to keep away from drifting again within the SEC race. Bediako is in search of extra taking part in time and a doubtlessly greater payday years after making a miscalculation about his NBA inventory.
That is all a farce.
Bediako has signed a number of skilled contracts within the practically three years since he declared for the NBA. However he is by no means performed in an NBA sport, solely within the G League, which is the central a part of his argument. The NCAA is not flinching, even when it is shedding within the courtroom.
“The NCAA has not and won’t grant eligibility to any potential or returning student-athletes who’ve signed an NBA contract (together with a two-way contract),” NCAA president Charlie Baker mentioned in a press release after the Nnaji case made nationwide headlines.
Nearly no one needs this. But right here we’re once more. School basketball is within the midst of considered one of its finest seasons in a decade or extra, however tales like this make a mockery of the game.
We’ll have a burst of protection and response surrounding that Alabama sport on Saturday evening, no matter whether or not or not Bediako takes the ground. However the day to circle is subsequent Tuesday, when an extended listening to is scheduled that can arbitrate the case in full and decide whether or not or not Bediako shall be allowed to swimsuit up for the rest of the season.
Taking part in him earlier than that listening to solely enflames the state of affairs. Alabama coach Nate Oats ought to rethink, as a result of if Bediako performs as soon as after which is yanked off the group, this sideshow will look much more ludicrous.
That sequence of occasions would not be as dangerous as if he is finally allowed to come back again to school basketball, although. It is a important case. The NCAA put out a press release on Wednesday in response to Bediako and his authorized illustration going for the workaround from its determination earlier this month: “These makes an attempt to sidestep NCAA guidelines and recruit people who’ve completed their time in faculty or signed NBA contracts are taking away alternatives from highschool college students. A decide ordering the NCAA let a former NBA participant take the courtroom Saturday towards precise faculty student-athletes is precisely why Congress should step in and empower faculty sports activities to implement our eligibility guidelines.”
If an area decide can override one of the crucial vital longstanding bylaws, faculty basketball’s crumbling system of eligibility may collapse for good — and the fallout may very well be calamitous within the upcoming spring and summer season roster-building cycles. If there is no such thing as a restriction on who can come again and play faculty basketball in a five-year window of eligibility, then the NBA can have an issue on its palms as properly.
The case is taken into account so troubling and agitating, it took lower than two days for outstanding individuals in faculty hoops to talk out and implore the NCAA to contemplate punishing Alabama’s NCAA Event résumé, ought to Bediako play. Mark Pope mentioned it Wednesday evening and his opinion is totally within the majority.
Requires the NCAA Event choice committee to behave as decide and jury is a Hail Mary transfer that doubles as damning commentary on simply how laughable issues have gotten. It is also not going to occur. The courtroom order from the Alabama decide particularly states the NCAA is “additional restrained from threatening, imposing, making an attempt to impose, suggesting, or implying any penalties or sanctions on Mr. Bediako or the College of Alabama or its coaches or different student-athletes on account of Mr. Bediako’s participation in Division I athletics.”
Then there’s this. The plot thickens by the hour, as a consumer on School Basketball Reddit found Thursday morning that the decide within the case, James H. Roberts, is an lively, six-figure donor to Alabama Athletics. No battle of curiosity there, proper?
What a large number.
Alabama did not should pursue this. Bediako may have had sufficient satisfaction to personal his misguided determination to depart faculty behind in 2023 and stick it out within the G League. However right here we’re within the newest case that undermines the enterprise. Solely this time, the stakes actually do appear to be increased than ever, a lot in order that the NBA may very well be compelled to behave if the courts make tinder of the NCAA rulebook yet one more time.
New-look Virginia instantly thriving beneath Ryan Odom
Nearly three months into the season, it is clear which of the 14 power-conference hirings from final yr’s carousel is the most effective out of the blocks.
Ryan Odom has instantly returned Virginia (16-2, No. 14 within the AP Prime 25) to relevancy, and in doing so, helped nudge up the ACC’s fame after the league had its worst season in historical past.
Let’s sharpen the lens and rapidly refresh on the place the Wahoos had been earlier than they introduced on Odom 10 months in the past. Tony Bennett’s October 2024 retirement got here amid a downturn for this system. A stat each UVa diehard is aware of however the common faculty hoops fan won’t understand: The Cavaliers have not gained an NCAA Event sport since they gained their greatest NCAA Event sport, the 2019 nationwide championship over Texas Tech. Since then, Virginia is 0-3 within the Large Dance.
Bennett’s shock retirement got here after a nondescript 23-11 season, making means for Ron Sanchez as interim coach. That induced Virginia’s worst yr (15-17) since both Bennett’s first (15-16 in 2010-11) or Dave Leitao’s final (10-18 in 2009-10). Getting the precise coach was important to preserving Virginia as a top-20 program within the again half of this decade. In comes Odom, by the use of close by VCU, flipping the state of affairs rapidly as a Tim Reynolds solo.
Final weekend, Virginia logged its sixth win away from residence by beating a sound SMU group 72-68, giving the Hoos their finest begin since that 2018-19 title-winning epic. These new-look Cavaliers can be 17-1 if not for a triple-overtime street loss on New 12 months’s Eve towards rival Virginia Tech.
“The group of fellows we assembled right here, we could not be extra happy with them,” Odom advised CBS Sports activities this week. “They’re connecting with the college and our followers. They arrive each day with an excellent perspective and are prepared for work and a want to enhance. They compete to win. They compete with each other each day, which I feel units us up properly for after we get into the video games.”
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Attending to 16-2 in your first crack at operating a high-end program takes plenty of constructive alchemy. Coaches have totally different blueprints — and people blueprints evolve yearly within the portal period — so I requested Odom what his precedence checklist was when constructing the roster late final March.
“Character was the very first thing, the match for the place,” he mentioned. “Second was taking pictures. We needed guys that had confirmed on the faculty degree they might shoot.”
Virginia, which labored within the neighborhood of $10 million in NIL funding for 2025-26 season, had the kitty to recruit one of many sharpest-shooting courses within the nation. The items included names unfamiliar to some however coveted by loads of power-conference coaches amid the portal push final April:
Other than the excessive win fee, Odom’s groups hardly resemble the Bennett-Ball squads. The Cavs have launched at the very least 30 3-pointers in eight of their 18 video games, with 10 video games of at the very least 11 made triples. Their 3-point fee (the variety of 3-point makes an attempt vs. total shot makes an attempt) ranks thirty eighth nationally. The group would not have a deadly 3-point assault (37.1% is fairly good however nonetheless exterior the highest 30 nationally), it is nonetheless a fluid offense that is 3-point-happy. The Wahoos rank fifteenth in total effectivity, aided by having the most effective offensive rebounding groups within the sport. Virginia has grabbed 40.6% of its misses, which slots it third-best in offensive-rebound prowess in faculty basketball.
“Positional dimension” was precedence No. 3 for Odom in constructing the roster, adopted by shot-blocking. Guess what? Virginia ranks fourth within the sport in block fee on protection.
“And a dynamite freshman,” Odom mentioned.
No, not Thijs De Ridder. Although the 23-year-old brawny Belgian ahead might be Virginia’s MVP, he’s certainly not a freshman (regardless of the absurd official designation).
Probability Mallory is the aforementioned beginner and the most effective within the ACC. A hometown product, Mallory was a four-star child who dedicated to Virginia within the fall of 2024, solely to stroll that again after Bennett retired. When Odom obtained the job on March 21, 2025, Mallory was the primary to affix the group — doing so lower than 24 hours later. A major benefit: Odom recruited Mallory whereas at VCU.
“We knew he’d have an opportunity to impression this group in a constructive means,” Odom mentioned. “We held off on recruiting others due to how a lot confidence we had in him.”
A bodily 5-10 level guard, Mallory’s averaging 10.1 factors, 4.1 rebounds, 3.7 assists and a couple of.0 steals. After Mallory was first on board, the commitments got here rapidly final spring: Silas Barksdale, then Lewis, White, Thomas and Corridor. However Odom had no concept he was constructing a group of top-20 caliber. And he did not begin to really feel really assured issues may go properly till De Ridder (whose professional expertise abroad made his eligibility case extra extensively investigated) was cleared in the summertime.
“We did not understand how we would mesh,” Odom mentioned. “We have created this setting the place guys may be themselves, they’re OK sacrificing and so they’re not all getting what they need, however they do not care as a result of they perceive there’s one thing greater on the market doubtlessly for them.”
At 16-2, Virginia (8-2 in Quads 1/2 and top-15 in most NCAA group sheet metrics) is pacing towards a wonderful NCAA seed not simply due to the profitable proportion, but additionally resulting from a positive schedule. The ACC is certainly higher this season vs. final, nevertheless it’s nonetheless not a gauntlet. Try what awaits for UVa within the three weeks forward:
It is fairly attainable the Cavs are 20-4, if not 21-3 or 22-2, heading into the non-con Valentine’s Day sport towards Ohio State. At that time it may very well be be a top-10 group in each the human polls and a majority of superior metrics. Tony Bennett remains to be dearly missed on the sideline, however that is rapidly wanting like the very best end result so quickly after his departure.
We would’ve simply witnessed Invoice Self’s successor in motion
Invoice Self’s sudden journey to the hospital on Monday — shortly earlier than the group was set to depart for its sport towards Colorado — wound up offering Kansas followers a possible glimpse into the long run. Fortunately, Self is doing OK after receiving some IV fluids after experiencing chest discomfort. However the compelled absence meant that Self must select who would coach in his stead. That call provided a peek into some palace intrigue, as Kansas followers awaited to see which man obtained the nod.
Kansas has a wide range of succesful coaches who may’ve dealt with the accountability in what wound up being a 75-69 win in Boulder.
Jeremy Case is the one affiliate head coach on the employees — however he did not get picked to be appearing coach. Joe Dooley has earlier expertise as a head coach; he wasn’t chosen both. Longtime assistant Kurtis Townsend, who has coached in emergency conditions for Self beforehand, additionally wasn’t elevated for the night.
The decide was the assistant whose tenure in Lawrence started simply final spring: Jacque Vaughn. The KU alum spent 14 years teaching within the NBA, together with as the pinnacle coach of the Orlando Magic (2012-15) and Brooklyn Nets (2022-24). His hiring turned heads, because it seemed to be a possible succession plan quietly being put in place for every time Self decides to step away.
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In speaking to sources over the previous few months, Vaughn is taken into account the favourite to finally get this job, nevertheless it’s no assure, after all. Nevertheless, if he does finally get it, then Tuesday evening was the unofficial preliminary audition.
As for that timeline, Self’s newest well being occasion has some Kansas followers frightened that this may wind up being his final season. Bear in mind, he is had different well being/coronary heart points in recent times. I do not assume that is Self’s swan music. I sniffed round on this again in October, and even in speaking to Invoice, it positive appeared like he was reinvigorated and prepared for a number of extra years on the bench. Let’s definitely hope so.
Yet another Kansas word: Darryn Peterson has one other damage he is coping with. He twisted his ankle in Tuesday’s win, so whereas he is nonetheless seeking to be on the ground for Kansas’ large rivalry sport at Ok-State on Saturday, he’ll doubtless have a restricted function if he may give it a go.
The sudden participant catalyzing Florida again atop the SEC
It appears the reigning champs have developed one of the crucial under-appreciated bigs in basketball. Florida ahead Thomas Haugh is a borderline All-American, however there’s one other man within the froncourt who’s been taking part in at that degree for the previous two weeks.
Florida gained straightforward Tuesday evening vs. LSU, 79-61. The as soon as 5-4 Gators are 14-5, their lone loss since Dec. 9 coming by two at Missouri. A significant component within the resurgence has been the junior large man, Rueben Chinyelu. Towards LSU he had 21 (!) rebounds for the second time this season. In his final 4 video games Chinyelu’s averaging 17.8 factors, 14.8 rebounds and taking pictures 67.5% from the sphere. For the season Chinyelu is at 12.0 factors and 11.2 rebounds.
Here is a stunner: No Florida participant has averaged 10.0 or extra rebounds since Bob Smyth’s 12.7 in 1975-76. I feel Chinyelu’s going to get there.
He is additionally chasing Al Horford for essentially the most double-doubles in a season by any Gator in at the very least the final 20 years. Horford had 16 within the title-winning season of 2006-07. Chinyelu’s at 11 — together with 4 in a row, marking the primary time a Florida participant’s carried out that since David Lee in 2005 — and figures to catch Horford earlier than March.
“Rueben has been an enormous a part of our success over the previous two years,” UF coach Todd Golden advised me. “He has all the time impacted profitable, however early on, it was in ways in which aren’t captured by the field rating. Display screen assists offensively, his ball-screen protection, protecting up for his teammates within the paint defensively. He was a profitable participant that was underrated. Now, due to the leap in manufacturing offensively each from a utilization and effectivity standpoint, individuals are starting to take discover on really how good he’s.”
Chinyelu is the man most accountable for vaulting the Gators again to the highest of the SEC this month. And he is likely to be the important thing piece to getting UF again to Ultimate 4 functionality. Florida’s subsequent sport is Saturday at residence vs. the group it final met within the Ultimate 4, Auburn.
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Norlander’s information + nuggets
• The Court docket Report sometimes publishes on Wednesdays, nevertheless it obtained bumped again a day as a result of Miami (Ohio) obtained the primary stage remedy as a substitute. You’ll be able to learn my profile on the RedHawks right here.
• I am glad HoopsHQ’s Alex Squadron took the time to put in writing a narrative in honor of Invoice Courtney. The Temple assistant — who was Miami‘s interim head coach final season and, previous to his time with the Hurricanes, head coach at Cornell — abruptly died final week at 55. I had nothing however nice interactions with Invoice. Lots of people within the teaching fraternity are in shock and nonetheless mourning. The Owls shall be carrying a patch in Courtney’s honor for the remainder of the season as properly.
• ICYMI: Marvin Menzies was the primary teaching change announcement of 2026, and it positive appears Air Pressure‘s Joe Scott shall be subsequent. The college suspended Scott over the weekend for alleged inappropriate teaching conduct. Air Pressure is a bottom-two job within the Mountain West, however nonetheless: The Falcons are simply 46-121 in 5 and a half seasons since Scott got here again (he beforehand coached there 1999-04).
• There was a bit of noise final week with Sens. Jon Husted (R-Ohio) and Eric Schmitt (R-Mo.) sending a joint letter to Large East commissioner Val Ackerman to foyer for Dayton and Saint Louis to (finally) be a part of the Large East. I reached out to sources and so they mentioned there may be no momentum in any respect at this level for Large East growth. One supply even provided that the mere act of doing this, and letting the letter leak, may harm SLU and UD’s causee greater than assist it.
• Few gamers took as circuitous a path to their final touchdown spot in final yr’s portal cycle as Desmond Claude. What’d he get for it? An enormous paycheck, for one, but additionally simply 12 video games taking part in harm (and clearly coming again too quickly after hurting his ankle within the preseason) for a mean group. The ten-9 Huskies cannot get out of the muck in 12 months 2 beneath Danny Sprinkle.
• Gonzaga gained at Seattle over the weekend to get to 19-1, doing so with out its two finest gamers, Graham Ike and Braden Huff. Ike’s ankle situation is not critical; I anticipate him to return Saturday vs. San Francisco. Huff is a unique deal. His knee damage was introduced as a 4-8 week restoration, however my sources indicated a four- or five-week return isn’t the expectation at this stage. Take into accout, in a loaded subject of groups combating for No. 1 seeds, GU doubtless will not be capable of have greater than three losses on Choice Sunday to be able to discover the highest line.
• Kentucky‘s residence win over Texas on Wednesday was its fourth straight within the SEC, one thing the Wildcats did not do final yr in a way more loaded league. At 13-6, issues are nonetheless uneasy as a result of UK misplaced ahead Kam Williams to a damaged foot. Williams had moved into the beginning lineup this month, which means Mark Pope is now down three gamers who’d be starters if totally wholesome (Jaland Lowe and Jayden Quaintance). I will be on the Vandy sport subsequent Tuesday. Needs to be an vital one for each side.
• Kylan Boswell’s damaged hand damage goes to wind up dinging Illinois’ NCAA Event seed, I feel. The 2-way backcourt power goes to be unavailable for the Illini’s upcoming street video games towards Purdue, Nebraska and Michigan State. They query is: Will he be again in time for the LA journey on Feb. 18 and 21? Is likely to be too quickly. Isaac Trotter evaluated the general impression right here.
• Refusing to take Cameron Boozer‘s casually dominant performances with no consideration. In Duke‘s 30-point win at Stanford on Saturday, Boozer had 30 factors, 14 rebounds and three steals. Within the final 25 years, the one freshman to go for at the very least 30/14/3 vs. a power-conference group are: Ben Simmons, Kevin Durant and Carmelo Anthony (2X). I actually wish to see a giant race for NPOY, however Boozer (23.2 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 4.1 apg, 1.8 spg) won’t let it occur.
• USC thought it had reinforcements arriving final evening within the type of freshman Alijah Arenas, who made his Trojans debut. Sadly, it fell flat. Arenas completed with eight factors on 3-of-15 taking pictures. USC misplaced at residence 74-68 to a meh Northwestern group to fall to 14-5. I ponder if Arenas can develop right into a difference-maker in a month’s time. He was the Tenth-ranked man within the loaded 2025 class and possibly must be a key piece to getting USC to the NCAAs now that lead guard Rodney Rice is out for the yr.
• In case you’re a means greater faculty hoops fan than NBA fan, likelihood is you have barely considered Drew Timme since he left GU in 2023. (I wrote a enjoyable longform piece on his time with the Zags within the closing month of his senior yr.) Anyway, Timme’s nonetheless pushing his method to staying on an NBA roster. I’ve lengthy felt he had the ball IQ, taking pictures knack and likability within the locker room to stay for at the very least five-plus years within the league. Cherished this bit from him from over the weekend. And as a lot as he beloved his time in faculty, he will not be attempting to tug a Bediako.
