SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sides with NCAA in Charles Bediako eligibility case

Charles Bediako has a new and notable adversary in his ongoing fight to retain his college eligibility and continue to compete for the Alabama men’s basketball team.

In an NCAA affidavit filed on Thursday, Feb. 5 in Tuscaloosa County (Alabama) Circuit Court, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey asked the court to side with the NCAA’s eligibility rules and rule against Bediako.

Advertisement

“I respectfully ask the Court to uphold the NCAA eligibility rules challenged in this case, which are essential to the integrity of college sports, to the educational mission they serve, and to the opportunities they provide for current and future student-athletes,” Sankey wrote in the affidavit.

REQUIRED READING: As Alabama loses with Charles Bediako, it reeks of desperation

After playing 82 games across three seasons in the G League, Bediako, who played for Alabama from 2021-23, was granted a temporary restraining order against the NCAA on Jan. 21 by Judge James Roberts Jr. that made him immediately eligible.

Since his legal victory, Bediako has played in four games for the Crimson Tide, averaging 9.5 points, five rebounds and 1.8 blocks per game. Alabama has gone 2-2 in those games, dropping them from the top 25 of the USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll.

Advertisement

Roberts, an Alabama donor, has since recused himself from Bediako’s eligibility case. Bediako’s next hearing is scheduled for Friday, Feb. 6, one day before the Crimson Tide play on the road against archrival Auburn. The hearing will be heard by Judge Daniel Pruet.

The NCAA is arguing that Bediako’s multiple professional contracts he signed since leaving Alabama after the 2022-23 season make him ineligible to return to the sport, according to the organization’s longstanding eligibility rules.

REQUIRED READING: March Madness bracketology: Houston, Florida rise in NCAA tournament

Sankey agrees with the NCAA’s stance, writing in the affidavit that the rules are “grounded in the principle that college athletics are reserved…

Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/articles/sec-commissioner-greg-sankey-sides-234147749.html

Author :

Publish date : 2026-02-05 23:41:00

Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source.