@ctsykes13 Have to make sure high school students have a shot, per Charlie Baker!
Ross Dellenger@RossDellenger
NCAA releases statement on the eligibility challenge of Charles Bediako
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Drew Dease
1.7K posts
“Taking away opportunities from high schoolers”
Jon Chepkevich@JonChep
NEWS: Narcisse Ngoy has committed to Auburn in the class of 2026, his agent Herman Manakyan of Fusion Sports tells DraftExpress. The 2004-born French big man is the most productive player in Pro B. 10.8 points, 11.7 rebounds, 2.6 blocks per game while shooting 70+% from the field. Boasts NBA center-caliber physical tools as a 7-footer with a 7’7” wingspan and 9’6 ½" standing reach. 80 dunks in 29 games this season.
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@CregStephenson Charlie Baker had the audacity to prepare a written statement that said NCAA eligibility rules are in place to protect high school athletes.
Ross Dellenger@RossDellenger
NCAA releases statement on the eligibility challenge of Charles Bediako
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Amari Allen picks up his fourth foul with 6:13 to play in Chicago.
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@marctorrence We really are an NBA program, with the added touch of noticeable effort difference in the postseason.
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Turnovers, rebounds, free throws and leading a 1 seed at halftime of the sweet sixteen. Nate Oats teams that finally Try Hard are so much fun
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The typical Nate Oats season arc is crazy:
- talented team racks up a couple of impressive non-con wins
- humbled by 1 or 2 elite teams before conf play
- sluggish SEC stretch where Nate can’t figure out how to get them to rebound or play D (you are here)
- ??
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@PrideOfTheTide Marshall Applewhite was briefly a music professor at UA.
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Does anyone know what Alabama's connection is to this event?
RetroNewsNow@RetroNewsNow
On March 26, 1997, thirty-nine members of Heaven’s Gate were found dead in Rancho Santa Fe, California, victims of a mass suicide. The group believed they would shed their physical bodies and teleport aboard an extraterrestrial spacecraft trailing behind Comet Hale-Bopp
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@BryanDFischer Alabama has a special merch store for the Golf team booster club members. the Swinging Elephant Club.
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Yes! Every sport should have a unique logo for certain merch lines IMO.
Chris Howell@ChrisHHowell
@BryanDFischer We need more mascots playing golf
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@Mattpowell2525 @NextRoundLive Played @ North Dakota last season. He consistently plays a top 10 non-conference schedule on top of that.
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@NextRoundLive Has he ever taken his teams back tonwhere he started? These coaches are all selfish. Majority all started in low to mid majors.
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Nate Oats:
"The only mid-major schools we turn down are ones that aren't good enough... Some of the mid-major schools that we're talking about not being able to find games played multiple non-D1 games. I'm not sure how hard you tried if you're playing 3 non-D1 games."
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@DontrellChillis I need to hear the halftime 3 at the buzzer
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@BenThomasPreps Great piece. They are all still on the run from a guy named Red Leonard I think. We are very proud of what @coachdpowell has done at Saraland! Historic already and much more to come!
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Three former Crimson Tide managers have their teams in the AHSAA state basketball final four. #alpreps
al.com/highschoolspor…
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@blakebyler45 John Petty let the cardboard cutouts know about it that night.
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Alabama hit 10 threes in Knoxville last night during the win over Tennessee.
That’s the most 3-point makes for the Crimson Tide in a matchup with the Vols since Jan. 2, 2021. Which was also the last time Alabama won in Knoxville.
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@CheezStraw @mikerodak Fully aware. I’m not arguing that the existing rules allow for Bediako to be eligible. The argument is the arbitrary applications of bylaws.
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Here is the rule language about professionalism at the heart of the debate, from an affidavit filed in the Bediako case by NCAA managing director Jerry Vaughn:
Mit Winter@WinterSportsLaw
What’s the difference between (a) someone who been a pro for multiple years and then plays college 🏀, and (b) someone who plays college, plays pro, and then plays college? How is the former a student but not the latter? Especially when college players are paid more than pros.
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@CraigGrafx @USN1018 @WON_direction33 @MattNorlander Not true. The cap on compensation at “actual and necessary expenses” applies specifically to professional players who have not yet enrolled in college. The NCAA has chosen to not enforce that bylaw.
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@drewdease @USN1018 @WON_direction33 @MattNorlander Again, that’s for players leaving college to play in a pro league. Not for players playing in the Euroleague prior to college. The higher divisions in the Euroleague make 6 figures. Some of these kids are making that as high schoolers.
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Significant win in court for the NCAA.
Interesting potential ripple effect: Alabama played Bediako in defiance of the NCAA's ruling.
The Tide were 3-2 with him, including a notable win at rival Auburn over the weekend. How will those games affect Bama's NCAAT résumé/record?
Nick Kelly@_NickKelly
BREAKING: A Tuscaloosa judge has *denied* Charles Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction to allow him to continue playing for Alabama, per court docs @aldotcom obtained.
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@TheBaylorHomer @BamaBigBird @MattNorlander London Johnson’s earnings were disclosed to be over $1 million and he was ruled eligible, so I don’t think you can conclude that.
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@drewdease @BamaBigBird @MattNorlander The average doesn’t matter. The NCAA cleared him. The most likely conclusion is he wasn’t getting paid enough to disqualify him per the NCAA standards.
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Nnaji was cleared BY the NCAA. The two major differences in his case:
1. Nnaji never initially played CBB; there was no line he stepped over
2. The NCAA and Baylor said he never signed an NBA contract, unlike Bediako
You can still hate it, but those are the differentiators.
Nick Wonder@WON_direction33
@MattNorlander Do you think this effects Nnaji at Baylor at all?
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@CFBNerds @DrewChamplin I would love to hear the NCAA’s definition of “actual and necessary expenses” as well. On its face, it’s a reasonable compromise for the European players. But of course the NCAA has stretched that definition to include earnings over $1 million in certain cases.
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I've talked about the logic here at length (see reply below) as to why Bediako had a pretty good case, but I think this is ultimately the right decision, IF the NCAA applies this rule equally going forward.
The NCAA admitted in court that the Nnaji eligibility ruling (which was an NCAA decision, not a judicial override) was a mistake. I also think it's very hard to square Bediako being ineligible while letting in 22 year olds with 3-4 years of semi-pro experience in Europe.
If this is the catalyst to keep ALL those guys out, that's ultimately a good thing for college athletics.
On3@On3
NEW: Former pro Charles Bediako has been denied a preliminary injunction against the NCAA and will no longer be eligible to play for Alabama this season. on3.com/rivals/charles…
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@TheBaylorHomer @BamaBigBird @MattNorlander The average EuroLeague contract is $500k-$800k per year. You think he was playing for per diem and rent?
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@drewdease @BamaBigBird @MattNorlander His compensation isn’t publicly available as far as I’ve heard, so what leads you to that conclusion?
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@RadioWyatt How many of them earned more than “actual and necessary expenses” during their time with a pro team? Or are we only enforcing some of the eligibility rules?
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How many of those supposed 100 went to school first, declared, stayed in, and left?
Pete Thamel@PeteThamel
Alabama says in a statement they are "disappointed" in the ruling: "The NCAA has granted eligibility to over 100 current men’s basketball players with prior professional experience in the G League or overseas. Granting eligibility to some former professionals, and not to others, is what creates the havoc we are currently in and why consistency from decision-makers is so desperately needed."
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@CraigGrafx @USN1018 @WON_direction33 @MattNorlander He very clearly earned more than “actual and necessary expenses” as a pro by any reasonable definition and the NCAA completely ignored it.
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@USN1018 @WON_direction33 @MattNorlander I don't think Nnaji should play either but as others have pointed out:
-Nnaji never played college basketball & then left for the pros.
-Nnaji never signed an NBA contract.
-Nnaji never played an official NBA game.
-The ncaa granted Nnaji an eligibility waiver for these reasons.
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@Sam_Vecenie Sam, the other former pros also knowingly received more than “actual and necessary expenses” as compensation. How does the NCAA reconcile that?
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This is just total nonsense. None of the players the NCAA has given eligibility to were in the NCAA and thus subject to the NCAA’s early entry deadline. Bediako declared for the draft and made HIS OWN CHOICE to forgo his NCAA eligibility. Thats on him.
Mike Rodak@mikerodak
Nate Oats to his "Hey Coach" weekly radio show on Charles Bediako's injunction being denied: "Obviously super disappointed. Disappointed in the whole thing, to be honest with you. I didn't think it ever should have gotten to court. I thought the NCAA should have made him eligible based on over a hundred current college basketball players -- former professionals, most of them over in Europe. Some in the G-League. Guys being drafted. Rights owned by NBA teams, as in James Nnaji being eligible to play. "I thought it was kind of a no-brainer with the NCAA. Then I didn't think it would much of an issue. The NCAA hasn't really changed much without courts forcing them to change. I thought the courts would see in the inconsistencies in the rulings and agree with Charles' attorneys."
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@KevinScarbinsky @murph_2911 What about his prior earnings, Kevin? The NCAA rules state that a player in his situation cannot earn more than “actual and necessary expenses”? In what world was his EuroLeague salary allowable?
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@murph_2911 I know that. I also know he didn't play college basketball before getting drafted.
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Said all along that Bediako was playing in violation of an NCAA eligibility rule that had never been broken. Enter draft. Stay in draft past deadline. Give up remaining eligibility. No exceptions. Judge made that key point in his ruling.
Arguments about foreign players or other G Leaguers playing college ball were apples vs. oranges.
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