This is a topic of conversation that's not going to go away anytime soon. On one hand, you have Alabama basketball fans over the moon with the fact that Charles Bediako is back in Tuscaloosa suiting up for the Crimson Tide.
Alabama likely without 2 of its 3 leading scorers against Tennessee
In a bit of a stunner, Bediako, who previously played for Alabama before making the jump to the pros, is back in action with Bama after the NCAA tried to block his return to the Tide, only for a judge in Alabama to open the door for him to make a shocking return.
There are people bashing this decision from Nate Oats and his team, as they believe someone who previously left school early and signed a two-way contract with an NBA team (Spurs) should never be able to make a return to the college ranks. Jay Bilas offered up his thoughts and he sent quite the message to the NCAA in the process:
The College GameDay crew discusses the landscape of men's college basketball ahead of Charles Bediako's return to Alabama. pic.twitter.com/KcCIn0Svfk
— ESPN (@espn) January 24, 2026
Jay Bilas sends strong message to NCAA over the Charles Bediako controversy
"I think the NCAA likes a feeling of chaos because they want congress to come in and give them an anti-trust exemption," Bilas said on ESPN. "I don't think that's going to happen. What I think the NCAA should do is make a reasonable rule on eligibility.
"If you want to say college basketball or college sports is for undergraduates only within a five-year window of when your high school eligibility ends and put it within that window - it doesn't need to be an age thing, it just needs to be that window. If they want to do that they can, but they haven't shown the will to do it."
The ESPN broadcast team also brought up European players making the leap from professional hoops to college, which is something widely being discussed now too. Bilas makes a great point, though. Why not just make it spread out where college basketball is just for players within five years of ending their high school careers?
That would settle a lot of problems the NCAA currently is having. At the same time, with things so open-ended there, Bilas isn't jumping on the bandwagon of blaming Oats for having college basketball in a stage of controversy like so many others. If anything, it seems like he's defending Alabama and Oats a bit with his recent comments.