Former UCLA basketball player Amari Bailey is attempting to return to college basketball after playing in the NBA. Bailey played 10 games for Charlotte Hornets as a rookie after they drafted him in the second round in 2023.
He has hired an agent and a lawyer to fight the NCAA for one more season of eligibility.
Charles Bediako recently returned to the Alabama basketball team after declaring for the NBA draft in 2023. He sued the NCAA and was granted a temporary restraining order.
The NFL is closely monitoring the cases, commissioner Roger Goodell said Monday.
The NFL’s Collective Bargaining Agreement contemplates the possibility of a drafted player returning to college. The team would retain the rights of a player who returns to college after being drafted, denying his re-entry into the draft the following season.
“We keep a close eye on this,” Goodell said. “I think our eligibility rule is really good for young men who play our sport. It gives them a chance to mature and get an education, which will benefit them for a lifetime. I also think [the rules] develop stars. They come in as stars, and I think the strength of college is something that I think is good for all of us.”
The NFL requires players to be out of high school three years before becoming eligible for the draft, and Goodell said the league will “do everything we can” to defend its eligibility rule.
Former Ohio State running back Maurice Clarett sued the NFL in 2003 for the right to leave after one college season, arguing the rule violates federal antitrust law. The NFL ultimately won, and Clarett was drafted in the third round in 2005.
Now, with NIL being what it is, players are fighting to stay in college.
No one knows where college sports are going, but Goodell said the NFL is willing to help if asked.
“There’s obviously a lot of change going on and a lot of disruption, and they do need to bring some clarity to that,” Goodell said. “And I think that’s something that, if for some reason we could be helpful with the right people, we would obviously be willing to engage with anybody. But I think we try to stay in our lane unless we’re invited in to be part of the solution.”