The hearing on Alabama center Charles Bediako‘s request for a preliminary injunction has been delayed because of weather issues, according to a court filing, resulting in his temporary restraining order (TRO) being extended another 10 days.
Meanwhile, the NCAA has filed a motion asking the judge overseeing the case to recuse himself, AL.com reported.
Bediako was granted a 10-day temporary restraining order last week that allowed him to play immediately for Alabama and that barred the NCAA from punishing the university in any way, with a full hearing scheduled for Tuesday. But the parties held a virtual status conference Monday because Taylor Askew, one of the NCAA’s attorneys, was unable to attend Tuesday’s hearing because of weather issues.
Judge James H. Roberts extended the temporary restraining order for 10 days after the NCAA agreed “that there exists good cause” to extend it. The initial temporary restraining order, which was granted Wednesday, was expected to remain in effect for 10 days or until a hearing could take place.
A full hearing will be set at a later date.
The NCAA’s motion for Roberts to recuse himself, filed later Monday, asks the judge to step down amid questions about his objectivity, AL.com reported. Roberts and his wife are listed as active donors on the website for Alabama’s Crimson Tide Foundation, which supports the university’s athletics.
“The NCAA has faith in the judicial process and does not currently contend the Court has an actual bias, partiality, or prejudice,” the NCAA wrote in its motion, according to AL.com. “Similarly, the NCAA does not allege that any actual bias motivated the Court’s granting of a temporary restraining order. Instead, the NCAA contends that proceeding in this Court has created an impermissible appearance of impropriety because of the intense media scrutiny and public speculation surrounding the Court’s relationship with the University of Alabama and its athletics programs and student-athletes.”
Bediako played in his first college game in almost three years on Saturday against Tennessee, scoring 13 points in a 79-73 loss. Alabama hosts Missouri on Tuesday before heading to Florida on Sunday.
The 6-foot-11 center played two seasons at Alabama in 2021-22 and 2022-23 before leaving early for the NBA draft. He went undrafted and never played in an NBA game, spending the past three seasons playing for three different G League teams, suiting up as recently as last weekend for the Motor City Cruise.
He sued the NCAA for immediate reinstatement after the organization denied Alabama’s appeal for his return.
Unlike the former pros who were granted eligibility by the NCAA — including Baylor’s James Nnaji, the first drafted player to be given eligibility in men’s college basketball — Bediako signed a two-way deal with multiple NBA teams, and the NCAA has previously given that as its line in the sand when it comes to eligibility.
Dan Gavitt, the NCAA’s senior vice president of basketball, issued a statement Friday reiterating that anyone who remains in the NBA draft past the withdrawal deadline, which Bediako did, forfeits his remaining college eligibility.
“[If those rules] cannot be enforced, it would create an unstable environment for the student-athletes, schools building a roster for the following season and the NBA,” Gavitt said in the statement.
Bediako averaged 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in his two previous seasons at Alabama.
