And-Ones: Bediako, Barcelona, Tax Teams, Worst Contracts

Former G Leaguer Charles Bediako is expected to play for Alabama against Tennessee tonight, ESPN’s Jeff Borzello reports.

Bediako was granted a temporary restraining order earlier this week, allowing him to participate in activities and games for Alabama while he awaits a hearing on a preliminary injunction regarding his eligibility.

“We are planning to play him,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said. “He’s eligible to play. We’re going to follow the court orders.”

It turns out that the judge who issued the order is an Alabama booster, according to Alex Schiffer of Front Office Sports. Tuscaloosa County Circuit Judge Jim Roberts and his wife Mary Turner Roberts are listed as active athletic donors on The Crimson Tide Foundation’s website, with lifetime contributions between $100K and $249K.

The National Association of Basketball Coaches held a conference call regarding the matter on Friday. Afterward, Dan Gavitt, the NCAA Senior VP of Basketball, released a statement voicing their concerns about college eligibility, Borzello tweets.

“If these rules surrounding the NCAA pre- and post-draft rules cannot be enforced, it would create an unstable environment” for the student-athletes, schools and the NBA, Gavitt said, in part.

Here’s more from around the basketball world:

• Barcelona plans to pass on the NBA’s proposed league in Europe. FC Barcelona’s Board of Directors issued a statement declaring its allegiance to the EuroLeague: “The Board of Directors has agreed to ratify the extension of the first men’s basketball team’s participation license in the EuroLeague for the next 10 seasons (until the 2035-36 season), a competition of which it is a co-founding member. The Board of Directors reaffirms its desire to always participate in the best existing competitions.”
• In his latest Substack article, cap expert Yossi Gozlan takes a deep dive into the teams over the luxury tax and discusses why some teams just over the line have waited to make moves to get below the threshold. Gozlan also takes a look at how the Sixers are navigating the eligibility clocks for two-way players Jabari Walker, Dominick Barlow and MarJon Beauchamp.
• The Sixers‘ star duo of Joel Embiid and Paul George hold the top two spots in the “Worst Value Contracts” in the NBA, according to Spotrac contributor Keith Smith. Jakob Poeltl, Patrick Williams and Dejounte Murray round out the top five among Smith’s top 20 in that category.