Two-time national championship UConn head coach Dan Hurley weighed in on the latest NCAA eligibility scandal surrounding former G League center Charles Bediako, who won a temporary restraining order to return to college and play for Nate Oats at Alabama.
The 23-year-old Bediako played six games for the Austin Spurs in 2024, 34 games for the Grand Rapids Gold in 2025 and six games this season for the Motor City Cruise. He last played for Alabama in 2023. The TRO was granted to Bediako as the NCAA grapples with its eligibility rules in the new revenue-sharing environment.
Hurley was left scratching his head, and like many, doesn't understand how a G League player can return to school.
"Can a player that only played three years of football and then enters the NFL draft, can they leave the Arena League next year and go play? Can they leave the CFL next year?" Hurley asked rhetorically. "If someone in the Big Ten needs a left tackle or something if a guy gets hurt, can you pull a guy off a practice squad of an NFL team? Can a guy from the Browns next year come back and play left tackle somewhere? This s--- is absurd."
Hurley sided with legendary Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo in the debate, as the UConn coach made it clear they won't be canvassing professional basketball for midseason roster help.
"The person that has the most equity with me is Coach Izzo because he's never been a cheater in recruiting. He's a coach's coach. I heard him say something and I'm smart enough to listen to the best coach, for me, in the game in Coach Izzo. We're just gonna do the things we do at UConn the way that we do them, the way that we build the program. We want to recruit high school players, develop them, keep them, and then we want to go into the portal and do what we do there. We're just going to keep doing what we're doing. If at some point, the sport has changed so much that I can't be effective doing it that way, then I'll get out of college coaching," Hurley continued.
Dan Hurley weighs in on the NCAA eligibility drama:
— The Field of 68 (@TheFieldOf68) January 23, 2026
"We're just gonna keep doing things the way we're doing them at UConn. If at some point, the sport has changed so much that I can't be effective doing it that way, then I'll get out of college coaching" 👀
(🎥: @UConnMBB) pic.twitter.com/41KMfsKGJC
The lack of clarity around eligibility is a mess in college basketball right now, with no end in sight.
More College Basketball on Sports Illustrated
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- Florida's Todd Golden Takes Aim at Charles Bediako Legal Ruling, Promises Win Over Alabama
- Aaliyah Chavez Announces Herself With Dominant OT Performance vs. South Carolina
- Notre Dame Star Hannah Hidalgo Makes ACC History With 2,000 Career Points
This article was originally published on www.si.com as UConn's Dan Hurley Makes Stance Clear on College Basketball's Eligibility Mess.
