Amari Bailey, Ex-Charlotte Hornet, Seeking Return to College

The NCAA’s rules-enforcement crisis continues to escalate.

Amari Bailey could open a new front in the NCAA’s eligibility wars. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

In 2024, guard Amari Bailey played 10 games for the Hornets. In 2026, Bailey wants to play college basketball.

Bailey—an All-Pac-12 tournament and Pac-12 All-Freshman performer at UCLA in 2023—is seeking the ability to return to college and play basketball and has retained legal representation to that end, he told ESPN’s Dan Murphy Friday.

If allowed to play, Bailey could potentially open a new front in the legal conflicts over eligibility that have dogged college basketball throughout the ‘26 season. Ex-Pistons draftee center James Nnaji and ex-G League center Charles Bediako have suited up for Baylor and Alabama this season, respectively. These moves have proven unpopular with both fans and observers (Bediako’s signing more so than Nnaji’s), but a cogent solution has yet to emerge, with the NCAA’s authority having been hacked away in court over the last decade and Congress busy with more important matters.

"It's not a stunt," Bailey said. "I'm really serious about going back. I just want to improve my game, change the perception of me and just show that I can win."

NCAA senior vice president of external affairs Tim Buckley told Murphy that “the NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to any players who have signed an NBA contract;” Bediako’s deal was a two-way contract, and he won the temporary right to play in state court.

Bailey, whose most recent basketball action came with the G League’s Iowa Wolves, told Murphy he does not have a specific team in mind to join.

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