How NBA Stars Could Return to Auburn Following NCAA Eligibility Dispute

The Auburn Tigers could soon have the ability to bring back former stars from the NBA through additional years of eligibility… possibly.

The world of collegiate athletics is currently riding a massive spiral, and the game(s) that fans know and love is constantly evolving nowadays.

First, it was the introduction of the transfer portal, then student-athletes receiving the opportunity to earn monetary benefits from Name, Image, and Likeness, and then it was the confusion surrounding revenue sharing.

You may ask… it can’t get much crazier than that, right?

Wrong.

Reports emerged on Wednesday morning that former Alabama forward Charles Bediako was granted eligibility by a local judge to return to Tuscaloosa and suit up for the Crimson Tide, effective immediately. This comes one day after Bediako and his team reportedly sued the NCAA following its denial of the school’s appeal to allow him to return to college basketball.

NEW: Charles Bediako has been granted a temporary restraining order and is immediately eligible to participate for Alabama basketball.

Bediako is a professional player for the Motor City Cruise of the NBA G League.

(h/t @_NickKelly)https://t.co/3KKnL1iPSJ pic.twitter.com/Chsv7Hd8Kl
— On3 (@On3) January 21, 2026

He was granted a temporary retraining order by judge James H. Roberts Jr. of the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court, enabling him to be active for Alabama’s game against Tennessee on Saturday, while also ruling that the NCAA is "restrained from threatening, imposing, attempting to impose, suggesting or implying any penalties or sanctions" against Bediako, the school, or the Tide’s coaches and players.

Bediako played for Alabama from 2021-23 before declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft after his sophomore season – the same year former Auburn guard Wendell Green Jr. declared for the draft. Bediako went undrafted, but ultimately signed contracts with the San Antonio Spurs and, later, the Denver Nuggets, who he represented in the G-League for a couple of years.

"These attempts to sidestep NCAA rules and recruit individuals who have finished their time in college or signed NBA contracts are taking away opportunities from high school students," the NCAA said in an official statement on Wednesday. "A judge ordering the NCAA let a former NBA player take the court Saturday against actual college student-athletes is exactly why Congress must step in and empower college sports to enforce our eligibility rules."

In his initial complaint versus the NCAA, Bediako pointed to now-Baylor center James Nnaji, who was cleared to play in college earlier this season after being drafted in 2023 and playing in both the NBA summer league and overseas.

However, the situations are slightly different, as this is the first time a player, who had already played college basketball, entered the draft and signed an NBA contract but was allowed to return to college down the road.

It has become somewhat clear that the NCAA is a mess in recent years, but this makes the water even murkier for someone wishing to gauge what is and isn’t allowed anymore.

Because at this rate, why can’t Auburn have one of its former players come back and suit up in the orange and blue again?

What stops Steven Pearl from calling Jared Harper or Bryce Brown, the two star guards that led Auburn to its first Final Four in 2019, and ask them to sue the NCAA and gain a immediate eligibility from a local judge?

Harper only played three seasons for the Tigers, meaning he has one more year of eligibility remaining, in theory.

How about Denver Jones and Chaney Johnson? Those are two key contributors from last season’s Final Four team who had already garnered questions surrounding their eligibility due to time in D-II and JUCO at the end of last year.

What stops Pearl from bringing Isaac Okoro, former Auburn star and current Chicago Bull, back to the Plains?

He saw just one year at Auburn before heading to the NBA, where he heard his name called at No. 5 overall in the 2020 draft.

Green already poked fun at a potential return on X early on Wednesday, saying “I still have two years left” with a couple of curious emojis.

👀🤔i still have 2 years left https://t.co/DUWWP2kVBh
— WENDELL GREEN JR ✞❤️‍🩹 (@icyywen) January 21, 2026

Heck, what about Jabari Smith Jr.? Or even JT Thor?

All in all, it’s fun to look at the possible scenarios, but there are truly zero parameters or rules regarding what programs can and cannot do. It may even be tempting to look at potential situations in which Auburn could bring back a former fan-favorite, especially during this season, as the current squad of Tigers could use some help in certain areas.

It’s a scary era for the future of collegiate athletics. If Alabama is allowed to bring back a former player who has already played two years in college, declared for the draft, and signed an NBA contract with multiple organizations, what’s stopping every other team from doing the same?