{"id":481681,"date":"2026-01-31T17:12:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:12:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/?p=481681"},"modified":"2026-01-31T17:12:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-31T16:12:20","slug":"could-amari-bailey-be-the-first-player-to-go-from-the-nba-back-to-the-ncaa","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sportando.basketball\/en\/could-amari-bailey-be-the-first-player-to-go-from-the-nba-back-to-the-ncaa\/","title":{"rendered":"Could Amari Bailey be the first player to go from the NBA back to the NCAA?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The world of college basketball is facing a legal earthquake. Amari Bailey, a former UCLA standout and teammate of Bronny James at Sierra Canyon, has decided he wants to become the first player to return to the NCAA after playing in the NBA.<\/p>\n<p>Selected in the 2023 Draft at just 18 years old, Bailey made 10 appearances for the Charlotte Hornets on a two-way contract. However, after realizing that his immediate professional prospects were limited, the 21-year-old has decided he wants to complete his academic and athletic journey at the university level. He stated: &#8220;I would be in my senior year of college. I\u2019ve learned a lot in the NBA, so why shouldn&#8217;t I have the same chance as everyone else?&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>The NCAA, led by President Charlie Baker, is standing firm: anyone who signs an NBA contract loses their eligibility. But Bailey\u2019s lawyer, Elliot Abrams, is highlighting a disparity in treatment, citing two specific examples and bringing the NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) issue into the conversation:<\/p>\n<p>James Nnaji: Despite being drafted in 2023, he was allowed to play in Europe and keep a window open for a return.<\/p>\n<p>Charles Bediako: He returned to Alabama because, although he had signed a contract, he never actually stepped onto an NBA court.<\/p>\n<p>The NIL Factor: Bailey&#8217;s two-way contract (approximately $565,000) is not far off from the amounts many top college athletes are now earning legally through sponsorships.<\/p>\n<p>Bailey is proposing a compromise: the ban on returning should only apply to those who signed guaranteed contracts or were first-round picks. For everyone else, the dream of a &#8220;Senior Year&#8221; shouldn&#8217;t be extinguished after just a handful of minutes in the pros.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>mari Bailey, a former UCLA standout and teammate of Bronny James at Sierra Canyon, has decided he wants to become the first player to return to the NCAA after playing in the NBA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":177,"featured_media":393626,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[399,401],"tags":[],"rumors":[],"typology":[],"posizionamento":[],"class_list":["post-481681","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nba","category-ncaa"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v28.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Could Amari Bailey be the first player to go from the NBA back to the NCAA? 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