Amari Bailey, with 10 games in NBA, seeks college eligibility - ESPN

Former UCLA standout Amari Bailey said he is attempting to become the first basketball player to return to college after playing in NBA games.

Bailey, 21, has hired an agent and a lawyer to prepare to fight for NCAA eligibility with hopes to join a college team and play one more season.

He said he started to explore a return to college earnestly in 2025 but has wondered if there was a way back to the NCAA since the day he was drafted in 2023. He said he made some mistakes as an 18-year-old freshman and left UCLA with «a lot to prove left on the table.»

«Right now I'd be a senior in college,» Bailey told ESPN. «I'm not trying to be 27 years old playing college athletics. No shade to the guys that do; that's their journey. But I went to go play professionally and learned a lot, went through a lot. So like, why not me?»

The 6-foot-3 guard played one season at UCLA in 2022-23 before entering the 2023 NBA draft, where he was selected by the Charlotte Hornets in the second round. He played in 10 games for the Hornets during his rookie season on a two-way contract and spent two years in the G League before being cut over the summer.

His effort will be another substantial legal test for the NCAA's ability to enforce rules that decide who can play college sports during an era when waivers and lawsuits have steadily eroded a ban on professional players joining NCAA rosters.

NCAA president Charlie Baker said in December that the association would not grant eligibility to any player who has signed an NBA contract. However, Alabama forward Charles Bediako — who also played in the G League on a two-way NBA contract — tested the NCAA's rules in state court and won an injunction that has allowed him to play for the Crimson Tide in