Jay Bilas calls out coaches' responses to Charles Bediako eligibility, James Nnaji decision

On Christmas Eve, former NBA Draft pick James Nnaji signed with Baylor after the NCAA granted him immediate eligibility. A few weeks later, Charles Bediako became eligible to play for Alabama two years after going undrafted, and he also played in the G-League.

The responses have been swift after both decisions. But ESPN analyst Jay Bilas said he sees differences in how coaches addressed the respective situations.

Nnaji never played in an NBA game or signed an NBA contract, though he played in Summer League games. Bediako, however, signed a two-way deal with the San Antonio Spurs in 2023 and played in a G-League game as recently as this month. A judge granted a temporary restraining order which gave him immediate eligibility, and the order is extended into early February.

Bilas said while the NCAA’s rules need adjusting, he argued neither player looks like he’ll have an impact to warrant such strong reaction. He specifically pointed out the fact multiple freshmen scored 40 points this past weekend.

“One of the things I find really interesting about this is the reaction of coaches in this,” Bilas said Wednesday on The Paul Finebaum Show. “The idea that some of this is shameful and all that. ‘Shame on the NCAA, shame on the coaches.’ When I hear that, what I really think is, look, if you don’t want a player like Charles Bediako, don’t recruit him. But what they’re really saying is, we don’t want to play against him. That’s what’s being said here is, they don’t want to play against Charles Bediako. James Nnaji at Baylor, after all the hullabaloo about him, he’s averaging 1.7 points per game. Charles Bediako – no disrespect. I mean, he’s a good player. But, what, he had 13 and 14 points in two games? We had three freshmen over the weekend score over 40.

“We’re not talking about an All-America caliber here. Again, I don’t mean that to be disrespectful, but why are we getting in a twist over all this stuff when it’s really, in my view, not that big of a deal. I do agree that the NCAA should be better in the way they promulgate rules. Their rules should make better sense than they make. But I’m not sure that to the extent these players and institutions are kind of being demonized over this, it’s nowhere near as big of a deal in my view as is being made of it.”

Jay Bilas: Outcry similar to one-and-dones

When asked why coaches have been responding so fiercely, Jay Bilas argued it’s likely because times are changing. Players can move freely via the transfer portal while also earning money off the court through NIL deals.

But Bilas also pointed out the fact that when he played, coaches’ salaries weren’t close to what they are now. That’s also a sign things are different in 2026. In fact, he sees the outrage around eligibility to be similar to when one-and-dones entered college basketball.

“It really strikes me as similar to the outrage we had over one-and-done 20 years ago, which seems like such a quaint time when all we did was argue over freshmen,” Bilas said. “But 20 years ago, when John Calipari was taking so many one-and-dones and Duke started doing it and we had other schools that did it – not as prominently and not with as many players – but you heard the same kind of things. ‘They’re just mercenaries,’ ‘they’re rental players for a year,’ ‘they’re only on campus for six months,’ which wasn’t true. It was similar rhetoric. Now, that’s just part of the game. It’s part of the fabric of the game.

“Freshmen are among the most celebrated players and most-hyped players. … Football is lucky in that the NFL has a draft eligibility rule. It used to be four years, but they moved it to three when they had competition from the USFL. So they get their players for at least three years. The NBA does it differently, and that makes it a little more difficult on college basketball coaches than it does college football coaches.”