Former UCLA guard Amari Bailey, who’s performed 10 NBA video games, is reportedly looking for school eligibility

The line between school and professional sports activities has by no means been extra blurred, and Amari Bailey is reportedly up for testing its obscurity.

The former UCLA guard, who was drafted by the Charlotte Hornets within the second spherical of the 2023 NBA Draft after which performed 10 video games on a two-way contract for the Hornets throughout the 2023-24 season, is looking for school eligibility.

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No one has gone again to play in school after logging NBA minutes. His purpose is to play yet another season within the collegiate ranks, according to an ESPN report Friday.

“Right now I’d be a senior in college,” the soon-to-be-22-year-old Bailey instructed 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?”

Bailey has reportedly employed an agent and a lawyer and is ready to problem the NCAA in courtroom. He defined to ESPN that he has some regrets about leaving UCLA after his freshman season, throughout which he averaged 11.2 factors, 3.8 rebounds and a couple of.2 assists per recreation in 2022-23.

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That season, the Bruins gained 31 video games and reached the Sweet 16. Bailey was the fourth-leading scorer on a squad that featured Miami Heat first-round decide Jaime Jaquez Jr.

He arrived at UCLA as a five-star prospect from Sierra Canyon, the place he teamed up with Bronny James and different high-profile prospects outdoors of Los Angeles. Bailey was the No. 12 general recruit within the 2022 class, according to Rivals.

After his rookie season with the Hornets, he signed with the Brooklyn Nets however spent the 2024-25 season within the G League. He was lower this previous summer time, based on ESPN.

“It’s not a stunt,” Bailey stated, per ESPN. “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.”

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Last month, within the wake of 2023 second-round decide James Nnaji becoming a member of Baylor, NCAA president Charlie Baker insisted the NCAA “has not and will not grant eligibility to any prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract).”

Nnaji, a 21-year-old 7-foot heart from Makurdi, Nigeria, by no means signed an NBA contract. Instead, he remained within the FC Barcelona group, though he did play in NBA Summer League video games for the Hornets and New York Knicks, as just lately as final 12 months for the Knicks.

Nnaji’s arrival at Baylor has been overshadowed just lately by one other 7-footer, Charles Bediako, and his return to Alabama. Bediako, 23, hadn’t performed for the Crimson Tide for the reason that 2022-23 marketing campaign. He went undrafted after that season and finally launched into a G League stint. He did, nevertheless, signal a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2023.

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Last week, a decide granted a short lived restraining order to permit Bediako to return to Alabama and play for the Crimson Tide.

Bailey heard his title referred to as within the draft 10 picks after Nnaji, and he signed the identical sort of contract as Bediako.

Bailey believes taking part in 65 NBA minutes should not differentiate him from these two gamers. He’s aiming to hitch a school group for subsequent season, per ESPN, which reported the potential group must petition the NCAA for a waiver to allow him to play.

If denied that waiver, Bailey and his authorized group may file a lawsuit.