Former UCLA standout Amari Bailey eyes return to college game, per report
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Former UCLA basketball standout Amari Bailey is looking to make a return to college basketball next season, according to a report on Friday by ESPN insider Pete Thamel.
Bailey, who played at UCLA during the 2022-23 season, told ESPN’s Dan Murphy of his intentions to head back to the college game, according to Thamel. The 21-year-old New Orleans native would be trying to carve a similar path back to college as Alabama center Charles Bediako, who has caused a firestorm of controversy within college basketball and college sports itself with his return to college basketball.
There is a big difference with Bailey’s situation though. He is attempting to be the first basketball player to come back to the college game after actually playing in NBA games. Bailey is a 6-foot-3 guard who entered the 2023 NBA Draft after that 1 season at UCLA and then played in 10 games for the Charlotte Hornets during his rookie season.
The Hornets selected Bailey in the 2nd round of that 2023 draft. Bailey had a 2-way contract with Charlotte. He spent 2 years in the G League before he was cut last summer.
Bailey has hired an agent as well as a lawyer, and he’ll reportedly fight for NCAA eligibility as he tries to return to a college program and play 1 more season.
“Right now, I’d be a senior in college,” Bailey said to 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?”
Bediako also played in the G League on a 2-way NBA contract, but he never played in an NBA game. Bailey has, but now he wants back into the college game, which is likely to cause a similar firestorm as the Bediako saga has.
“It’s not a stunt,” Bailey told Murphy. “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.”
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
