Amari Bailey could break the college landscape and outlook

Amari Bailey’s college eligibility decision could change college basketball forever. If the NCAA rules that he is eligible to return to college again. That could open the door for many players that could return. Ones that ultimately made decisions to go to the NBA too early. It will be interesting to see if the NCAA puts a rule on how many NBA games a player has played or just flat out says Bailey is ineligible and cannot play and slams the door on the idea. With the amount of NIL that is going around, it is intriguing to see if this will be allowed. As Bailey could get a good chunk of money from a school.

Bailey spent one year at UCLA in the 2022/23 season. Where he averaged 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists. He was one of the top recruits in the country when UCLA nabbed his commitment. After that season he inputted his name into the 2023 NBA Draft when many believed another year in college was best option. The Charlotte Hornets drafted him 41st overall in the 2nd round. Never really getting an opportunity to play much as he only played in 10 games. He struggled for any consistency with so little minutes.

He played very good in the G-League averaging 21.3 points per game to go along with 5.4 assists and 5.4 rebounds. there are plenty of college teams that will lineup to gain his services if he is able to come back. Still only 21 years old, he would still be younger than a lot of college players. So, it is not crazy to think about. The question is where does the NCAA draw the line if this becomes a normality? You can go and look at mini players who don’t have much NBA experience that may look to come back to college and dip into NIL.

This is going to be a headline story to watch as doors could be opened that we have not seen before. Even if players don’t have a pathway back to the NBA. The NIL funds for even a year or two could get them paid well and show out. Will players be eligible to go back into the NBA Draft, or will they revert to their original teams to see if they want first dibs? Also, how will the eligibility work? If Bailey can go back, will he get three years of eligibility since he only played one year at UCLA? This story will be on the radar as long as it drags out.