Sports
Alabama court denies Charles Bediako’s injunction for NCAA eligibility
Alabama Crimson Tide center Charles Bediako (14) as Auburn Tigers take on Alabama Crimson Tide at Neville Arena in Auburn, Ala. on Saturday, Feb. 7, 2026. Alabama Crimson Tide defeated Auburn Tigers 96-92. A circuit court judge in Alabama denied Charles Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction to continue the resumption of his college basketball career Monday, rendering him ineligible once again.
Bediako last month won a temporary restraining order from the Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court that allowed him to rejoin the Alabama basketball team for the rest of 2025-26, in a challenge to NCAA eligibility rules.
Bediako, 23, played two seasons for Alabama before entering the 2023 NBA Draft and going undrafted. He signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs but was released before playing in an NBA game. He proceeded to play in 82 games in the G League.
Those factors were enough for County Circuit Court Judge Daniel F. Pruet to decide that Bediako did not have a “reasonable expectation” to be allowed to return to the college game as no prior case existed where a player was granted eligibility under the same circumstances.
Pruet said Bediako “failed to establish that he would suffer irreparable harm,” “failed to establish that he has no adequate remedy at law without the issuance of the injunction” and “failed to demonstrate that he has at least a reasonable chance of success on the ultimate merits of those claims.”
It marks a perhaps unlikely victory for the NCAA at a time when its rules regarding player eligibility have been challenged and overturned in court with frequency.
The NCAA had allowed James Nnaji and other former G League players to be eligible to play because they were not previous college players who left, and because they had not signed NBA contracts. That is where the NCAA drew the line.
“To obtain the benefits promised to him for participation in NCAA basketball, the Plaintiff must be eligible to participate in NCAA basketball,” the judge said. “Eligibility to participate in the NCAA is controlled by the Defendant’s application of the eligibility rules legislated by the NCAA membership.”
Bediako’s original TRO was granted by a different judge, James H. Roberts Jr., who later recused himself from the case on the NCAA’s request because he was listed as an Alabama athletics booster who had made a lifetime contribution of between $100,000 and $249,000 to their foundation.
NCAA president Charlie Baker said in a statement Monday that “Common sense won a round” in the ongoing eligibility tug-of-war.
“The court saw this for what it is: an attempt by professionals to pivot back to college and crowd out the next generation of students,” Baker said. “College sports are for students, not for people who already walked away to go pro and now want to hit the ‘undo’ button at the expense of a teenager’s dream. While we’re glad the court upheld the rules our members actually want, one win doesn’t fix the national mess of state laws. It’s time for Congress to stop watching from the sidelines and help us provide some actual stability.”
Less enthused about the ruling was Alabama coach Nate Oats, who called himself “super disappointed” and felt the case shouldn’t have reached the courts to begin with.
“To me, the NCAA’s point of why Charles shouldn’t be eligible was all these rules that they have, but they’re not applying those rules to all these other players they’ve made eligible,” Oats said on his weekly radio show Monday night. “To me, it was very disappointing in the whole case. Disappointing for Charles.”
A 7-foot center, Bediako played five games (two starts) for Alabama under the temporary restraining order and averaged 10.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocked shots per game. The Tide went 3-2 in those games.
–Field Level Media
Sports
New French duo Fournier Beaudry, Cizeron lead after short dance
Feb 6, 2026; Milan, Italy; Guillaume Cizeron and Laurence Fournier Beaudry of France compete in ice dance rhythm dance during the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games at Milano Ice Skating Arena. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-Imagn Images MILAN — Laurence Fournier Beaudry and Guillaume Cizeron of France continued one of figure skating’s most compelling revivals on Monday night, winning the rhythm dance at the Milan Cortina Olympics in only their fifth international event.
The duo, who teamed up last March, kept up their breakneck speed to the top of the ice dance world by scoring 90.18 points — their best ever — for their sleek fashion-runway-meets-ice-dance take on Madonna’s “Vogue.”
In a showdown that felt like the sharpening of a rivalry, they edged triple world champions Madison Chock and Evan Bates of the United States, who delivered a high-octane rhythm dance powered by rock and roll swagger for 89.72 points.
Canadians Piper Gilles and Paul Poirier were third with 86.18.
The free dance is on Wednesday.
Cizeron had said last week that his partnership with Fournier Beaudry is “bonus time” for both skaters after they had believed their respective careers were over.
Cizeron’s former partner Gabriella Papadakis retired after the Beijing Olympics, while Fournier Beaudry’s partner Nikolaj Sorensen received a six-year suspension in 2024 for sexual maltreatment, although the suspension has been overturned on jurisdictional grounds.
After teaming up last spring, Fournier Beaudry, a Canadian, received her French citizenship in November to pave her way to the Olympics. They made an immediate impact on international ice, winning both their Grand Prix assignments before being edged by Chock and Bates at the Final in December.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
Sports
Knicks look to keep rolling vs. struggling Pacers
Feb 8, 2026; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New York Knicks center Karl-Anthony Towns (32) reacts after a play against the Boston Celtics in the second half at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images The last time the New York Knicks played a home game against the Indiana Pacers, both teams were on the verge of the NBA Finals.
More than nine months later, the Pacers are much further away from championship contention than the Knicks — even if New York’s ceiling remains uncertain despite a recent surge.
The Knicks will look to continue their solid play Tuesday night, when they host the Pacers in the second clash of the season between the longtime rivals.
Both teams were off Monday after playing road matinees on Super Bowl Sunday, when the Knicks cruised past the Boston Celtics 111-89 and the Pacers fell to the Toronto Raptors, 122-104.
The win was the ninth in the last 10 games for the Knicks, who moved into a tie with the Celtics for second place in the Eastern Conference, five games behind the Detroit Pistons before the Pistons’ game Monday night against the Charlotte Hornets.
It also continued a trend of dominant victories for New York. Seven of New York’s last nine wins have been by double digits, including five by at least 20 points and three by 30 points or more.
But the lone loss in the current stretch was a 118-80 loss to the Pistons on Friday night. Starters Karl-Anthony Towns and OG Anunoby sat out for the Knicks, as did new backup guard Jose Alvarado, who was acquired from the New Orleans Pelicans last Thursday.
Yet the Knicks had a full starting lineup in Detroit on Jan. 5, when the Pistons rolled to a 121-90 victory. The first loss to Detroit was one of the low points of a lengthy skid for New York, which went 2-9 from Dec. 31 through Jan. 19 while falling to the lottery-bound Sacramento Kings and Dallas Mavericks.
“Our group is resilient,” said Knicks head coach Mike Brown, who was hired after Tom Thibodeau was dismissed following a six-game loss to the Pacers in last season’s Eastern Conference finals — New York’s first trip to the conference finals since 2000.
“Sometimes things like (Friday) happen in Detroit. None of us like it. None of us want to go through it. Give Detroit a lot of credit, but we know it’s not who we are. We’ve played a lot better than that. We will.”
The Pacers’ hopes for the 2025-26 season likely ended in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June 22, when star guard Tyrese Haliburton tore his right Achilles in the first quarter of a 103-91 loss to the Oklahoma City Thunder.
Indiana, which was seeking its first NBA title, has fallen to last place in the Eastern Conference without Halliburton, who will miss the season. The Pacers are 13-40 and on pace for the worst record in franchise history.
The loss Sunday may have been a particularly costly defeat for the Pacers, who have dropped four straight following a 7-5 stretch from Jan. 8-31. Second-year guard/forward Johnny Furphy suffered a right knee injury while landing awkwardly following a dunk in the third quarter. He was helped off the court before he took a wheelchair to the locker room.
MRI testing Monday reportedly revealed a torn ACL for the Australian native, who had recently shown considerable promise for the organization while starting 21 of his 35 regular-season appearances in his second season in the league.
The Pacers were already without Ivica Zubac and Kobe Brown, who have yet to play since they were acquired from the Los Angeles Clippers on Thursday. Zubac, who was on paternity leave at the time of the trade, is playing through a left ankle injury suffered in December.
“It’s kind of yo-yo’d a little bit,” Carlisle said of Zubac’s injury before Friday’s 105-99 loss to the Milwaukee Bucks. “My understanding from talking to him is that there’s still something there that’s not quite right. We’re not going to put him out there until he’s really ready.”
As eager as Zubac may be to get on the court, Carlisle said they’ll take their time with his return.
“He’s a guy that has played 94 or 95% of his games through his career and I’m presuming that’s because he’s always raring to go through things,” Carlisle said. “That’s not going to be an option here.”
–Field Level Media
Sports
Ski Jumping: Germany’s Raimund soars to gold, Slovenia’s Prevc falls short
Milano Cortina 2026 Olympics – Ski Jumping – Men’s Normal Hill Individual – Final Round – Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium, Predazzo, Italy – February 9, 2026. Philipp Raimund of Germany reacts after his run in the Final Round. PREDAZZO, Italy — Germany’s Philipp Raimund won the gold medal in the men’s normal hill ski jumping event as he soared ahead of Poland’s Kacper Tomasiak at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Monday.
The Pole had to settle for silver, while Japan’s Ren Nikaido and Switzerland’s Gregor Deschwanden shared bronze. Favorite Domen Prevc of Slovenia only managed sixth place.
Raimund claimed the title with a final jump of 106.5 meters as he reached 274.1 points, 3.4 points ahead of Tomasiak, while Nikaido and Deschwanden finished 8.1 points back.
The 25-year-old Raimund fired an early warning on a dark but clear night in the Italian Alps, soaring 102 meters in the first round to earn the final jump of the competition and then handled the pressure to fly to his first Olympic gold.
“I know there’s a lot of pressure from the media and outside but my coach, the whole staff, my girlfriend … they were taking all that off my shoulders so I could just concentrate on myself. I want to say thank you to everybody,” he said.
“I’m extremely proud of myself that I could do two amazing jumps and stand on top at the end.”
The 19-year-old Tomasiak was delighted with second place.
“It is a dream coming true. I wasn’t really expecting that at my first Olympics. I’m a little surprised, but very happy. I jumped really good,” he said.
Gold medal favorite Prevc endured a shaky start, finishing only eighth in the opening round after a 100-metre jump, with the World Cup leader looking disappointed as he realized he had landed too short to mount an early challenge for gold.
His 105-metre second-round jump bumped him briefly into first place but he ended up out of the medals.
“Already the small (normal) hill is difficult for me and there was a bit of back wind but, honestly, after yesterday’s training I did not expect too much,” he told Reuters.
Prevc added that he had approached the competition with the mindset that he would be satisfied with a top-10 finish.
“It’s on one hand success for me, but on the other hand I of course came here to win medals and, yeah, it’s a little bit (of a) salty feeling,” Prevc said.
–Reuters, special to Field Level Media
