TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) — An Alabama circuit judge on Monday denied Alabama basketball player Charles Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction, ending the 7-foot center's collegiate eligibility and his season with the Crimson Tide.
County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet cited that Bediako “failed to demonstrate that he is entitled to the injunctive relief that he seeks,” according to court documents.
Bediako was playing under a temporary restraining order that allowed the former NBA G League player to join Alabama in the middle of the season despite questions regarding his collegiate eligibility.
NCAA President Charlie Baker said in a statement that he was glad the court “upheld the rules of our members.”
“Common sense won a round today," Baker said. "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. 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.”
Alabama said it was disappointed in the ruling and called for consistency from NCAA decision-makers.
“We are disappointed in today’s court ruling, denying the injunction for Charles Bediako," the school said in a statement. "While we understand the concern around competitive and developmental implications of former professional athletes participating in college, it is important to acknowledge reality. The NCAA has granted eligibility to over 100 current men’s basketball players with prior professional experience in the G League or overseas. Granting eligibility to some former professionals, and not to others, is what creates the havoc we are currently in and why consistency from decision-makers is so desperately needed.”
The 23-year-old Bediako was averaging 10 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in five games Alabama went 3-2 in those games.
Attorneys for both sides — Bediako and the NCAA — argued their cases Friday. Bediako sued college basketball’s sanctioning body in an effort to regain eligibility despite leaving Alabama for the NBA draft in 2023, signing a two-way NBA contract and playing the last three seasons in the developmental G League.
Bediako spent two seasons (2021-23) at Alabama, averaging 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, and helped the Crimson Tide make the NCAA Tournament twice. He wasn’t selected in the 2023 draft, but he played for the Motor City Cruise in the NBA’s G League as recently as mid-January.
His lawyers argued that Bediako remains within his five-year college eligibility window. The NCAA denied Alabama’s initial petition, and NCAA President Charlie Baker and SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey have made it clear they are opposed to Bediako’s reinstatement.
Crimson Tide coach Nate Oats said Friday that, regardless of the outcome of the case, Bediako will be allowed to remain on scholarship and work toward a college degree.
Alabama (16-7, 6-4 Southeastern Conference), which faces Mississippi on Tuesday, did not immediately comment on the court decision.
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Alabama center Charles Bediako (14) jumps to block Florida center Rueben Chinyelu, left, during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game, Sunday, Feb. 1, 2026, in Gainesville, Fla. (AP Photo/Noah Lantor)
HONG KONG (AP) — The deadliest fire in Hong Kong in decades last year left thousands of residents without some of their friends, family or the place they called home. More than two months later, the occupants of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex are not only waiting for answers about what happened, but longing for a new place.
Authorities are yet to unveil plans for long-term resettlement after surveying the residents' preferences. The Lunar New Year on Feb. 17, meanwhile, is stirring recent memories of celebrating the festival in what is now a largely burnt complex.
The massive blaze that engulfed seven apartment buildings killed 168 people on Nov. 26, 2025, shattering a close-knit community. Authorities blamed substandard scaffolding netting and foam boards from the buildings maintenance project for rapidly spreading the fire. Although some arrests were made, an independent committee is still investigating the cause.
The Associated Press talked to four families who lived in the complex or lost their loved ones there. Here’s what they said:
When flames devoured towers of the Wang Fuk Court complex, Pearl Chow, 87, fled her apartment with essential documents, like her title deed. Her grandson, Dorz Cheung, 33, rushed from his office to find her safe nearby, but the fire was raging.
That night, Chow went to a friend’s home and didn’t sleep, while Cheung watched the flames for hours, crying while clutching his friend. They both miss old photos lost in their home in Tai Po, a suburban district in the city's north.
Now they are separated into two temporary housing units on separate floors, each around 100 square feet (9.2 square meters). Chow was satisfied, but Cheung couldn’t call it home.
“Only permanent residence is called home. That’s the root,” he said.
Chow still regularly returns to Tai Po for church and grocery shopping, despite the hourlong journey. They want to be resettled in Tai Po, where they lived for decades, in a unit about the same size as their old apartment.
“I am an elderly person. When they finish building, I may have gone to my heavenly home,” she said with a laugh.
Data from the 2021 population census showed over one-third of some 4,600 residents in the complex were aged 65 or above.
While the government proposed measures to combat bid-rigging in building maintenance and enhance fire safety in January, Cheung feels their resettlement hasn't been addressed. He said he lost his sense of security with the authorities after the blaze.
“We can only wait, be tossed around like a ball,” he said.
Kit Chan, 74, lived in her 460-square-foot (43-square-meter) apartment for over 40 years and raised her children with her husband in the complex, where neighbors helped look after each other’s children.
Chan had planned to spend the rest of her life there, but the blaze forced the couple into a studio unit at a youth hostel half the size of their apartment. Weeks ago, they heard some fire victims were asked to move out, and that distressed her.
“It’s like being unable to get by in my final years,” she said.
She hasn’t been asked to leave, but is uncertain how long they can stay.
Chan initially wanted to be resettled in a new home built on the fire site, but the government estimates rebuilding will take about a decade — too long for her to wait. She can compromise on a similar-sized apartment in another district with good transport.
Her husband, Keung Mak, 78, hopes they can return to their old home just to have a look. It has memories like their family and wedding photos. “Many people hope they can at least see how badly it was burned,” Mak said.
During past Lunar New Year celebrations, Isaac Tam’s family used to visit neighbors on their floor with gifts. Now, the familiar faces he has known for years are scattered across the city.
The loss of their two apartments in the fire was heartbreaking. His parents cried, and his 92-year-old grandfather grew thinner. But Tam, 23, said at least all his family members were alive.
Last weekend, they were preparing to move into temporary homes, smaller than their old apartments and farther from the city center. They shelled out money to renovate them.
While he said the government’s handling is not as bad as some say, he still worries about his grandfather adjusting to a new district with temporary housing. Back in Tai Po, the grandfather used to have a morning dim sum routine with his friends.
As they await the government's resettlement plans, they have been weighing apartments in another district that will be ready sooner than units in Tai Po, which he prefers because he grew up there.
Time is their priority, given the grandfather's age, Tam said.
“I also fear he can’t wait until we secure an apartment of about 400 square feet (about 37 square meters),” he said, regardless of the district.
Phyllis Lo’s mother called her after seeing thick smoke outside her door when the blaze started. On the call, knowing she might not survive, her 74-year-old mother asked Lo, 48, and her brother to live well. Lo immediately rushed to her childhood home and called again minutes later. No one answered. The next morning, police told her they found her mother's body.
After learning that a mix of issues including substandard materials were used in the building maintenance project and failed fire alarms, Lo wondered if the tragedy could have been avoided if each government department had done a better job. While she couldn't determine who should bear responsibility, she blamed herself for not monitoring the project for her mother more closely.
What bothers her most is the lack of transparency — when she can see her burnt apartment, how authorities will use the $589 million relief fund. She hopes to get updates from the nine-month investigation.
She wants her childhood home rebuilt at the fire site, but considers the proposed timeline of about a decade unreasonably long.
As the Lunar New Year neared, Lo made turnip cakes — a tradition she inherited from her mother. “Maybe she is still everywhere and still seeing us now. I really want to be with her,” she said in tears.
In an emailed reply to The Associated Press' questions, the government said it attached great importance to the residents' long-term accommodation arrangements and had already received survey replies from over 95% of the homeowners. It did not give a timeline but said its task force is analyzing their preferences and that the government will announce the plans after finalizing them.
Jack Rozdilsky, professor of disaster and emergency management at York University in Canada, said the city is moving to a disaster recovery phase and noted that concrete plans for continuous mental health and trauma coping aid play a key role in long-term success for any resettlement measure.
Rozdilsky saw the community survey on resettlement as a good sign because a one-size-fits-all proposal will not satisfy the households.
While rebuilding living spaces is complicated, he said, reconstructing a community is much harder. He said understanding what promoted community at the housing complex before the fire and incorporating those features — be it a bus stop or a gathering point in a park — would help.
“Very small things matter,” he said.
A pedestrian walks past the fire-ravaged residential towers of the Wang Fuk Court apartment complex, in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Phyllis Lo, daughter of one of the victims killed by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, reacts during an interview at her house in Hong Kong, Friday, Feb. 6, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Lunar New Year's Fai Chun are hanged outisde the room of Dorz Cheung, a resident displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Pearl Chow, a resident displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire, cooks a plate of dumplings at the transitional housing provided by the government, in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Transitional housing provided by the government, in Kai Tak district of Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
Pearl Chow, left, and Dorz Cheung, residents displaced by the deadly Wang Fuk Court fire speak during the interview at the transitional housing provided by the government in Hong Kong, Monday, Feb. 2, 2026. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei)
FILE - Smoke rises after a fire broke out at Wang Fuk Court, a residential estate in the Tai Po district of Hong Kong's New Territories, Nov. 26 2025. (AP Photo/Chan Long Hei, File)
