Former UCLA guard Amari Bailey is attempting to become the first player to return to college basketball after playing in NBA games.
Bailey averaged 11.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 2.2 assists per game for UCLA during the 2022-23 season. He then entered the NBA Draft and was taken 41st overall by the Charlotte Hornets.
In 10 NBA games, Bailey averaged 2.3 points per game and shot 12.5% from the three-point line.
Here is an excerpt from ESPN:
He said he started to explore a return to college earnestly in 2025 but has wondered whether there was a way back to the NCAA since the day he was drafted in 2023. He said he made some mistakes as an 18-year-old freshman and left UCLA with “a lot to prove left on the table.”
“Right now I’d be a senior in college,” Bailey told 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?”
