The reassigned judge in Charles Bediako’s NCAA eligibility case is also presiding over the capital murder trial of former Alabama teammate Darius Miles.
Charles Bediako’s case against the NCAA continues on, but with a new judge after James Roberts recused himself from the eligibility lawsuit after his donations to Alabama were made public last week.
On Tuesday night, after Bediako was granted an extension to his TRO for ten more days following NCAA attorneys not being able to make it to Tuscaloosa for a hearing earlier that morning, the organization filed a motion to have Judge Roberts recuse himself from the case.
This motion came almost a week after public records showed that the presiding judge had been a donor to Alabama athletics in recent years.
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On the Crimson Tide Foundations Website, Judge Roberts and his wife Mary Turner Roberts are currently listed as donors to the athletic department, having given between $100,000 and $249,000 over the course of their lifetimes.
In their filing, the NCAA mentioned that while they did not think there was any bias shown towards Bediako, the attention Judge Roberts’ donations had garnered put the court in a tricky situation.
“The NCAA has faith in the judicial process and does not currently contend the Court has an actual bias, partiality, or prejudice. Similarly, the NCAA does not allege that any actual bias motivated the Court’s granting of a temporary restraining order,” the motion reads in part. “Instead, the NCAA contends that proceeding in this Court has created an impermissible appearance of impropriety because of the intense media scrutiny and public speculation surrounding the Court’s relationship with the University of Alabama and its athletics programs and student-athletes.”
There was some thought that Judge Roberts would not recuse himself from the case, but that changed on Wednesday morning in a court filing.
New Judge Assigned To The Case Also Presiding Over Darius Miles Capital Murder Trial
Following the motion being granted, Tuscaloosa Circuit Court judge Allen May made the decision to reassign the case to Danial Pruet.
According to the Alabama State Bar website, Pruet did not attend law school at Alabama.
“Daniel received his Bachelor of Arts in English and History from The University of Alabama and graduating cum laude from Thomas Goode Jones School of Law. He was the managing editor for the Law Review and recipient of the Ronald A. Canty Memorial Scholarship and the Justice Scholarship. He won first place in the J. Greg Allen Trial Competition and was a regional semi-finalist in the ATLA National Trial Competition.”
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So, for the NCAA’s peace of mind, I would imagine they are satisfied that Judge Pruet did not attend law school at Alabama, even though he received his Bachelors degree from the school. Honestly, it’s hard to find a judge in Tuscaloosa that did not attend the University of Alabama.
It should also be noted that attorneys representing Bediako did not object to Judge Roberts recusing himself from the case.
Before being granted a TRO, Charles Bediako was playing in the NBA’s G-League, most recently hitting the court on January 17, which was just one week before playing for Alabama against Tennessee this past weekend.
“Charles has done nothing wrong. Charles and his agent and his attorneys have seen what’s gone on in the landscape of college basketball, and they didn’t see a reason why Charles wouldn’t be eligible,” Alabama’s Nate Oats said Monday.
But, there is an interesting wrinkle in this new assignment. The new judge, Daniel Pruet, is also presiding over the capital murder trial of Bediako’s former teammate, Darius Miles.
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As you can tell, it’s hard to put distance between other cases within Tuscaloosa.
Now, we wait to see what Judge Daniel Pruett will do when both sides gather in a courtroom in the very near future to argue over a preliminary injunction that would allow Bediako to finish out the 2025-2026 season with Alabama.
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