Bediako, a 6-foot-1 center, played for Alabama from 2021 to 2023, entered the NBA Draft after the 2022-23 season and spent two and a half seasons in the G League after going undrafted. After playing for the G League’s Motor City Cruise last Saturday, Bediako sued the NCAA on Tuesday to try to return to the Crimson Tide. A Tuscaloosa Circuit Court judge temporarily acquitted him on Wednesday and scheduled a hearing for Tuesday to discuss his request for a preliminary injunction.
After several coaches, including Florida’s Todd Golden and Kentucky’s Mark Pope, criticized the situation in recent days, Oats defended Bediako and Alabama on Friday.
“The system is clearly broken and I’m all for finding a way to fix it, but since the NCAA has already allowed professionals to play — virtually every team we’ve played, or will play this year, has a former pro player on their roster — you tell me how to tell Charles and the team that we’re not going to support them if he’s deemed legally eligible to play,” he said. “Charles is still within his five-year term. He’s 23 years old. He’s attending college here at Alabama. We have an open roster spot, so this doesn’t take away any opportunity for a high school recruit or anyone else.”
“Charles should not be punished for choosing to take the academic route after high school rather than the professional route, as the international players did.”
While college basketball eligibility rules have been relaxed to allow international professionals and some former G League players to participate in the sport, Bediako would be the first to play in college, leave for the pros and return. And he would be the first to join a college team after previously signing a two-way contract with an NBA team, something NCAA President Charlie Baker has said is a red line when it comes to who is eligible.
“The NCAA has not and will not grant eligibility to prospective or returning student-athletes who have signed an NBA contract (including a two-way contract),” Baker said in a statement on Dec. 30.
The temporary restraining order prohibited the NCAA from imposing sanctions on Bediako or Alabama if he plays for the team.
On Friday, the NCAA met with Division I coaches on the National Association of Basketball Coaches board of directors to discuss the implications of a player returning to college basketball after waiving his eligibility to enter the draft, a person who attended the meeting said. The video call meeting lasted more than an hour and addressed the potential implications of Bediako’s eligibility for the NBA Draft process.
“If these rules surrounding NCAA rules cannot be enforced before and after the draft, it would create an unstable environment for student-athletes, schools drafting next season and the NBA,” said Dan GavittNCAA senior vice president of basketball, in a statement after the meeting.
Illinois coach Brad Underwood told local reporters Friday that he thinks once a player decides to leave college basketball, “you’ve made that choice.”
“He had the choice to go pro because he was talented enough to do so, and he made that choice,” Underwood said. “He was in the college system, the NCAA system, and he chose to leave that. So I think that’s probably the thing that bothers me the most.”
#Illini Brad Underwood was asked about Charles Bediako’s situation in Alabama, and if there is any irritation about Nate Oats bringing him back:
“I’m not placing any blame on any one person or anything, it’s just the constant movement of the goal post.”
“You can challenge anything in court… pic.twitter.com/MaDFZWGSiS
— Tristan Thomas (@TristanThomasTV) January 23, 2026
When asked, Underwood added that he doesn’t blame Oats.
“Every coach tries to be competitive and win,” he said. “I’m not blaming anyone or anything. I think it’s just the constant movement of the goalpost that we have.”
“You can challenge anything in court today and find a judge who will probably give you the answer you want.”
Bediako’s motion to return argued that he would “suffer irreparable harm” if he was not immediately reinstated by the NCAA because of the competitive, financial and educational opportunities he would miss. The complaint stated that Bediako was enrolled at the University of Alabama this semester, and under current eligibility rules, this is the last semester in which he could be eligible to compete because his five-year eligibility period began in 2021.
He averaged 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks per game in his two seasons at Alabama, where he started 67 games.
#Alabama #play #Charles #Bediako #Saturday #court #ruling #NCAA #meets #coaches