Oats Confirms That Bediako Will Play Saturday Against Tennessee

Alabama Basketball has been the talk of the College sports scene for the past week, since former G-League player Charles Bediako’s controversial ruling, in which he was granted a 10-day temporary restraining order on Wednesday after suing the NCAA on Tuesday.

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The Crimson Tide’s head coach, Nate Oats, spoke to the media today in his pregame press conference ahead of Alabama’s conference matchup against Tennessee on Saturday, where Oats confirmed that Bediako will be playing against the Volunteers on Saturday.

Oats shared his thoughts on the new controversial rule in the NCAA which is allowing Professional and G-League players to play in College Basketball, and how he thinks the rule has broke the system, but at the same times he also states that every team is doing it so why should Alabama be the golden standard when they have a talented player like Bediako available to play.

“First of all, the system is clearly broken. I'm all for figuring out a way to fix it. But since the NCAA has already allowed professionals to play, virtually every team that we've played this year, or will play, has a former professional player on their roster." Oats added, "You tell me how I'm supposed to tell Charles and the team that we're not gonna support them when he's been deemed legally eligible to play.”

Oats went on to touch on Bediako’s situation, touching on his age and how he is still within the five-year window that the NCAA has set, and that Bediako didn’t take up any high school recruits roster spots, with Oats stating that the Tide still had an open roster spot going into the season.

“Charles is still within his five-year window. He's 23 years old. He's pursuing his degree here at Alabama. We've got a roster spot open, so this is not taking any opportunities away from a high school recruit or anybody else." Oats said, "Charles shouldn't be punished for choosing to go the academic route out of high school rather than the professional route like the international players did.”

Alabama’s head coach spoke on his opinion on the rule and what he would like to see the NCAA implement in the future.

“Again, my personal opinion on all of this is we need a uniform and transparent system that doesn't punish the Americans, that takes the hypocrisy out of it, that gives equal treatment to Americans and international players both while also allowing high school players the opportunities they need coming out of school.” Oats added, “Someone should be able to come up with a system that checks all of those boxes. But for now, we're gonna continue to support Charles, our team, and we're working closely with our administration and our compliance department on all of this. That's what I've got on that.”

Bediako will have a preliminary injection hearing next Tuesday to determine whether he can continue playing with the Crimson Tide beyond his temporary window.

Alabama will face off against Tennessee on Saturday at Coleman Coliseum, where Bediako will make his first appearance in Crimson since 2023, when he helped lead the Crimson Tide to its first of three consecutive Sweet 16 appearances.

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