Charles Bediako was deemed ineligible again on Monday, five games after he was granted a temporary restraining order to return to Alabama from the G League.
Even though he only got Charles Bediako for five games, Alabama head coach Nate Oats doesn’t have any regrets.
Getting their former center back for just a little bit before he was ruled ineligible again on Monday, Oats said, was “100%” worth it.
“I would do the same thing 100 times out of 100 for any of our guys it would have made sense to do it with," Oats said, via AL.com’s Nick Kelly.
Bediako filed a lawsuit against the NCAA in order to return to Alabama this season, where he last played during the 2022-23 campaign. The 7-footer entered the NBA Draft in 2023, though he wasn’t selected, and has been bouncing around the G League ever since. He even appeared in games for the Motor City Cruise this season.
But Bediako was granted a temporary restraining order in January that allowed him to take the court again with the Crimson Tide. He made his return a few days later, and ended up playing in five games. Alabama went 3-2 with him in the court, and he averaged 10 points and 4.6 rebounds over that span.
But on Monday, a judge overruled the temporary restraining order that Bediako was granted. That made him immediately ineligible again, and likely ended his college career for good. The judge who originally granted the temporary restraining order was removed from the case, too, after revelations that he was an active donor to Alabama athletics.
It’s unclear if Bediako will attempt to fight the case further, considering that Alabama only has eight games left in the regular season. His attorney, however, slammed the ruling.
Deeply disappointed in the Tuscaloosa court’s denial of Charles Bediako’s request for an injunction against the NCAA. This ruling ignores that an athlete’s NIL value is directly tied to his ability to play, overlooks that NCAA rules do not distinguish between athletes with prior…
— Darren Heitner (@heitner) February 10, 2026
Though it didn’t work out for him, and there has been plenty of criticism with the players who are trying to make a return to college basketball after playing professionally in some fashion elsewhere, Oats didn’t hesitate to help Bediako.
"There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out,” Oats said. “He was within his five year window. He's trying to get his degree. Here's the thing too. My job as a head coach is to try to do the right thing by our guys. Charles is one of our guys. That was the right thing to do by one of our guys.
“Like I've said before, this is not some mercenary deal with a 23 year old coming in for a semester that nobody knows. He was deemed legally eligible to play. We're going to absolutely support him.”
Oats: There’s a reason G League players come back to college
Bediako wasn’t the only player trying to make it back to college. Baylor signed former NBA Draft pick James Nnaji in December. He was the first former draft pick to be cleared to play at the college level, though Nnaji never played in an NBA game and was instead with FC Barcelona for years. At least two other G League players are set to play in college next season, too.
The reason for that, Oats said, is simple — and Bediako was a perfect example of the issue.
“There's a reason ... there's a lot of G League players trying to come back to college,” Oats said. “The money's a lot better. The development is a lot better. You get a full time dietician, full time strength coach, you're not traveling on commercial flights, spending all your time in airports, not being able to develop.
“Charles actually has lost weight since he went to the G League. His development wasn't what you would think being a pro. You're more of a professional able to focus on getting your body right in college. He's here. He's in school. We're going to help him try to gain weight back he's lost since he was in the G League. We're going to continue to help his basketball development. We're going to continue to help his development as a student, as a student-athlete.”
But now, barring some late, quick appeal, Alabama will have to play out the rest of the season without Bediako.
The Crimson Tide hold a 16-7 record entering Wednesday’s game at Ole Miss, which has them in fifth in the SEC standings. Though both the NCAA and even SEC commissioner Greg Sankey were against Bediako making a return, Alabama was naturally upset.
"We are disappointed in today's court ruling denying the injunction for Charles Bediako," Alabama said in a statement on Monday. "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."
Category: General Sports
