Nate Oats Sounds Off on Charles Bediako Ruling, Blasts NCAA Over Eligibility Inconsistencies
Alabama head coach Nate Oats didn’t hold back this week when asked about the NCAA’s decision to deny Charles Bediako’s eligibility, calling out what he sees as glaring inconsistencies in how the governing body applies its rules.
Bediako, a former G-League center, had been suiting up for the Crimson Tide while his eligibility case played out in court. But that came to a halt on Monday when a judge denied his request for a temporary injunction, officially ending his season-and his college career-with Alabama. The ruling means the Tide will be without Bediako for the first time in five games when they hit the road to face Ole Miss on Wednesday.
Speaking with Crimson Tide Sports Network’s Chris Stewart, Oats didn’t mince words.
“I don’t think it should’ve ever got to court,” Oats said. “The NCAA should’ve made him eligible based on 100 current college basketball players-former professionals, most of them over in Europe, some in the G-League, guys being drafted, rights being owned by NBA teams, as in James Nnaji being eligible to play. I thought it was kind of a no-brainer by the NCAA.”
That’s a strong statement, but it’s not coming out of left field. Oats is pointing to what many coaches and players around the country have been murmuring for a while now: the NCAA’s eligibility decisions often feel like a moving target.
In Bediako’s case, Oats is saying the precedent was there-other players with similar or even more complex professional backgrounds have been cleared to play. So why not Bediako?
It’s a fair question, especially considering how frequently the NCAA has been forced to adjust its stance in recent years-often under legal pressure. And Oats made it clear he believes the courts should’ve stepped in here, too.
“The NCAA hasn’t really changed much without courts forcing them to change,” Oats said, underscoring a broader frustration that extends beyond just this case.
He went on to say that Bediako’s legal team had a strong argument, and that the inconsistency in how rules are applied should’ve been enough to sway the decision.
“To me, the NCAA’s point of why Charles shouldn’t be eligible was all these rules that they have, but they’re not applying those rules to all these other players they’ve made eligible,” Oats said.
That’s the crux of the issue. It’s not just about Bediako-it’s about the system.
Coaches, players, and fans are left trying to make sense of rulings that often seem arbitrary. And when a player like Bediako, who followed a path that others have taken before him, gets denied, it raises questions about fairness and transparency in the process.
For Alabama, the focus now turns to the court. They’re entering a pivotal stretch of SEC play without a key piece of their frontcourt rotation.
But the conversation sparked by Bediako’s case isn’t going away anytime soon. As college basketball continues to evolve-with more players coming from professional pipelines, and legal challenges reshaping the landscape-expect more scrutiny on how eligibility decisions are made and who gets to make them.
Oats made his stance clear: the rules need to be applied evenly. Until then, stories like Bediako’s will continue to stir debate across the sport.