TUSCALOOSA, Ala. (AP) \u2014 Charles Bediako will play against Tennessee on Saturday, Alabama coach Nate Oats said Friday, even while calling the NCAA system that allowed professional players to return to college \u201cbroken.\u201d <\/p>\n
\u201cWe are planning to play him,\u201d Oats said. \u201cHe\u2019s eligible to play. We\u2019re going to follow the court orders.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 23-year-old Bediako practiced with the 17th-ranked Crimson Tide a day after a judge in Tuscaloosa temporarily reinstated the player\u2019s college eligibility<\/a> and blocked the NCAA from retaliating for his return.<\/p>\n Bediako entered the NBA draft in 2023 but was not selected. The 7-footer has signed several NBA developmental contracts since, including playing for the Motor City Cruise in the NBA\u2019s G League as recently as last week.<\/p>\n Dan Gavitt, the NCAA\u2019s senior vice president of basketball, issued a statement Friday reiterating the sanctioning body\u2019s rule that says anyone who remains in the NBA draft past a certain date \u2014 as Bediako did \u2014 forfeits his remaining college eligibility.<\/p>\n \u201c(If those rules) cannot be enforced, it would create an unstable environment for the student-athletes, schools building a roster for the following season and the NBA,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n Bediako spent two seasons (2021-23) at Alabama, averaging 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, and helped the Crimson Tide make the NCAA Tournament twice. He sued the NCAA earlier this week in hopes of having his college eligibility reinstated. The NCAA denied Alabama\u2019s initial petition.<\/p>\n But James H. Roberts Jr. of the Tuscaloosa Circuit Court granted Bediako a temporary restraining order Thursday and said he is \u201cimmediately eligible\u201d to participate in all team activities. Roberts also ruled the NCAA is \u201crestrained from threatening, imposing, attempting to impose, suggesting or implying any penalties or sanctions\u201d against Bediako, the Crimson Tide or its coaches and players.<\/p>\n The temporary order is valid for 10 days. A full hearing on Bediako\u2019s request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Tuesday.<\/p>\n \u201cFirst of all, the system\u2019s clearly broken,\u201d Oats said. \u201cI\u2019m all for figuring out a way to fix it. But since the NCAA has already allowed professionals to play \u2026 you tell me how I\u2019m supposed to tell Charles and the team that we\u2019re gonna not support them when he\u2019s been deemed legally eligible to play.\u201d<\/p>\n Oats pointed to Baylor\u2019s James Nnaji as the catalyst for the decision to bring Bediako back. Nnaji also was part of the 2023 NBA draft and selected 31st overall by Detroit. He never signed an NBA contract and has spent the last few seasons playing for FC Barcelona of the EuroLeague. He was granted eligibility in December to play for Baylor.<\/p>\n \u201cI know they\u2019re trying to make a differentiation between Charles and some other cases,\u201d Oats said. \u201cNot sure how you tell a guy that\u2019s played four years in the EuroLeague, which is a lot higher level than the G League, that he\u2019s eligible to come and because Charles chose to go to an academic institution to start with, and other players chose to go the professional route, that Charles is going to get punished.<\/p>\n \u201cReally what it does, it gives very preferential treatment to the international players and penalizes American players for choosing to go to an academic and we are in the NCAA, which is a conglomeration of academic institutions.\u201d<\/p>\n Fellow NCAA coaches questioned Alabama\u2019s decision to welcome Bediako back and the judge\u2019s decision to grant the TRO.<\/p>\n Florida coach Todd Golden called Roberts an Alabama booster during the school\u2019s weekly radio show Thursday night and ended his response with \u201cWe\u2019ll beat \u2018em anyways.\u201d Alabama visits No. 16 Florida on Feb. 1.<\/p>\n \u201cI do think it\u2019s positive that there\u2019s a lot of discussions about it right now,\u201d Golden said Friday. \u201cWe do need some intervention\/someone to say, \u2018Hey, this is why it\u2019s OK; this is why it\u2019s not OK.\u2019 Right now, we\u2019re just kind of sitting in no-man\u2019s land, and everybody has their opinions but feels like they can\u2019t do anything because a judge ruled this \u2014 in Tuscaloosa, which is kind of crazy to me that he can impact what the NCAA does with their organization, what the SEC does with their conference. I think that\u2019s dangerous.\u201d<\/p>\n Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was equally clear about where he stands heading into Saturday\u2019s road game.<\/p>\n \u201cWhen you make the choice to give up your college eligibility, you\u2019ve given it up,\u201d Barnes said. \u201cAnd I don\u2019t care if it\u2019s someone that has been in the service, come back. Once they start that clock and they make that choice, they\u2019ve made that choice.\u201d<\/p>\n ___<\/p>\n Get poll alerts and updates on the AP Top 25 throughout the season. Sign up here<\/a> and here<\/a> (AP News mobile app). AP college basketball: https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/ap-top-25-college-basketball-poll<\/a> and https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/college-basketball<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"TUSCALOOSA, Ala. 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