Bruce Pearl admonishes Nate Oats for playing 'ineligible player' Charles Bediako: 'I think it was selfish'

Following Monday’s ruling by a Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court judge denying Charles Bediako an injunction in his eligibility case against the NCAA, the backlash was immediate and quickly shifted into a public indictment of Alabama and head coach Nate Oats. The criticism was sharp as rival fans and pundits alike admonished the veteran Crimson Tide coach for playing the 7-foot NBA G-League player over the past two weeks ahead of last Friday’s hearing.

Former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl, now a college basketball analyst on TNT, joined the mix on Tuesday night. During a segment discussing the Bediako ruling, Pearl delivered a severe rebuke of Oats for what he described as a “selfish” decision to play the 23-year-old over Alabama’s last five games, during which the Crimson Tide (16-7, 6-4 SEC) went 3-2.

“Nate said he’d play (Bediako) a 100 times again, what that tells me is Nate doesn’t really care about the SEC, he doesn’t care about the NCAA. And it’s fine, you’re (just) going to care about your student-athletes, that’s fine,” said Pearl, who announced his retirement in late September after spending the last 11 seasons on The Plains. “But you’re a member of this conference, and you’re a member of the NCAA. What about the rest of the teams, what about the rest of the players? Why should those five teams have to play against an ineligible player? I think it was selfish, and I think it was wrong.”

Of course, Bediako was cleared to play after another Tuscaloosa judge granted him a temporary restraining order (TRO) on Jan. 21. That ruling deemed Bediako eligible to play college basketball at Alabama while he awaited a hearing to address his injunction request, which was delayed an additional week due to the winter storms that swept through the Southeast late last month. During that two-week period, Bediako averaged 10 points, 4.6 rebounds and 2 blocks per game in a stretch of games against Tennessee, Missouri, Florida, Texas A&M and rival Auburn. The last two resulted in Crimson Tide victories, during which Bediako combined for 17 points and seven rebounds.

Despite the criticism, Oats made it clear he didn’t regret playing Bediako, and would do so again if presented with a similar situation.

“100%. There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out,” Oats said Tuesday. “He was within his five-year window and he was trying to get his degree. Here’s the thing, too … my job as head coach is to do the right thing by our guys. Charles is one of our guys, and that was the right thing to do by one of our guys. Like I’ve said before, this is not some mercenary deal where we have a 23-year-old coming in for a semester from someone that nobody knows. He was deemed legally eligible to play, and we’re gonna absolutely support him.

“… It would be nice if everybody talking and writing about this actually educated themselves on the reality of the situation,” Oats continued. “The reality is that Charles left here with his body looking good at 235. He went to the G League and you just don’t get the same treatment (as he did at Alabama). … Charles lost weight since going to the G League and his development wasn’t what you think he’d get for being a pro. You’re more of a professional, more able to get your body right in college. He’s here. He’s in school. We’re gonna try and help him gain the weight back that he’s lost and we’re gonna continue to help his basketball development and development as a student-athlete.”

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.