NCAA Tournament selection committee chair explains impact of Charles Bediako's eligibility on Alabama's seeding

When the NCAA Tournament selection committee revealed its Top 16 seeds as of Saturday morning, Alabama was not on the list. Chairman Keith Gill said the Crimson Tide just missed out and would be a No. 5 seed, but he added Charles Bediako’s eligibility was not much of a factor.

Bediako received immediate eligibility as a result of a judge’s order last month, despite playing in an NBA G-League game weeks earlier. He argued he was still within his five-year eligibility window and was granted an order that allowed him to play for Alabama despite going undrafted in 2023. A judge later ruled he no longer could play for the Crimson Tide.

Alabama had a 3-2 record with Bediako in the lineup. But Gill said as the committee looked at the big picture, his addition likely didn’t make as much of an impact as some injuries across college basketball did. That said, it was a point of discussion.

“We certainly talked about it a lot,” Gill said on the CBS reveal show. “They were 3-2 with Bediako, 16-5 without him. We didn’t necessarily apply, like, a material change to that just because it seemed like it wasn’t as impactful as maybe some of the other injuries may or may not be.”

Bediako averaged 10.0 points and 4.6 rebounds across his five appearances while shooting 77.3% from the field. After he received immediate eligibility, there were questions about how his return to college basketball could impact NCAA Tournament seeding – for both Alabama and the teams the Crimson Tide played during that span.

However, per the terms of the TRO issued by a judge in the state of Alabama, the NCAA is not able to punish the Crimson Tide for putting Charles Bediako into games. But when it’s time to evaluate Alabama’s seeding for the NCAA Tournament, Gill said earlier this week the committee would not adjust its process. That means the Tide will not receive any punishment for allowing Bediako to play.

“Those games do count,” Gill said Thursday, via ESPN’s Jeff Borzello. “You have to decide how you’re going to count them. The committee will apply our normal player availability process.”

When it comes to handling eligibility cases, though, there are questions about potential future punishments. Ross Dellenger reported Thursday that the NCAA could invoke a nearly 51-year-old rule, which would impact multiple teams.

But NCAA senior vice president for basketball Dan Gavitt said the committee does not have anything to do with eligibility issues. Instead, its focus is to look at what happened on the court.

“That’s not the basketball committee’s role,” Gavitt said, via CBS Sports’ Matt Norlander. “The role is to evaluate these teams from a competitive standpoint and bracket and seed accordingly.”