Todd Golden on Charles Bediako ruling: 'The right decision was made'

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet ruled against Alabama center Charles Bediako in his eligibility case versus the NCAA on Monday after Friday morning’s injunction hearing. Bediako was seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief after the NCAA previously ruled the former NBA G League player ineligible to return to college basketball last month.

With this decision coming down, Bediako’s season effectively comes to an end. He appeared in five games (3-2 record), where he averaged 10.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks. One of those losses came on the road at No. 19 Florida on Feb. 1. The Gators blew out Alabama 100-77 in Gainesville, days after Todd Golden stated they would beat the Crimson Tide whether or not Bediako played.

“We’re going to beat them anyway,” Golden said via Gator Talk. “If he plays, we’ll beat them anyway.”

In the aftermath of Bediako being ruled ineligible for the remainder of the season, Golden claimed that the ‘right decision was made’ on Tuesday.

“It was not something I was worried about or thinking about a whole lot,” he said. “It’s the right call. I do have some sympathy for him independently for going through everything that he’s been having to deal with over these last couple of weeks, but I do think at the end of the day, the right decision was made.”

Nate Oats expresses displeasure with Charles Bediako ruling

Alabama head coach Nate Oats was ‘super disappointed’ with the news, as he revealed on Wednesday night’s edition of ‘Hey Coach‘.

“Obviously, super disappointed,” Oats said. “Disappointed in the whole thing, to be honest with you. I didn’t think it ever should have gotten to court. I thought the NCAA should have made him eligible. That’s based on over a hundred current college basketball players — former professionals, most of them over in Europe. Some in the G-League. Guys being drafted. Rights owned by NBA teams, as in James Nnaji being eligible to play.

“So, I thought it was kind of a no-brainer with the NCAA. And then I didn’t think it would be that big of an issue. The NCAA hasn’t really changed much without courts forcing them to change. So, I thought the courts would see the inconsistencies in the rulings and agree with Charles’ attorneys.

“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. To me, it was very disappointing in the whole case. Disappointing for Charles.”

Alabama currently sits at 16-7 (6-4) on the season. It has eight games remaining in Southeastern Conference play.