Alabama will play the remainder of the 2025-26 season without big man Charles Bediako after a judge denied his motion seeking a preliminary injunction against NCAA eligibility rules. Bediako, who returned to Alabama after signing an NBA contract and playing in the G League, appeared in five games for the Crimson Tide.
Speaking for the first time since the ruling on Monday, Alabama coach Nate Oats weighed in on the decision.
“Super disappointed in the ruling for Charles,” Oats said on Tuesday. “Regardless of the ruling, we are going to continue to support him anyway we possibly can here. With the team, we have to move forward. We played 18 games before he got here. Some real quality wins without him. … Sad situation for him, but we have to move forward and continue to help him however we can.”
Bediako, who played for the Crimson Tide for two seasons before declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft, averaged 10.0 points. 4.6 rebounds and 2.0 blocks in his second stint with the team. Before joining the Crimson Tide, he was a fixture in the G League, playing for the Austin Spurs (San Antonio’s G League affiliate), Grand Rapids Gold, and, most recently, the Motor City Cruise.
Charles Bediako ineligible after judge’s ruling: Why 7-footer’s journey from G League back to Alabama is over
Matt Norlander
With Bediako in the rotation, Alabama went 3-2 with wins over Auburn, Texas A&M and Missouri. Oats defended and doubled down on the decision when asked if it was worth bringing him back to Alabama, despite him playing in just five games.
“There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out,” Oats said. “He was within his five-year window. He’s trying to get his degree. Here’s the thing too. My job as a head coach is to try to do the right thing by our guys. Charles is one of our guys. That was the right thing to do by one of our guys. … We’re going to continue to help his basketball development. We’re going to continue to help his development as a student, as a student-athlete. 100% it was worth it. I would do the same thing 100 times out of 100 for any of our guys.”
With Bediako out, Alabama could rely on Bucknell transfer Noah Williamson for more minutes at the center position. Williamson has appeared in 21 games this season and is averaging just under nine minutes per game. Oats also mentioned the possibility of going with smaller lineups, with Taylor Bol Bowen at center.
“He’s going to need to get back to playing hard and giving us great effort,” Oats said of Williamson. “You look back to what he was able to do in the Kentucky game, when big Aidan [Sherrell] went out with the injury. He’s going to have to give us those types of minutes moving forward. We can also go small.”
Alabama will play its first game without Bediako since the ruling on Wednesday against Ole Miss. The Crimson Tide are on the No. 4 seed line in CBS Sports’ latest Bracketology projections.
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