The NCAA has finally made a concrete decision on Charles Bediako. The Alabama star’s fate hung by a thread after continuing to-and-fro between Bediako, the judges, and the NCAA. Bediako was initially granted eligibility and given a temporary restraining order to play for Nate Oats’ Alabama. However, the judge who ruled in Bediako’s favor was an Alabama donor and an alumnus of the school.
This created a conflict of interest, and Judge James Roberts eventually recused himself. However, Bediako was already back to complete his graduation from Alabama. Oats was in full support of his player and wanted him to continue building and growing his basketball career. After Bediako played five games, a new judge was appointed to this case, and his ruling was the opposite of what Nate Oats and the former G-League player hoped for.
County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet ruled that the 7’0 center, Charles Bediako, will no longer be eligible to play in college basketball. The ruling said that Bediako failed to demonstrate that he is entitled to the injunctive relief that he seeks in accordance with the court documents. Alabama head coach Nate Oats was obviously distraught after this update.
Oats sounded off with a detailed rant about the entire situation, saying:
“100%. There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out. He was within his five-year window. He’s trying to get his degree. Here’s the thing. 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.”
“Like I’ve said before, this is not some mercenary deal with a 23-year-old coming in for a semester that nobody knows. He was deemed legally eligible to play. We’re going to absolutely support him. One of the ironic statements in the affidavit Sankey put was how much of a disadvantage it is to go be a pro and not have to focus on your college. It’s not the case,” he added.
“It would be nice if everybody who’s commenting, writing, talking about this, actually educated themselves on the reality of the situation. The reality of the situation is that Charles left here with his body looking pretty good at 235. He went to the G League. You don’t get the same treatment you do. There’s a reason … there’s a lot of G League players trying to come back to college,” Oats continued.
The Alabama head coach added:
“The money’s a lot better. The development is a lot better. You get a full-time dietician, full-time strength coach, you’re not traveling on commercial flights, spending all your time in airports, not being able to develop. Charles actually has lost weight since he went to the G League. His development wasn’t what you would think being a pro. You’re more of a professional, able to focus on getting your body right in college.”
“He’s here. He’s in school. We’re going to help him try to gain weight back he’s lost since he was in the G League. 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, it would have made sense to do it with,” he concluded.
Fans React to Nate Oats’ Response To Charles Bediako Losing NCAA Eligibility
Fans were happy with the NCAA’s decision, and they certainly did not like how Nate Oats reacted to the fiasco.
“He’s so full of sh*t. Let’s see if the loser actually stays at school now that he can’t scam the system,” one fan used aggressive words.
“Take the money out of it and look at all the things he just listed that college athletes get. They don’t need pay. They’re spoiled before they get a cent. No professional player should ever want to go back to college. It’s the same reason men wanna play women’s sports,” one fan claimed.
“Of course it was worth it. Those three wins are the difference between an NCAA bid or one to the NIT,” another commented.
“By bringing in Bediako, Oats squandered a lot of time that could have been using to develop his big man rotation,” another said.
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