No. 17 Alabama plans to play 7-footer Charles Bediako, who turned pro in 2023, against Tennessee

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — Charles Bediako will play against Tennessee on Saturday, Alabama coach Nate Oats said Friday, even while calling the NCAA system that allowed professional players to return to college ''broken.''

''We are planning to play him,'' Oats said. ''He's eligible to play. We're going to follow the court orders.''

The 23-year-old Bediako practiced with the 17th-ranked Crimson Tide a day after a judge in Tuscaloosa temporarily reinstated the player's college eligibility and blocked the NCAA from retaliating for his return.

Bediako entered the NBA draft in 2023 but was not selected. The 7-footer has signed several NBA developmental contracts since, including playing for the Motor City Cruise in the NBA's G League as recently as last week.

Dan Gavitt, the NCAA's senior vice president of basketball, issued a statement Friday reiterating the sanctioning body's rule that says anyone who remains in the NBA draft past a certain date — as Bediako did — forfeits his remaining college eligibility.

''(If those rules) cannot be enforced, it would create an unstable environment for the student-athletes, schools building a roster for the following season and the NBA,'' he added.

Bediako spent two seasons (2021-23) at Alabama, averaging 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks, and helped the Crimson Tide make the NCAA Tournament twice. He sued the NCAA earlier this week in hopes of having his college eligibility reinstated. The NCAA denied Alabama's initial petition.

The temporary order is valid for 10 days. A full hearing on Bediako's request for a preliminary injunction is scheduled for Tuesday.

''First of all, the system's clearly broken,'' Oats said. ''I'm all for figuring out a way to fix it. But since the NCAA has already allowed professionals to play … you tell me how I'm supposed to tell Charles and the team that we're gonna not support them when he's been deemed legally eligible to play.''

Oats pointed to Baylor's James Nnaji as the catalyst for the decision to bring Bediako back. Nnaji also was part of the 2023 NBA draft and selected 31st overall by Detroit. He never signed an NBA contract and has spent the last few seasons playing for FC Barcelona of the EuroLeague. He was granted eligibility in December to play for Baylor.

''I know they're trying to make a differentiation between Charles and some other cases,'' Oats said. ''Not sure how you tell a guy that's played four years in the EuroLeague, which is a lot higher level than the G League, that he's eligible to come and because Charles chose to go to an academic institution to start with, and other players chose to go the professional route, that Charles is going to get punished.

''Really what it does, it gives very preferential treatment to the international players and penalizes American players for choosing to go to an academic and we are in the NCAA, which is a conglomeration of academic institutions.''

Florida coach Todd Golden called Roberts an Alabama booster during the school's weekly radio show Thursday night and ended his response with ''We'll beat 'em anyways.'' Alabama visits No. 16 Florida on Feb. 1.

''I do think it's positive that there's a lot of discussions about it right now," Golden said Friday. "We do need some intervention/someone to say, ‘Hey, this is why it's OK; this is why it's not OK.' Right now, we're just kind of sitting in no-man's land, and everybody has their opinions but feels like they can't do anything because a judge ruled this — in Tuscaloosa, which is kind of crazy to me that he can impact what the NCAA does with their organization, what the SEC does with their conference. I think that's dangerous.''

Tennessee coach Rick Barnes was equally clear about where he stands heading into Saturday's road game.

''When you make the choice to give up your college eligibility, you've given it up,'' Barnes said. ''And I don't care if it's someone that has been in the service, come back. Once they start that clock and they make that choice, they've made that choice.''

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