Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court judge Daniel Pruet denied former G League center Charles Bediako a preliminary injunction on Monday afternoon in his eligibility lawsuit against the NCAA, bringing his season with the Crimson Tide to an end.
Bediako had been granted a temporary restraining order in January by Judge John Roberts that allowed him to play with the Crimson Tide. Roberts then recused himself from the case at the request of Bediako’s attorneys after media reports of Roberts’ ties to Alabama Athletics.
Following a hearing on Friday, Judge Pruet denied Bediako’s motion for a preliminary injunction on Monday, which, if granted, would have allowed him to remain eligible to play with the Crimson Tide.
He appeared in five games under the temporary restraining order, averaging 10 points per game on a 77.3% field goal percentage. During that span, the Crimson Tide went 3-2, including a comeback road win against Auburn.
NCAA President Charlie Baker released a statement Monday evening calling Congress to action and declaring “victory” in the case.
“Common sense won a round today. The court saw this for what it is: an attempt by professionals to pivot back to college and crowd out the next generation of students. College sports are for students, not for people who already walked away to go pro and now want to hit the ‘undo’ button at the expense of a teenager’s dream. While we’re glad the court upheld the rules our members actually want, one win doesn’t fix the national mess of state laws. It’s time for Congress to stop watching from the sidelines and help us provide some actual stability.”
Bediako’s head coach, Nate Oats, said he was “super disappointed” with the ruling.
“I didn’t think it should have gotten to court,” he said on the Hey Coach radio show Monday night.
Oats explained his frustration by citing similar examples of former “professional” players getting opportunities to play in college with no issue from the NCAA.
“I thought the NCAA should have made him eligible 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, like James Nnaji being eligible to play [for Baylor],” he said. “I thought it was kind of a no-brainer with the NCAA. Then I didn’t think it would be that big of an issue.”
Though Bediako’s career is now in a state of flux, Oats said that he will keep him on scholarship as he works toward a degree.
Despite the loss in the courtroom, the Crimson Tide still has a lot of season left to play. With seven regular-season games remaining and an entire postseason ahead, Oats is looking to refocus his team.
“For our whole team, we’ve got to turn our focus back to the guys who are going to be on the floor,” he said. “We’ve got some very capable players who won some big games before Charles got here.”
Alabama’s next test will be Saturday at home against South Carolina, which is sitting at 2-9 in SEC play. The contest is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. CT and can be streamed on SEC Network.
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