Auburn coach Steven Pearl is the latest coach to discuss Charles Bediako becoming immediately eligible to play for Alabama again.
Pearl joined WJOX on Thursday morning and said it’s “the landscape of where we’re at right now.”
“It’s a slippery slope,” he said. “I’ve got to be careful with my comments because I don’t know if the young man from Alabama is playing this weekend. I know he’s eligible to play. I don’t want to put one foot in front of the other … based on the rules we are given, or lack thereof, coaches are going to do what they have to do in order to win basketball games. I totally understand that.”
Pearl said that doesn’t make it right or wrong.
“I think people are just trying to get a competitive advantage where they can,” Pearl said.
The former Alabama center was granted a temporary restraining order Wednesday morning, giving him immediate eligibility to participate in all Alabama men’s basketball activities and games.
Bediako hasn’t played for Alabama since 2023.
No. 17 Alabama faces Tennessee on Saturday (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Coleman Coliseum. As of Wednesday night, Alabama men’s basketball plans to play Bediako if things go smoothly Thursday and Friday, a source with direct knowledge of the situation told AL.com.
“It’s slippery because, if I put myself in that situation, and say I bring in Sharife Cooper. Played one year for us during COVID. He actually, based on the timeline, could do what Bediako’s doing and play the rest of the season potentially,“ Pearl said. ”What am I going to say to Travis Pettiford, Tahaad’s dad, bringing in a kid like that in the middle of the year to potentially compete with or replace his son?
“That’s where I struggle with it. You’re having to make these decisions to win games but you’re also having to deal with the repercussions of dealing with, you made promises to some of these players and their parents and you might be going back on some of those things now.”
The order from Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court judge James H. Roberts will remain in effect by law for 10 days or until a hearing can take place. A hearing on the preliminary injunction is currently Jan. 27. The hearing will make a ruling on the injunction for Bediako, who has already enrolled at UA this semester, per court documents.
“The University of Alabama supports Charles and his ongoing efforts to be reinstated for competition while he works to complete his degree,” UA athletics said in a statement.
It is possible the request for an injunction is denied at the hearing, making it so Bediako can only play one game. After the Tennessee game, Alabama won’t play again until the night of Jan. 27. Or the court could grant the preliminary injunction, and then there would be no set time frame for the case to be resolved.
“These attempts to sidestep NCAA rules and recruit individuals who have finished their time in college or signed NBA contracts are taking away opportunities from high school students,” the NCAA said in a statement to AL.com. “A judge ordering the NCAA let a former NBA player take the court Saturday against actual college student-athletes is exactly why Congress must step in and empower college sports to enforce our eligibility rules.”
Bediako left Alabama in 2023 after two seasons and declared for the NBA draft. He was not selected. Then he signed a two-way deal with the San Antonio Spurs, only playing for their G League team but never the NBA team. Since then, Bediako has been in the G League, as recently as this month.
Bediako is not the first player to have played in the G League before trying to play college basketball. There are a handful of examples, including Baylor’s James Nnaji. But what makes Bediako’s situation different from most is he played college basketball previously before turning pro.
“Had Mr. Bediako had more foresight to see the paradigm-shifting changes coming to compensation for NCAA athletes, he likely would still be on campus playing for the University of Alabama right now,” the initial complaint reads. “When the NCAA recently began to reinstate players with G League experience, and even players who had entered and been selected in the NBA Draft, Mr. Bediako saw this as a chance to right a wrong decision that he had regretted over the past three years.”
