Alabama Athletic Director Opens Up About Charles Bediako's Return

Greg Byrne shares his thoughts on the former Crimson Tide center gaining temporary eligibility.

Oct 4, 2025; Tuscaloosa, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide Athletic Director Greg Byrne greets players before a game against the Vanderbilt Commodores at Saban Field at Bryant-Denny Stadium. Mandatory Credit: David Leong-Imagn Images | David Leong-Imagn Images

Former Alabama center Charles Bediako sued the NCAA earlier this week with hopes of gaining collegiate eligibility, and after being granted a temporary restraining order by a Tuscaloosa judge, he's available to play for Alabama against Tennessee on Saturday.

Alabama has become the epicenter of the hottest topic in college sports in the last couple of days. It's been quite the roller coaster, as countless debates across the country have sparked up from this.

On Friday night, roughly eight hours after Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats' press conference (all nine questions asked were related to Bediako), Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne released a statement on X (formerly known as Twitter) about the Bediako situation.

Here's everything Byrne wrote:

"While Coach Oats provided his perspective earlier today on Charles Bediako and the process of him becoming eligible to compete for the Crimson Tide, I wanted to follow up with some additional thoughts. I think it’s safe to say the majority of us have concerns about the state of college athletics and are all for uniformity versus inconsistencies.

"There are many programs across the country with former G League and EuroLeague players on their rosters who have been deemed eligible. At the end of the day, these are men with professional basketball experience that are now playing in college. The distinctions between those cases and Charles’ situation are without real differences. A professional contract should be a professional contract.

"Why should a student-athlete who earned millions competing professionally overseas be eligible to return to college, while someone earning $50,000 annually in the NBA G League is not? Similarly, an athlete who leaves high school for professional basketball returning to college later is okay, while a student who entered the draft during college, perhaps based on incomplete or poor advice, may be barred. These distinctions are impossible to explain, undermine confidence in the system and do not meaningfully advance the educational mission of college athletics.

"That said, we must remain competitive and act in the best interest of our teams. As Coach Oats stated, Charles is still within his five-year window, is 23 years old and started classes again this semester to work towards degree completion. He’s also not taking away any opportunities from a high school prospect or anyone else with there being a vacant roster spot.

"If this particular case can help shape the future of the sport, and better regulation of college athletics as a whole, we welcome that."

During his 70 games (67 starts) in Tuscaloosa, Bediako averaged 6.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.7 blocks in 19.3 minutes per game. He was a member of the All-SEC Freshman Team during his first year and the conference's All-Defensive Team during his second year.

After not being selected in the 2023 NBA Draft, he went to the NBA G League. Bediako is currently a member of the Motor City Cruise, but spent 2023-24 with the Austin Spurs and 2024-25 with the Grand Rapids Gold. He has never played in an NBA game.

It's uncertain at this time how long Bediako will be on the floor, but it is certain that all eyes will be on him when the ball is in his hands on Saturday night.

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