Were Charles Bediako's Five Games at Alabama Worth it to Nate Oats?

Oats discusses Bediako's denial of eligibility while also explaining why the NCAA vacating the results from the center's five games wouldn't make sense.

Feb 1, 2026; Gainesville, Florida, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide center Charles Bediako (14) dunks the ball over Florida Gators center Rueben Chinyelu (9) and Florida Gators forward Thomas Haugh (10) during the first half at Exactech Arena at the Stephen C. O'Connell Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images | Matt Pendleton-Imagn Images

TUSCALOOSA, Ala. — The Charles Bediako eligibility saga is over.

Tuscaloosa County judge Daniel Pruet ruled Monday in favor of the defense, as the Alabama center will not be able to suit up for the remainder of the Crimson Tide's season.

The 23-year-old played in five games for Alabama this season, averaging 10.0 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks in five games with the Crimson Tide. And with all of the ups and downs that came with being the biggest story in college sports over the past few weeks, does Alabama head coach Nate Oats think it was all worth it?

"100 percent," Oats said during Tuesday's press conference. "There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out. He was within his 5-year window. He's trying to get his degree. Here's the thing too. 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 [SEC commissioner Greg] Sankey put was how much of an [advantage] it is to go be a pro and not have to focus on your college. "It's not the case. It would be nice if everybody who's commenting, writing, talking about this, actually educated themselves on the reality of the situation."

Oats mentioned numerous benefits for Bediako returning to college compared to playing in the G League, as "the money's a lot better, the development is a lot better, you get a full-time dietician," and more. He won't be able to play for Alabama the rest of the season, but Oats assured that Bediako will be more than just a regular student on scholarship.

"We're going to continue to help his basketball development," Oats said. "We're going to continue to help his development as a student, as a student-athlete. 100 percent 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."

Many analysts and members of the college basketball world have argued that the results that Alabama had while Bediako was on the team should be vacated when determining SEC Tournament and NCAA Tournament seeding. Oats explained why that wouldn't make any sense.

"If the five games that we did play impacted our resume, then all the games that we played without, and I go down the entire list of guys, where we lost, would have to impact it," Oats said. "You think about Vanderbilt, we didn't have Aiden Sherrell, we didn't have Labaron Philon in the second half. Think about Tennessee, we didn't have Aden Holloway, Amari Allen.

"I mean, you go down the list of every game we've played where we didn't have guys available for the entire game, or large parts of the game. We lost to Gonzaga without Wrightsell. Every loss we've had, we've had multiple guys, starters, guys in the rotation, not play.

"So if you're going to consider those five games with Charles, then you also have to consider the rest of them, without who we'll hopefully have available to play in the NCAA Tournament."

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