Bruce Pearl Rips Alabama's Nate Oats for 'Selfish' Charles Bediako Decision

One of the most intriguing stories this college basketball season thus far has been regarding the Auburn Tigers’ most-hated rival.

Alabama big man Charles Bediako, who previously played professionally in the NBA G League for a couple of years, was granted eligibility through a local county court a few weeks ago to come back and play for the Crimson Tide.

Bediako played five games for Alabama courtesy of a temporary restraining order before Tuscaloosa judge Daniel Pruet denied his request for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA that would’ve allowed him to play while the lawsuit continued.

The Crimson Tide went 3-2 with Bediako back on the team, and one of their three victories came on Saturday against Auburn.

Auburn fans chanted "G-League drop out" at former NBA player Charles Bediako. pic.twitter.com/d7vbz8ZE4B
— ESPN (@espn) February 7, 2026

Alabama head coach Nate Oats talked about Bediako’s situation in a press conference on Tuesday, and he was asked if the five-game stint was worth it.

According to Oats’ remarks, he would absolutely do the same thing over again.

"100% it was worth it," Oats said to the media. "I would do the same thing 100 times out of 100 for any of our guys that it made sense to do it with."

In response, former Auburn Tigers head coach Bruce Pearl had some interesting comments about Oats and how the seventh-year Alabama head coach handled the situation during a studio TV show on TNT on Tuesday evening.

"What it tells me is that Nate doesn't really care about the SEC. He doesn't care about the NCAA," Pearl said. "You're going to care about your student-athletes? That's fine. But you remember this conference, and you remember the NCAA. What about the rest of the teams? What about the rest of the players? Why should those five teams have had to play against an ineligible player?"

"I think it was selfish, and I think it was wrong," Pearl said.

Bediako competed against Tennessee, Missouri, Texas A&M, Florida, and Auburn, and the former G-Leaguer played a prominent role in Alabama’s win over Auburn in Neville Arena this past Saturday. Bediako posted 12 points and three rebounds in 22 minutes of action against the Tigers.

Last month, Pearl was asked during an interview with OutKick if Alabama deserves, or should receive, an NCAA Tournament ban due to the use of an ineligible player.

“I think they should consider it,” Pearl said in the interview. “I think it’s something that should be talked about… So, the NCAA, Alabama went ‘Hey, we want to get Bediako eligible. We think there’s some argument that he’s getting treated differently as an American that played professionally vs. European kids.’ It’s a good argument to have, but the NCAA said no.”

"They said, ‘No, he’s not eligible. You guys are part of the SEC, you’re part of the NCAA. You guys choose to be here. Therefore, you choose to play by our rules.’ And so, when we don’t like the ruling, what do we do? We will go to court and get an injunction.”

It’s certainly a fascinating situation, but the majority of college basketball fans likely agree that it is a win for the sport that Bediako was ultimately ruled ineligible. If he were allowed to compete for Alabama after previously playing collegiately and forgoing the remainder of his eligibility by declaring for the 2023 NBA Draft, who knows what events or occurrences could have followed?

Additionally, this also has the potential to affect Auburn, as the NCAA has already stated that Alabama will be evaluated by the selection committee at the end of the year by the current roster. In simple terms, the committee will likely not consider the five games in which Bediako played, since Alabama will be without him for March Madness and the remainder of the season.

Therefore, it’s unknown if Auburn’s loss to Alabama will be viewed the same. Obviously, the Crimson Tide held an unfair advantage in their win over the Tigers, so could the Bediako situation decrease the legitimacy of that game?

Possibly. Only time will tell with the selection committee and how it decides to handle the five games in which Bediako participated.