This all started about a month ago.
The NCAA deemed James Nnaji eligible to play college basketball. Then Nnaji enrolled with Baylor. He was the 31st overall pick in the 2023 NBA draft and had played professionally ever since internationally.
“Our eyes got opened with the James Nnaji ruling,” Alabama coach Nate Oats said Friday.
Could the Crimson Tide actually bring back Charles Bediako?
The answer, for now, is yes.
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, having spent three seasons playing in the G League and having signed NBA contracts. Bediako never played in an NBA game, though.
The order came from Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court judge James H. Roberts, who is listed as a donor on the Crimson Tide Foundation website.
The order 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.
No. 17 Alabama faces Tennessee on Saturday (7:30 p.m. CT, ESPN) at Coleman Coliseum.
Oats said Friday the Crimson Tide plans to play him, about a month after Nnaji was granted eligibility to play in college.
“Charles actually sat next to James Nnaji in the draft that year,” Oats said. “Nnaji goes 31st in the draft, plays three years in Europe, gets declared eligibility, with four years of eligibility at Baylor, it kind of made Charles, his camp and us, both had mutual interest. Seemed like it made a lot of sense if a guy that actually got drafted in the same draft as him was eligible to play for four years. Charles is still within his five year window. Let’s pursue it."
Alabama first asked the NCAA to grant Bediako eligibility. The NCAA said no. So the Crimson Tide and Bediako turned to the court system.
“I assumed the NCAA would deem him eligible,” Oats said. “They didn’t. Court system deemed him eligible. We’re comfortable with what’s happened so far.”
Bediako re-enrolled with Alabama at the start of the semester, Oats said.
Bediako was in town playing for the G League’s Motor City Cruise against the Birmingham Squadron. But Oats said all of this was in motion far before then.
“We talked to some people with the Pistons and worked though all we needed to do to get out of the G League and back into college once he got the temporary restraining order and was eligible to play,” Oats said. “It’s been going on since right around the James Nnaji ruling, shortly after that. They’ve been working on it.”
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.