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Bucky McMillan calls for consequences against Alabama for playing Charles Bediako after eligibility ruling

Byington mugby: Alex Byington02/10/26_AlexByington

It wasn’t long after a Tuscaloosa County judge denied Charles Bediako‘s request for an injunction against the NCAA on Monday night that rival SEC fans began demanding Alabama be held accountable for playing the 7-foot center over the past two weeks. Opposing SEC head coaches joined the fray on Tuesday.

While many are wondering whether the NCAA selection committee will ultimately penalize the Crimson Tide during its NCAA Tournament seeding process, first-year Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan called on the SEC to “make it right for us” after the Aggies lost 100-97 in Tuscaloosa on Feb. 4, when Bediako was deemed eligible due to a temporary restraining order issued Jan. 21.

“Well, you hope there’s got to be (some consequences), but we’re trying to compete and get the best seed for the SEC Tournament — we’d love to get the 1 seed, we’d love to go try and win the league. … But I’m not talking about Alabama, I don’t care about Alabama. How do they make it right for us?” McMillan said Tuesday afternoon, via KBTX’s Travis L. Brown. “(NCAA consequences are) not my deal … how’s it made right for us? Because (Alabama is) not going to be able to play with their full roster against the other teams, when we had to play against their full roster.

“I don’t know how that’s made right for us,” McMillan continued. “Let’s throw out the NCAA Tournament, let’s talk about the SEC race and the SEC seeding and the pursuit of a regular-season (championship). … You certainly know that playing those guys at full strength, and when they’re not able to play other teams at full strength, that’s a disadvantage to us. We know that.”

The Aggies (17-6, 7-3 SEC) are currently just one game back of conference-leading Florida in the SEC standings. Of course, the 14th-ranked Gators (17-6, 8-2 SEC) also played against a “full strength” Alabama in a game Bediako started and still won 100-77 win at home on Feb. 1. Texas A&M has lost two straight, including last Saturday at home, 86-67, against Florida, but host Missouri at 9 pm ET Wednesday before traveling to Nashville to face No. 19 Vanderbilt on Saturday.

Nate Oats on if he regrets bringing Charles Bediako back to Alabama: ‘100% it was worth it’

During a Tuesday media opportunity, Alabama head coach Nate Oats was asked whether or not it was worth it to bring Bediako back for the five-game stretch, even if he knew ahead of time the 7-footer would lose his injunction case. With no hesitation, Oats gave an in-depth answer and protected his guy.

“100%. There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out,” Oats said. “He was within his five-year window and he was trying to get his degree. Here’s the thing, too … my job as head coach is to do the right thing by our guys. Charles is one of our guys, and that was the right thing to do by one of our guys. Like I’ve said before, this is not some mercenary deal where we have a 23-year-old coming in for a semester from someone that nobody knows. He was deemed legally eligible to play, and we’re gonna absolutely support him.

“… It would be nice if everybody talking and writing about this actually educated themselves on the reality of the situation,” Oats continued. “The reality is that Charles left here with his body looking good at 235. He went to the G League and you just don’t get the same treatment (as he did at Alabama). … Charles lost weight since going to the G League and his development wasn’t what you think he’d get for being a pro. You’re more of a professional, more able to get your body right in college. He’s here. He’s in school. We’re gonna try and help him gain the weight back that he’s lost and we’re gonna continue to help his basketball development and development as a student-athlete.”

— On3’s Daniel Hager contributed to this report.