Nate Oats responds to Charles Bediako takes from Bucky McMillan, Bruce Pearl

Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet ruled against Alabama center Charles Bediako in his eligibility case versus the NCAA on Monday after last Friday morning’s injunction hearing. Bediako was seeking preliminary and permanent injunctive relief after the NCAA previously ruled the former NBA G League player ineligible to return to college basketball last month.

With this decision coming down, Bediako’s season effectively came to an end. He appeared in five games (3-2 record), where he averaged 10.0 points, 4.6 rebounds, and 1.4 blocks.

Following the ruling, Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan and former Auburn head coach Bruce Pearl reacted to the news. McMillan called for consequences against Alabama, as Bediako played against them (and led the Tide to a win), but he will be ineligible to play against other teams. Meanwhile, Pearl called Alabama head coach Nate Oats ‘selfish’ for playing Bediako.

Alabama HC reveals he had phone call with Bucky McMillan following comments

Oats was asked about these comments during Friday’s press conference. While not directly addressing Pearl’s comments, he claimed McMillan’s comments were ‘taken out of context.’

“They have their viewpoints. Going back, people send me stuff because I keep social media off my phone,” Oats said. “I have no control over what other people say. I know Bucky (McMillan) well. Some of his was taken out of context. I’m very familiar with things being taken out of context. I think his point was that he felt like Charles should be able to play the whole year. He’s got a kid playing on a temporary restraining order as well (Rashaun Agee). He felt like Charles should be able to play the whole year. He should be able to play against everybody else.

“Now, how is it fair for them now that Charles isn’t able to go against the rest of the league? With Bucky, to be honest with you, I called him and we talked. We talked not just about that, but about some other stuff. Bucky’s a high school coach. I addressed the thing with Chris Beard after the game. The guys that came up more like myself, Bucky, (Chris) Beard (who was at JUCO ranks), you had to have a love for the players that you coach, because I didn’t make any money the first 16 years. I was an assistant DIII coach for five years, and as a high school coach, my money was paid towards teaching and not coaching.

Oats was more than right about McMillan’s quote. The TAMU coach did not say anything negative about Bediako or Alabama. He, however, just questioned how the NCAA would ‘make it right’ for his program. This was because his team had to play against Bediako (along with Auburn, Florida, Missouri, and Tennessee), while programs such as Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, LSU, Mississippi State, Oklahoma, Ole Miss, South Carolina, Texas, and Vanderbilt got/will get to play against a Bediako-less Alabama lineup.

Without Charles Bediako, Alabama sits at 17-7 with seven games remaining

Alabama‘s first game without Bediako in the lineup took place Wednesday night in Oxford. The Crimson Tide blew out Ole Miss 93-74, thanks to a 61-point second half performance.

“When you go for as long as long as any of us have gone and you don’t make any money, it’s about the kids,” Oats continued on Friday. “You’re spending more money on them than you make. You’re in it for the kids and for them, you get a different perspective. The kids are not being used by you. You’re in lock with the kids. When you have an opportunity to make things right by guys you’ve invested all of your time in, like guys who are more sad for Charles have viewpoint towards Charles and coaching the kids. I’m gonna be honest with you; everybody in college athletics, if you ask them why they do what they do, their answer will likely be for the kids we serve.

“I guess we see who really does it for the kids they serve and who doesn’t. The response by Chris and Bucky, and again if you took one or two sentences out, it sounded the other way. They feel like Charles should be playing and should have the opportunity to play. They wish everybody else had a chance to play against us when Charles was playing.”

Although Alabama is unranked in the AP Top 25, the Crimson Tide are currently projected as a No. 4 seed in On3’s latest Bracketology.