Rick Barnes reacts to Charles Bediako eligibility ruling ahead of facing Alabama

Rick Barnes will lead Tennessee into Coleman Coliseum on Saturday against No. 17 Alabama for what has become one of the most controversial games of the season. And, as opposed to prior trips to Tuscaloosa, the pregame narrative around this year’s matchup has nothing to do with the bitter nature of the rivalry.

On Friday, Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats confirmed plans to play 7-foot center Charles Bediako on Saturday. This comes after a Tuscaloosa County judge granted the former NBA G-League player a temporary restraining order against the NCAA enforcing its eligibility rules on Wednesday.

The TRO is only good for 10 days ahead of a scheduled hearing on Tuesday to resolve Bediako’s lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, which denied him additional collegiate eligibility after the former Alabama big man entered the 2023 NBA Draft after two seasons in Tuscaloosa. At issue is the multiple professional contracts the 23-year-old Bediako has signed with NBA teams, even though the 7-footer has yet to play in a game above the G League.

Since the TRO was granted, multiple collegiate head coaches have voiced their displeasure with the move, including Auburn‘s Steve Pearl, Florida‘s Todd Golden, Kentucky‘s Mark Pope and Michigan State‘s Tom Izzo, to name a few. Barnes joined the fray Friday, taking umbrage with the reality of a professional returning to play in college three years removed from his last collegiate game.

“To me, it’s simply … when you make the choice to give up your college eligibility, you’ve given it up,” Barnes said during a Friday media availability. “And I don’t care if it’s someone that’s been in the service and come back, once they start that clock and they make that choice, they’ve made that choice.

“… I think for us older coaches that have been in it a long time, we can go back to the day where the NCAA, you felt like they were watching every move like a secret police. And now you wonder what’s going on,” Barnes continued. “But I think it’s out of the hand of the NCAA when judges start stepping in. What can they do? I don’t know how it’s got to this point, and I don’t know where it’s going to end, but all I can say is whatever the rules are, we have to adapt, whether we like it or not.”

Of course, Alabama isn’t the first Power Four program to add a former G League player to its roster in the last year, following similar moves by Baylor, BYU and Louisville. Other college programs have provided scholarships to 20-something European players with professional experience playing overseas.

“I don’t know if I have a problem with age, because there are some religious affiliations where kids go on mission trips and come back, whatever it may be,” Barnes added when asked about teams utilizing older Europeans. “My whole (concern) is once you make that commitment to enroll in college, and you decide to walk away from it, you’ve made a decision.”

Of course, should the ability to add professionals become the new standard in college basketball, Barnes joked he’d “absolutely” invite 15-time NBA All-Star Kevin Durant — who played for Barnes at Texas in 2006-07 — to join his roster at Tennessee. Barnes joked that he would “absolutely” bring Durant back.

Bediako, who re-enrolled at Alabama earlier this week, appeared in 68 career games across two seasons with Alabama in 2021-23, where he averaged 6.5 points, 5.2 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 19.2 minutes per game in Tuscaloosa. A member of the 2021 recruiting cycle, Bediako is seeking the injunction to play out the final semester of his original five-year eligibility window that expires after this current season.