Steven Pearl critical of Alabama decision to play Charles Bediako after court ruling

Alabama‘s decision to bring back 7-foot center Charles Bediako, who last played collegiately in 2023 and spent two years in the NBA G-League, and potentially play him Saturday against Tennessee, has caused a major uproar within the college basketball community. Of course, that move was only made possible after a Tuscaloosa County judge granted Bediako a temporary restraining order Wednesday in an ongoing court battle versus the NCAA.

Bediako’s 10-day TRO restricts the NCAA from enforcing its eligibility rules until a Jan. 27 hearing on his preliminary injunction request is conducted next Tuesday in Tuscaloosa. Bediako is seeking relief to play out the final semester of college basketball before his five-year eligibility window expires at the end of the year. The 23-year-old Bediako, who played in 70 career games at Alabama between 2021-23, has signed multiple NBA contracts after going undrafted in the 2023 NBA Draft, but hasn’t played above the G-League. 

Following the Crimson Tide’s controversial move to utilize a professional at the college level, coaches all across the sport have criticized the decision and called on the NCAA to penalize Alabama. Kentucky‘s Mark Pope even suggested the NCAA not count any games Bediako plays toward the Crimson Tide’s NCAA Tournament resume, which could impact their March Madness chances.

But rival Auburn head coach Steven Pearl took a different approach. Pearl started by making a joke out of the situation before explicitly calling the move “crazy.”

"Walker (Kessler) and Jabari (Smith) have said they're coming back this year and are immediately eligible." – Steven Pearl joking when asked about Charles Bediako potentially playing for Alabama this weekend

Here's his full response 👇 pic.twitter.com/i41x2IxvE5

— The Next Round (@NextRoundLive) January 22, 2026

Steven Pearl on Charles Bediako returning to Alabama: ‘It’s crazy that the SEC and the NCAA can’t really do anything about it’

“(Former Auburn first-round NBA Draft picks) Walker (Kessler) and Jabari (Smith) have said they are coming back and are immediately eligible,” Pearl said during the Thursday press conference, according to AuburnSports’ Justin Hokanson.

At that point, the 38-year-old Pearl addressed the nuance of the move. He acknowledged why teams might be inclined to take advantage of a judge’s order while also expressing concern with the larger ramifications of such a move.

“Obviously, I don’t know if he’s playing Saturday. … I don’t want to get ahead of myself. (But) I look at it from the lens of, right now, college basketball coaches are having to operate under the rules and guidelines that we’ve been given. And if you can get a judge to file a restraining order against the NCAA, you are within your right to do so. It doesn’t make it right, it doesn’t make it wrong,” Pearl continued, according to Justin Ferguson of The Auburn Observer. “… For me personally, I think it’s crazy for a couple of reasons. One, it’s so outside of the scope of what we’ve done historically. Two, if we were to do that, … I’d have a really hard time looking at the parents of our current kids in our program and say, ‘OK, this is why we’re doing this.’ … But, yeah, I mean, it’s crazy that the SEC and the NCAA can’t really do anything about it. It’ll be interesting to see if he plays this weekend and what impact he does have.”

The Field of 68’s Jeff Goodman revealed Wednesday night that Alabama head coach Nate Oats planned to play Bediako on Saturday against Tennessee now that he’s been deemed eligible due to the temporary restraining order. Bediako’s status for next Tuesday’s home game against Missouri is likely dependent on what the Tuscaloosa County court rules on his injunction case against the NCAA.