Charles Bediako, Alabama Out Themselves as College Hoops Villains

This could be the easiest column I’ve ever had to write.

All I’d have to do is write variations of “Charles Bediako shouldn’t be allowed back to college basketball” and “Stop it” over and over and be met with thunderous applause.

It’s a popular stance. Yet, due to a temporary restraining order from a friendly Tuscaloosa circuit court, Bediako and the University of Alabama will have their way. Bediako, whose last collegiate game was in March 2023, will be eligible to wear a Crimson Tide uniform and face Tennessee on Saturday.

But let’s take it one step further. First, let’s explain the difference between Bediako, Baylor’s James Nnaji and NBA guard Trentyn Flowers.

Nnaji was an NBA draft pick out of FC Barcelona in 2023 but never signed an NBA contract. The NCAA only allowed Nnaji to join Baylor midseason because of the latter fact. His collegiate eligibility, like it or not, was intact.

Bediako’s case is far more like Flowers, a forward who has appeared in NBA games, whose agent floated the preposterous idea that several schools were ready to sign him midseason. (All those schools put distance between themselves and Flowers by denying their involvement.)

Flowers is on a two-way deal with a club. So was Bediako, not long ago.

Now let me show you a quote from a high-major head coach that came in response to Baylor’s addition of Nnaji.

“I think it’s taking away opportunities from kids coming out of high school,” the coach said. “I was a high school coach for 11 years. I wanted my kids to get opportunities when they left my program. This is taking opportunities away from those kids.”

That man? Alabama head coach Nate Oats.

If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em, right Nate?

“Would I have liked to have just kept it you’re a true amateur and you play college basketball? Probably. But that ship sailed,” Oats went on to say. “That’s not where we’re at anymore.”

Don’t just get mad at the players who want a second look at the college path now that it’s actually lucrative. You can’t fault them for asking, I guess.

If you’re mad about this, get mad at Nate Oats. Get mad at Scott Drew. Get mad at these asinine judges on this combo streak of ruling after ruling after ruling that the NCAA apparently doesn’t get to have eligibility rules whatsoever. (Also get mad at the unregulated player agents fueling this whole uprising to make a buck, though that’s harder when they hide their faces from public scrutiny.)

If the court of public opinion had the only vote on the matter, this would be an open-and-shut case. Fans young and old are responding to this with a resounding NO.

And by God, the NCAA is trying. For once in its sorry existence, it’s trying to stand up for the right thing. NCAA president Charlie Baker made it crystal clear that someone like Flowers, who’d inked an NBA deal, would not be granted more eligibility.

Then Bediako came along.

Don’t let anyone tell you you’re just on the wrong side of history. Not all progress is good progress. The path college basketball is on now will progress it all the way to minor league basketball, probably with a 96-team NCAA Tournament to boot. Mid-majors won’t survive. Tradition won’t either.

In the meantime, I’m letting this inform me of the sport’s new crop of villains. If you root against the coaches who throw fits on the sideline, that’s your right, but you eliminate a ton of coaches. I’ll focus on the Alabamas, the Baylors and whichever programs are next — those that value short-term winning above maintaining sanity and structure for the betterment of the sport.