There have been a lot of coaches, fans, and members of the media who have come out in staunch opposition to Alabama's addition of Charles Bediako to the roster.
One of the greatest coaches in the history of the sport isn't among them.
Mike Krzyzewski didn't outright come out in support of Nate Oats, but the Hall of Fame former-Duke coach echoed a similar argument that Oats used to defend the Bediako roster addition during his press conference on Friday.
"If you're going to treat an international player, where they can come here at 23, 19, 22, and they've been pros for years and they're coming here to make more money, you've got to be careful in how you treat the American player, who goes through a different system and is drafted, non-drafted, G-League, whatever you do, and say well that's wrong, but that is right." Coach K told Josh Graham on Westwood One Sports Night. "Let's figure out what's right with everybody, and otherwise you're not going to be able to validate this in a court of law because that means you're treating different people differently."
Coach K is in agreement with Nate Oats' opinion that led to Charles Bediako's return
Coach K is saying effectively the same thing that Oats said during his Friday press conference when he defended Bediako's return to the Crimson Tide.
The former-turned-current Alabama center left the Crimson Tide following the 2023 NCAA Tournament to enter the NBA Draft. He went undrafted, and while he signed multiple professional contracts, Bediako never appeared in an NBA game.
His eligibility is silly, but it's no more ridiculous than EuroLeague pros and former G-Leaguers being granted multiple years of college eligibility. And that's the basis of Alabama's argument, one that Coach K seemingly agrees with.
"My personal opinion on all this is we need a uniform and transparent system that doesn’t punish the Americans, that takes the hypocrisy out of it, that gives equal treatment to Americans and international players both, while also allowing high school players the opportunities they need coming out of school," Oats said. "So, someone should be able to come up with a system that checks all those boxes.
And yes, Bediako was born in Canada. But he played his final two years of high school basketball in the United States. So he went through the high school and recruitment process that American players go through.
He made a bad decision back in 2023 to leave college and enter the draft. That was partially bad advice, and partially a rapidly different NIL landscape three years ago, where he wasn't able to profit like other players due to his citizenship status. Had NIL back then been like it is today, Bediako probably would have stayed in college and finished up his four years of playing college basketball last season. He might have even been the difference in Alabama being a Final Four team in 2024 and winning the National Championship.
The NCAA's stance that some professional players are different than others never made sense. They opened the door to players like Bediako making their way back to the college game. They can disagree with it, but they've got nobody to blame but themselves.