After five games, Alabama's second Charles Bediako era is now over. On Monday, Tuscaloosa County Judge Daniel Pruet officially denied Bediako's request for a preliminary injunction against the NCAA, making the 7-foot big man ineligible to play for the Crimson Tide going forward.
The NCAA initially denied Bediako's request to be reinstated to college basketball in January, but two temporary restraining orders issued by a separate Tuscaloosa judge - James Roberts - allowed Bediako to play five games for the Crimson Tide.
With Bediako's TRO expiring on Tuesday, his ability to continue playing for the Crimson Tide hinged on this case. Unfortunately, he lost.
Alabama head coach Nate Oats didn't shy away from voicing his displeasure with the NCAA - and the courts - during his weekly radio show on Monday night.
"I didn't think it ever should have gotten to court," Oats said to Chris Stewart. "I thought the NCAA should have made him eligible based on over a hundred current college basketball players - former professionals, most of them over in Europe. Some in the G-League. Guys being drafted. Rights owned by NBA teams, as in James Nnaji being eligible to play.
“So, I thought it was kind of a no-brainer with the NCAA. And then I didn’t think it would be that big of an issue. The NCAA hasn’t really changed much without courts forcing them to change. So, I thought the courts would see the inconsistencies in the rulings and agree with Charles’ attorneys."
Nate Oats was disappointed in the court ruling against Charles Bediako
Oats isn't wrong. While Bediako was certainly a different case than the others in that he had already played college basketball before leaving early to declare for the NBA Draft, college basketball is currently littered with former professional basketball players from the G-League and abroad, with no rhyme or reason for eligibility.
And Bediako wasn't the first player to be denied eligibility, but played thanks to TROs and injunctions. Gonzaga's Tyon Grant-Foster and Texas A&M's Rashaun Agee are two others, both of whom Alabama faced in the regular season already.
The NCAA has turned college athletics into the Wild West, and now they're complaining about the rough and rowdy crowd playing poker into all hours of the night.
It's a disappointing loss in court for Alabama and Bediako. But he won't be the last to challenge the system. He might not have won, but someone else will. And the NCAA's house of cards will come crumbling down.
"Just disappointed in the ruling," Oats said. "Disappointed in the system, both the NCAA, the courts, the whole thing, just with all the inconsistencies with who’s eligible and who’s not. ...Hopefully, at some point, somebody’s gonna win a ruling like this. It wasn’t here today, but at some point, somebody will win one and change the system because that’s how it has to change in the NCAA."