{"id":579104,"date":"2026-02-03T07:45:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T07:45:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/579104\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T07:45:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T07:45:16","slug":"steven-pearl-on-charles-bediako-situation-at-alabama-i-understand-what-nate-oats-is-doing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/579104\/","title":{"rendered":"Steven Pearl on Charles Bediako situation at Alabama: ‘I understand what Nate Oats is doing’"},"content":{"rendered":"

In January, Alabama<\/a> forward Charles Bediako<\/a> was granted a temporary restraining order, allowing him to play college basketball again. Bediako played at Alabama for two seasons, but entered the NBA Draft<\/a> in 2023.<\/p>\n

On Friday, Bediako will have another hearing, where a judge will determine whether he may remain eligible. Alabama is scheduled to square off against in-state rival Auburn<\/a> the following day. On Monday, Auburn head coach Steven Pearl<\/a> addressed Bediako\u2019s eligibility and the controversial situation unfolding at Alabama.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat\u2019s happening is being done within the guidelines that we\u2019re currently operating under,\u201d Pearl said.<\/a> \u201cIf you can get a judge to give a temporary restraining order to allow a player to play. Then, until they\u2019re told they can\u2019t do that, then that\u2019s what people are going to continue to do.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll Nate\u2019s trying to do is win basketball games. That\u2019s what we\u2019re all trying to do. I can\u2019t say whether that\u2019s right or wrong. That\u2019s not my place. So, I understand what Nate\u2019s doing. That doesn\u2019t mean it\u2019s right or wrong. He\u2019s trying to put his team in the best position to win games, and I get that.\u201d<\/p>\n

In his three appearances, Charles Bediako has averaged 11.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game, while shooting 73.3% from the field. Alabama is 1-2 since Bediako has returned to the team.<\/p>\n

Bediako played for three separate G-League teams and signed a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs in 2023. However, he never appeared in an NBA game. Steven Pearl remained neutral when asked what he hopes happens in Bediako\u2019s hearing on Friday.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll I can do is just help get my team prepared for Alabama, whether [Bediako] plays or he doesn\u2019t play,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cI don\u2019t really have any hopes or desires one way or the other. That\u2019s for them to decide. And, then we\u2019ll just stay ready for Alabama on Saturday.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saturday will be the first time Steven Pearl has been Auburn\u2019s head coach in a game against Alabama. Auburn suffered a 77-69 loss to Tennessee<\/a> this past weekend. The Tigers entered the contest on a four-game win streak.<\/p>\n

In the loss, Auburn shot just 38% from the field and 23% from beyond the arc. Auburn has a mid-week bye this week and will be able to fully focus on its showdown with the Crimson Tide.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In January, Alabama forward Charles Bediako was granted a temporary restraining order, allowing him to play college basketball…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":579105,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7,75501,62508],"class_list":{"0":"post-579104","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-basketball","9":"tag-charles-bediako-21-img-academy","10":"tag-steven-pearl-06-west"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116005590075318938","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=579104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/579104\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/579105"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=579104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=579104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=579104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}