{"id":684590,"date":"2026-03-28T18:59:28","date_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/684590\/"},"modified":"2026-03-28T18:59:28","modified_gmt":"2026-03-28T18:59:28","slug":"nate-oats-blames-judge-who-ruled-alabama-charles-bediako-ineligible-for-march-madness-loss","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/684590\/","title":{"rendered":"Nate Oats blames judge who ruled Alabama Charles Bediako ineligible for March Madness loss"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>If only Alabama had a former professional basketball player in its lineup then maybe it wouldn\u2019t have lost in the Sweet 16.<\/p>\n<p>Head coach Nate Oates bemoaned Friday night that <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/02\/09\/sports\/judge-rules-against-charles-bediako-in-nc-eligibility-case\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">center Charles Bediako\u2019s NCAA ineligibility<\/a> cost the Crimson Tide because they were missing the size to compete with Michigan <a href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2026\/03\/27\/sports\/michigan-stars-bold-declaration-after-sweet-16-win-over-alabama\/\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">during a 90-77 loss<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, Oates is the one who gambled that Bediako \u2013 who went undrafted in 2023, signed a two-way contract with the Spurs and played three seasons in the NBA\u2019s G League \u2013 would be ruled eligible in the increasingly complex world of NIL and amateurism.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38922587\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/90-77-loss-michigan-wolverines-124564468.jpg\" alt=\"Nate Oats reacts after Alabama's loss to Michigan in the Sweet Sixteen.\" class=\"wp-image-38922587\"  \/>Nate Oats and Alabama lost to Michigan on Friday. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe know we gotta get bigger,\u201d Oats said after the season-ending loss. \u201cMost people, including ourselves, thought \u2026 Bediako would be eligible. We had one judge who thought so. He would\u2019ve definitely helped the situation with the rebounding.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>No. 1-seeded Michigan held a 46-32 edge on the glass against No. 4 seed Alabama.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe wouldn\u2019t have gotten out-rebounded by (14) tonight had we been able to continue to play him,\u201d Oates said. \u201cIt wasn\u2019t meant to be.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bediako played for Alabama during the 2021-22 and 2022-23 seasons.<\/p>\n<p>He returned for five games in January and was averaging 10 points and 4.6 rebounds in 21.6 minutes per game before he was ruled ineligible.<\/p>\n<p>In a ruling that further muddied the definition of amateurism, one Tuscaloosa, Ala. judge allowed Bediako, 24, to practice and compete on a temporary restraining order while his lawsuit against the NCAA for inconsistent eligibility rules was decided.<\/p>\n<p><img style=\"aspect-ratio:1.49926794;display:block\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-modal-image=\"38922600\" width=\"885\" height=\"590\" src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/GettyImages-1476019768.jpg\" alt=\"Alabama player Charles Bediako (14) reacting during a game against San Diego State.\" class=\"wp-image-38922600\"  \/>Charles Bediako during the 2023 NCAA Tournament. Getty Images<\/p>\n<p>The restraining order eventually expired and another Tuscaloosa County Circuit Court judge denied him the necessary motion to allow him to continue playing.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>The NCAA accused Bediako of trying to \u201csidestep\u201d the rules and take opportunities away from high school recruits.<\/p>\n<p>Oats didn\u2019t try to mask why adding Bediako was important behind the pretense of getting an education: injuries to Alabama\u2019s frontcourt.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe saw the opportunity to bring some size on after all the adversity we went through,\u201d Oats said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If only Alabama had a former professional basketball player in its lineup then maybe it wouldn\u2019t have lost&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":684591,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3724],"tags":[7998,7,217,86788,7456,84489,66],"class_list":{"0":"post-684590","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-basketball","8":"tag-alabama-crimson-tide","9":"tag-basketball","10":"tag-college-basketball","11":"tag-judges","12":"tag-march-madness","13":"tag-march-madness-2026","14":"tag-sports"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nba\/116308344227650461","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684590","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=684590"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/684590\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/684591"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=684590"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=684590"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=684590"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}