Nate Oats defends Charles Bediako, his return to Alabama: ‘100% it was worth it’
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Nate Oats closed the book on the Charles Bediako saga at Alabama on Tuesday by being an open book of sorts when speaking about the 23-year-old center who was ruled ineligible by a judge on Monday night.
Bediako’s brief 5-game return to play for the Crimson Tide was the subject of intense controversy and backlash from around the SEC and around the country. Oats took all of that heat head on over the past few weeks, since Bediako made his much-anticipated debut on Jan. 24 in a home loss to Tennessee.
There was a blowout loss at Florida with Bediako in the rotation, too, but there were also 3 victories that happened while Bediako was back with the program, as Bama went 3-2 during the chaotic past couple of weeks. Bediako averaged 10 points, 4.6 rebounds and 1.4 blocks during those 5 games, and Oats not only defended the player himself on Tuesday, he had no regrets over the effort to bring Bediako back to the program for a 2nd time.
Oats told Nick Kelly of AL.com that, yes, it was absolutely all worth it.
“100%. There was an opportunity to help one of our former players out,” Oats said. “He was within his five-year window. He’s trying to get his degree. Here’s the thing, too. My job as a head coach is to try to do the right thing by our guys. Charles is one of our guys. That was the right thing to do by one of our guys.”
The head coach also argued, once again, that Bediako’s presence was legal.
“Like I’ve said before, this is not some mercenary deal with a 23-year-old coming in for a semester that nobody knows,” Oats said. “He was deemed legally eligible to play. We’re going to support him.”
Here is Oats’ full comments Tuesday on Bediako in the aftermath of Monday night’s ruling:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
