Alabama Crimson Tide head coach Nate Oats is a mad lad. After fighting the NCAA and being struck down after bringing back former NBA G League player Charles Bediako to his alma mater three years after declaring for the draft, Oats is trying to get his big man back.
While it looks like it'll be a long shot, Oats is still giving it a go. Per AL.com's Nick Kelly, "Charles Bediako has filed an appeal to the Alabama supreme court after he was denied his motion in circuit court for a preliminary injunction, per court docs. Of note: He is seeking interim injunctive relief *allowing him to play* while the appeal is pending."
" Appeal is to the Alabama supreme court. The request for interim injunctive relief that would allow Bediako to play while appeal is pending is being made to circuit court judge Daniel Pruet, who denied motion for preliminary injunction Feb. 9," Kelly added.
Nate Oats getting creative to win with Alabama
Anything to get a leg up on the competition. You have to give it up to Oats. While he's actively trying to destroy the framework of what College Basketball even is, he's doing right by the team's donor class and their investments into the team by doing anything necessary to win.
Meanwhile, rival coaches are benching their top scorers in the midst of a March Madness bubble push. But only for one game against one of the top teams in the SEC. And not enough to see a tangible behavioral change on the court.
We won't know who is in the right and who is in the wrong until the NCAA Tournament games are played and the NCAA either elects to vacate the program's wins, the one that has the NBA player, or doesn't.
One team will win with an asterisk, though, if its desperate postseason ploy even works.