{"id":1183907,"date":"2026-02-04T10:20:39","date_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:20:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/?p=1183907"},"modified":"2026-02-04T10:20:39","modified_gmt":"2026-02-04T16:20:39","slug":"bruce-pearl-suggests-alabama-should-be-left-out-of-tournament-amid-bediako-drama","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/bruce-pearl-suggests-alabama-should-be-left-out-of-tournament-amid-bediako-drama\/","title":{"rendered":"Bruce Pearl Suggests Alabama Should Be Left Out of Tournament Amid Bediako Drama"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Count former Auburn Tigers head coach\u00a0Bruce Pearl among those\u00a0who have a problem with the Alabama Crimson Tide playing former G-Leaguer\u00a0Charles Bediako\u00a0in the lineup over the last couple of weeks.<\/p>\n<p>During an appearance with Dan Dakich of OutKick, Pearl was asked directly if Alabama should face a tournament ban for bringing back their former standout center to the team after two year\u2019s in the NBA\u2019s minor league system, and while he did not outright call for it, he did say it should be considered.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p dir=\"ltr\" lang=\"en\">Should Bama be banned from the Tournament for playing Charles Bediako? <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/dandakich?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@dandakich<\/a> &amp; <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/coachbrucepearl?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@coachbrucepearl<\/a> discuss <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/gSFXmjvHFP\">pic.twitter.com\/gSFXmjvHFP<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 OutKick (@Outkick) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/Outkick\/status\/2017628946729488427?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">January 31, 2026<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think they should consider it, I think it\u2019s something that should be talked about,\u201d Pearl said of a possible tournament ban while acknowledging he is aware of how that stance sounds coming from the former head coach of a hated rival. \u201cThis has nothing to do with Auburn and Alabama\u2019s rivalry.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Pearl went on to cite the fact that he was fired at Tennessee after an NCAA investigation revealed he was not being truthful with regards to hosting recruits for a barbecue at his home, something which obviously would not even be a violation in today\u2019s day and age of college sports.<\/p>\n<p>In his mind, Pearl believes that had he taken the NCAA to court, he may have been successful, but he instead accepted the findings from the governing body of collegiate athletics while Alabama and Bediako have obviously made this a legal matter.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this comparison from Pearl completely ignores the fact that it is a different day and age in college sports, and things that were major infractions previously are no longer even punishable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe NCAA said no he\u2019s not eligible,\u201d Pearl said. \u201cSo when we don\u2019t like the ruling, what do we do? We go to court and we get an injunction.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It should be noted that through the temporary restraining order which is allowing Bediako to play, Alabama is not supposed to face any punishment even if he were to lose his hearing this week which will determine whether or not he\u2019s eligible for the remainder of the season.<\/p>\n<p>Pearl does make an interesting point however in essentially arguing that the only way to get the endless series of litigation and nonsense to end in college sports today is to take a stand and make an example out of someone. However, as former European pros litter nation across numerous teams, the argument from Nate Oats and Alabama is clear: Bediako should not be seen differently.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, this ironically would lead to even more litigation as Alabama would vigorously fight any punishment, and the cycle would continue.<\/p>\n<p>After a delay last week, Bediako\u2019s hearing is\u00a0set to be held this Friday, one day before the Crimson Tide takes a trip to Neville Arena to face Auburn. Whether the big man is on the court or not remains to be seen, but Pearl has certainly made his stance on the matter clear.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>Count former Auburn Tigers head coach\u00a0Bruce Pearl among those\u00a0who have a problem with the Alabama Crimson Tide playing former G-Leaguer\u00a0Charles Bediako\u00a0in the lineup over the <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/bruce-pearl-suggests-alabama-should-be-left-out-of-tournament-amid-bediako-drama\/\" title=\"Bruce Pearl Suggests Alabama Should Be Left Out of Tournament Amid Bediako Drama\">[&#8230;]<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4874,"featured_media":1049069,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[122,8,91,121,145,10,147],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-1183907","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-al-basketball","8":"category-crimson-tide-bama-tide","9":"category-alabama","10":"category-au-basketball","11":"category-auburn","12":"category-tigers-plains-war-eagle","13":"category-featured-news"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/03\/ddh240228110_aub_at_tenn.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183907","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4874"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1183907"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183907\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1183908,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1183907\/revisions\/1183908"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1049069"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1183907"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1183907"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wnsp.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1183907"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}