Nate Oats, "It's a Good Thing I Read my Bible"

From opposing coaches, media members, and television analysts, everyone has had an opinion on Alabama men's basketball bringing back former forward Charles Bediako for five games, while Bediako sued the NCAA in an eligibility lawsuit earlier this season. Bediako was denied his injunction by Tuscaloosa Circuit Court Judge Daniel Pruet on Monday, resulting in Bediako no longer being eligible to play for Alabama this season.

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Bediako's denial hasn't stopped Texas A&M head coach Bucky McMillan and former Auburn head coach turned TV analyst Bruce Pearl from voicing their opinions on Alabama head coach Nate Oats's decision to play Bediako in the five games he did for Alabama. The Crimson Tide went 3-2 in that stretch, with the victories coming over the Missouri Tigers, McMillan's Texas A&M Aggies, and Bruce Pearl's former team, the Auburn Tigers.

"How is it made right for us?" McMillan asked in a press conference. "They're not gonna be able to play with their full roster against the other teams, when we had to play against their full roster."

Meanwhile, former Auburn basketball head coach Bruce Pearl called Nate Oats 'selfish' for playing Bediako under the temporary restraining order.

"Nate said he’d play (Bediako) a 100 times again. What that tells me is, Nate doesn’t really care about the SEC; he doesn’t care about the NCAA," Pearl said. And it’s fine, you’re (just) going to care about your student-athletes, that’s fine, but you’re a member of this conference, and you’re a member of the NCAA. What about the rest of the teams, what about the rest of the players? Why should those five teams have to play against an ineligible player? I think it was selfish, and I think it was wrong.”

Alabama men's basketball head coach Nate Oats was asked about it during Friday's press conference, where he said some of what McMillan said was 'taken out of context.'

"Good thing I read my Bible every morning because I just read James," Oats said. "How to respond to certain situations like this and respond with love; that's the way it tells me to respond.

"They have their viewpoints. Going back, people send me stuff because I keep social media off my phone,” Oats said. I try to focus on my team. I have no control over what other people say. I know Bucky (McMillan) well. Some of his was maybe taken out of context. I’m very familiar with things being taken out of context. I think his point was more; he felt like Charles should be able to play the whole year. He’s got a kid playing on a temporary restraining order as well (Rashaun Agee). He felt like Charles should be able to play the whole year. He should be able to play against everybody else.

"Now, how is it fair for them now that Charles isn’t able to go against the rest of the league? With Bucky, to be honest with you, I called him, and we talked. We talked not just about that, but about some other stuff. Bucky’s a high school coach. I addressed the thing with Chris Beard after the game. The guys that came up more like myself, Bucky, (Chris) Beard (who was at JUCO ranks), you had to have a love for the players that you coach, because I didn’t make any money the first 16 years. I was an assistant DIII coach for five years, and as a high school coach, my money was paid to be a teacher and not a coach."

Oats did not directly address Bruce Pearl's comments.

Wyatt Fulton is the Tide 100.9 DME and Brand Manager, primarily covering Alabama Crimson Tide football and men's basketball. For more Crimson Tide coverage, follow Wyatt on X (Formerly known as Twitter) at @FultonW_.