“Imagine if this team had Charles Bediako…”
That was a common thought that crossed my mind dozens of times during the 2023-24 Tide Hoops season. That team ultimately ended up making a run to the Final Four, of course, but only once Nick Pringle channeled his inner ‘Angry Chuck’ and gave Alabama a legitimate presence in the middle. During the season, Alabama really struggled to defend good bigs and close out possessions with defensive rebounds.
Sound familiar? With all due respect to Aiden Sherrill
and Noah Williamson, Alabama could absolutely use another big man on this year’s roster – and wouldn’t you know it, Charles Bediako is somehow back.
Now, I’m not going to dive into the legal/ethical/logical debates about whether or not Chuck should be allowed to play basketball for the University of Alabama this season. That’s been argued ad nauseum across the college athletics universe the past few days. Personally, I think it’s insane that we’ve gotten to this point. And I’m sure Nate Oats agrees. I mean, Bediako’s last game is pictured above – the loss to San Diego State in March of 2023. Lamont Butler – pictured behind him – played another season with SDSU and then transferred to Kentucky for a full season last year before moving on from college hoops.
It’s crazy to think Bediako was playing G-League ball as recently as last week. But until either the NCAA decides to make these kids employees with enforceable contracts and rules, or Congress finally passes some meaningful legislation, this is the wild west era. The amount of pearl clutching I’ve seen from folks – many of whom cheered on every meaningful step that led us here – is hysterical. We’ve got 22-year-old international players with years of pro ball on their resume being given four years of eligibility by the NCAA, but letting a guy come back within his original eligibility window out of high school is supposedly a bridge too far?
Anyway, I said I wouldn’t get into it from an off-the-court perspective. On the court, it’s a massive win on paper for this season’s Alabama team. Bediako is a grown man at the five. If he can even just split time with Sherrill, the Tide is going to be able to hang with anybody in the post. Hell, I could see Oats playing both, with Sherrill as a stretch-four against larger lineups like the one Florida was probably going to abuse us with next week in Gainesville.
If Bediako is at all the player he was projected to be in his fifth year, this is season-altering news for an Alabama team that really needed exactly what he brings to the table.
How to Watch
What: Tennessee 12-6 (2-3 SEC) at #17 Alabama (13-5, 3-2 SEC)
Where: Coleman Coliseum, Tuscaloosa, AL
When: 7:30 PM CST
TV: ESPN
Line: Alabama -5.5
Rick Barnes has made Tennessee one of the most consistent winners in the SEC during the 2020s. He always seems to have a great mix of older vets who have fully bought into the system, a couple of difference making freshmen, and a key transfer or two that he absolutely hits on. Ja’Kobi Gillespie, following in the footsteps of Dalton Knecht and Chaz Lanier, is this year’s star transfer – the point guard from Maryland is putting together an All-SEC caliber season (18.6 PPG on 42.7%/35.9%/83.6% with 5.6 APG – second in the conference) and has been the key cog to this offense.
Top five recruit and upcoming 2026 NBA Draft lottery pick, Nate Ament, joins Gillespie in a killer one-two punch. Ament is a poor man’s Victor Wembanyama. The 6’10 big man is capable of scoring from anywhere on the floor (15.4 PPG on 41.2%/27.8%/76.4%) and even handling the rock as a primary initiator of the offense. Now, he can be bullied a bit by more physical, mature players, and he does have a turnover issue, but his ceiling is other-worldly.
As per usual, Barnes surrounds his couple of playmakers with solid, strong role players who all buy-in to Barnes’ defense-first approach. For example: 6’8 Jaylen Carey, 6’10 J.P. Estrella, 6’11 Felix Okpara – all guys with at least three seasons of college basketball under their belts. This year’s Volunteer squad hasn’t been the absolute unit on defense that they normally are – they are merely 14th in Defensive Efficiency, the horror! – but they are still one of the best in the country on that end of the court, and rest assured, they will be ready to bring the wood tonight in Tuscaloosa.
Three Keys to Victory
- Control the Tempo. This is a consistently significant key when these two teams do battle. Alabama is 8th in the country in Adjusted Tempo; Tennessee is 233rd. The Vols want to slow the game to a crawl, muck it up, and hammer away on the defensive end. Alabama, as we all know, isn’t trying to get into that kind of a game. If Alabama can close out defensive possessions with turnovers and rebounds – two areas Chuck can come up big in – the Tide should be able to get out and running.
- Be Quick with Gillespie and Physical with Ament. Tennessee’s offense is kind of living and dying with these two players, and it has shown recently. The Vols have been one of the worst offensive teams in conference play – dead last in turnovers and 13th in FG%. Forcing the ball out of Gillespie’s hands has been the main way defenses have had success against Tennessee’s offense. Alabama’s guards need to be quick enough laterally to keep him in front of them, and the Tide’s bigs need to be quick with their slides if the front-line defense breaks down. Meanwhile, Ament has really slowed down as a scorer recently and is one of the main reasons the Vols have been so bad with the turnovers. Teams have really started to pressure him and be physical with him, and Ament simply hasn’t grown his game enough to overcome that efficiently.
- Get the Treys Cooking. Bediako isn’t the only one returning for the Tide in Tuscaloosa tonight – Latrell Wrightsell is expected to be back in the lineup as well. That gives Alabama yet another perimeter threat. With the Tide getting over 40% of its total points on the season from the three-ball, and Tennessee giving up 46.1% of their total points allowed this year from downtown, this could end up being a big night for the Tide from beyond the arc. Now, Tennessee knows this and will certainly look to run the Tide off of the line, but if Alabama is controlling the pace of the game, it’ll be tough for all of those big Tennessee wings and post players to keep up in transition.
It should be an incredibly entertaining game tonight. It usually is when these two proud programs match-up on the hardwood. Obviously, the eyes of the nation will be upon Nate Oats and his team, as everyone will be tuning in to see how much Bediako plays and what kind of impact he can have on this squad. Most of those people will be rooting against him. But Alabama is no stranger to playing the heel, and if the rest of the country wants to pretend that Tide Hoops is the villain of this story, I’m sure the team has no problem embracing that role.
