The 71-year-old Tennessee basketball coach, who has been around the block 38 seasons as a head coach, emphasizes adaptability. As the Vols prepare to face Alabama on Saturday, it will get sights on Charles Bediako — a professional big man who last played college basketball during the 2022-23 season.

A lawsuit filed earlier this week and a temporary restraining order granted on Wednesday allow Bediako immediate eligibility to return to the college scene.

That’s just the current age of college basketball.

“You have to adapt to it,” Barnes said. “I think for us older coaches, (we) have been in it a long time, and we can go back to the days where the NCAA, you felt like they were watching every move — secret police. And now you wonder what’s going on, but I think it’s out of the hands of the NCAA when judges start stepping in. I mean, what can they do?”

Bringing an NBA MVP back to college would be a no-brainer decision. Therefore, Barnes does not want to be a hypocrite. But it is still not something that he agrees with — not in the slightest.

“Everybody comes to college, and they have college eligibility,” Barnes said. “When you make the choice to give up your college eligibility, you’ve given it up.”

The current landscape has no regulation. On Christmas Eve, 2023 NBA Draft pick James Nnaji announced his commitment to Baylor. He was granted four years of eligibility since he never enrolled in college as an overseas prospect.

At that time, Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats was displeased with the addition.

“I think it’s taking away opportunities from kids coming out of high school,” Oats said. “I was a high school coach for 11 years. I wanted my kids to get opportunities when they left my program. This is taking opportunities away from those kids.”

Fast forward less than a month, and Oats is embracing the villainous role that comes with the NCAA’s lack of control.

Nnaji and Bediako are different cases. Nnaji never signed an NBA contract and never started his NCAA eligibility clock, which gives players five years to play four, traditionally. Bediako, however, has begun his clock. He spent two seasons with Alabama, making a first-round exit and reaching the Sweet 16 while earning the No. 1 overall seed in his sophomore season.

It’s not an age problem. Bediako is 23 years old — the same age as Tennessee sophomore guard Ethan Burg, who is in his first year of college basketball after coming from a professional career in Israel. Barnes recognizes other commitments that prevent age from being in his equation.

He just wants consistency with the clock. Once it begins, you have a limited amount of time before it runs out. Once you forgo remaining eligibility, Barnes says, that should signify the end of the clock.

“I hate it for the players, because sometimes when they choose to leave, they’ve gotten some bad advice, and bad information, and he made the decision based on that,” Barnes said. “But I will say this, too. There’s a lot of decisions in my life that I made, I wish I could go back and fix. I really do. So I think every case can be different. But the age limit, I don’t know if we can talk about that for various different things, but do I think that players should have five years to play college? Absolutely. And they should know that coming in, but once they decide they’re out, they’re out.”

As it stands, Bediako is currently eligible for the next 10 days under the TRO. Preparation remains the same for the next task at hand, even if it means facing a G-Leaguer.

“It’s part of the game now,” Nate Ament said. “Got to adjust and just play whoever’s on the floor.”

Bediako spent his first season of professional basketball with the Austin Spurs, signing a two-way contract with the San Antonio Spurs at one point. He averaged 7.7 points and 6.9 rebounds across 11 appearances with the G-League squad without an NBA minute logged.

He made 34 starts for the Grand Rapids Gold in 2024-25 and most recently appeared in six games for the Motor City Cruise in 2025-26. Now, he’s set to return to his roots, where he made 68 appearances for the Crimson Tide in two seasons. The seven-foot, 225-pound center averaged 6.5 points per game during his time in college.

“Some of those choices haven’t been good through the years,” Barnes said. “And I can say that with some of the players that I’ve coached, and they would tell you that if they were standing here. But once you make the choice, you made the choice.”

Though Barnes joked about Durant, dipping into the professional pool is not something he currently wants to pursue. Part of the recruitment process includes committing to the guys on your team. Tennessee is struggling with a .500 conference record through six games of SEC play.

But that doesn’t change the commitment he has made to the squad he brought into 2025-26.

“Believe me, I love our team,” Barnes said. “I love the fact these guys are continuing to work, and I can say for this particular team, even though we don’t have a scholarship (available), we would not add to this roster, because we’re gonna ride this horse, and we’re gonna go with it, because we believe in them.”

Tennessee and Alabama take the court at Coleman Coliseum for an 8:30 p.m. ET tip on Saturday, Jan. 24.