College Hoops Top 50

Last Year: 25-12; 13-5, Second in the Southeastern Conference, lost in the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament

Head Coach: Nate Oats (Sixth Year; 117-54 at Alabama, with four NCAA Tournament appearances)

Projected Starting Lineup

PG Mark Sears – 6’1″, 190 5th-year Senior

G Latrell Wrightsell, Jr – 6’3″, 190 5th-year Senior

G Chris Youngblood – 6’4″, 223 5th-year Senior

F Grant Nelson – 6’11”, 230 5th-year Senior

C Clifford Omoruyi – 6’11”, 250 5th-year Senior

Experienced Reserves

G Aden Holloway – 6’1″, 180 Sophomore

G Houston Mallette – 6’5″, 200 5th-year Senior

F Mouhamed Dioubate – 6’7″, 215 Sophomore

F Jarin Stevenson – 6’11”, 215 Sophomore

Freshmen

G Labaron Philon – 6’4″, 177 / Top 50 recruit

W Naas Cunningham – 6’7″, 175 / Top 50 recruit

F Derrion Reed – 6’8″, 220 / 5-star recruit

F Aiden Sherrell – 6’10”, 240 / Top 50 recruit

Welcome to the part in Alabama basketball history where the Crimson Tide cement their place as a genuine national powerhouse.

Over the last four years, Bama has been better than ever. In that span, head coach Nate Oats has led the Tide to two Southeastern Conference regular season titles, two SEC tournament crowns, and a pair of Sweet Sixteens. Last season, Alabama advanced to the Final Four for the first time in program history. This year, they’re aiming even higher.

Having achieved all of that success, Bama is also coming back with what looks like a superteam. There is a full lineup of proven stars plus possibly the best freshman class in all the land. The guys who are coming back have instilled a deep belief in themselves and others that they’re a team to be feared when a loss means the end of your season.

Oats has proven to be the prototype coach for the current landscape of college sports, which isn’t 100% a compliment, but he’s laughing all the way up the ladder to cut down pieces of net. His approach has clearly resonated with the type of excellent players needed to win big. Not only does the Tide have guys who could have gone pro coming back to max out their eligibility with him, but backed by Bama’s NIL coffers Oats has proven that he can ‘croot new prospects with the best of ’em.

This fall, more than ever before, Alabama will also feel the weight of elite expectations. In the ever-larger SEC, they will be circled on almost every opponent’s schedule this winter. From the looks of things, there are going to be some fireworks.

Last season, Mark Sears became quite simply one of the best players in America. As dynamic a lead guard as you’ll find, Sears is the remarkably efficient maestro of Alabama’s attack. The Muscle Shoals, AL, native has done nothing but prove since transferring from Ohio, and has added different dimensions following each offseason of his career. Sears tried out for the NBA this spring, but ultimately the Consensus second-team All-American decided to return home. Now, his intention is to captain the Crimson Tide towards their next greatest season ever.

Among players who saw at least 24 minutes and a 24% usage rate per game, Sears earned the second-highest offensive rating in America last season. As a play-driver and shot maker, there may be no one better in the college game than Sears. He uses pace, hesitation, and his terrific quickness to keep the defense guessing and get wherever he wants to go. The edict from Oats is to shoot close two’s or else three’s rather than focusing on in-between looks, and Sears has come to git that ideal perfectly. The diminutive star attempted more shots (240) near the rim than from anywhere else. Not only did Sears make 60.0% of those tries, his toughness and skill working through the lane earned him 231 foul shots. As mentioned, Sears is ultra-efficient, and he converted 85.7% of those trips, ranking 14th nationally with 198 makes. Sears also returns as one of America’s most prolific deep threats. He finished fourth in the SEC with 95 makes on a sizzling 43.6% rate from the land of trey. A good defender, Sears is very aware of what the opposing offense is trying to do and can diagnose sets, jumping in for steals and cutting off passes before they happen. He understands the game, and Sears will be almost like a coach on the floor this winter.

With a legitimate superstar at the controls, Alabama’s other pieces should settle into a comfortable rotation. One of them, forward Grant Nelson, began developing his rapport with Sears last year. Things weren’t always perfect, but Grant saved some of his biggest performances for late in the season. His masterpiece came in the Sweet Sixteen against star-studded North Carolina, as Nelson hung 24 points and 12 rebounds with five blocks on the Heels. There were some less-impressive outings, too, but Nelson’s potential is immense. A natural stretch-4, Grant often operated as the biggest guy on the floor for the Tide. This year, he’s going to get to play a more comfortable role, and there’s a feeling around Tuscaloosa that Nelson might be getting ready to blow up.

The Devil’s Lake, ND, native developed a fairly complete offensive game during his three seasons at North Dakota State before testing himself in the SEC. He’s seen a great variety of coverages and defensive schemes now, and Nelson has become savvy in attacking them. He has high-end touch and smooth footwork around the rim, and Nelson handles the ball well. At his best, Nelson can do it all out of screening action. He can pick and roll or pop for a jumper, or Nelson can lure the defense with a fake and then find an open teammate with a precise feed.

The keys for him this season will be consistency from game to game and improving his jumper from distance. A lot of it had to do with his newness in a very tough league and the physical pounding which Nelson was required to absorb last season, but he seemed to vanish too often. A very capable rim protector, Grant should be able to make a bigger impact defensively as a help guy while someone else bodies up the opposing center. Though his deep ball is a threat, Nelson has made just 55 of his 203 triple tries (27.1%) over the past two seasons. If he’s to truly settle in as the scoring forward in an Oats-coached system, Nelson must become reliably dangerous on the perimeter and in the post. Nelson has been hampered by an abdominal injury in the lead-up to tip-off, but figures to be ready for the new season soon.

The reason Alabama can deploy Nelson in more advantageous ways this year is that Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi, one of the nation’s best rebounders and post defenders, is coming aboard. Twice an All-Defense selection in the Big Ten, Omoruyi is a game-changer on the block. The fifth-year pivot has elite length, quickness, and mobility inside, and Omoruyi has developed excellent timing and awareness over his 121 career games. More than anything else, Omoruyi is a genuinely intimidating rim protector. He’s piled up 221 blocks so far, a total which ranks 14th all-time in Big Ten history.

A force on the glass as well, the rangy Omoruyi also has 32 career double-doubles on his résumé. He’s terrific at getting his hands on everything around the rim, whether flushing home a putback or tapping a nearly unreachable loose ball towards his teammates. Omoruyi snagged 198 offensive rebounds over the past two seasons, and converted those extra opportunities into 76 stickback tries, per Hoop-Math. He remains limited offensively, but that’s really no problem for Oats. He wants someone at the 5 who can deter opponents from attacking the basket, clean the glass, and flat-out drop the hammer inside. Omoruyi does each of those things at a very high level, and ought to make life easier for everyone around him.

With a top-flight point guard and the interior of the court locked down, Bama’s perimeter players should have tremendous freedom to roam and hunt shots. Two veteran scorers look like they will be the primary beneficiaries of such luxury, but Oats has ensured that there are lots of options just in case.

In his Tide debut, former Cal State Fullerton star Latrell Wrightsell, Jr, did a whole bunch of promising things. A deep threat who can handle the ball and set up his friends, Wrightsell fits this veteran team and the Oats system well. Though he missed time at two different points last season due to head injuries, Wrightsell splashed 68 triples at an excellent 44.7% clip – and he made every one of the 27 foul shots he attempted. He began the year as Bama’s 6th man, but Wrightsell transitioned into a starting job late in the campaign, and his presence was a key to the Tide’s early spring run.

“In one season, Wrightsell has become arguably Alabama’s most important player outside of Mark Sears,” declared Nick Kelly for The Tuscaloosa News in March. “If Sears is the motor of the team, Wrightsell is the x-factor.”

“In one season, Wrightsell has become arguably Alabama’s most important player outside of Mark Sears…if Sears is the motor of the team, Wrightsell is the x-factor.”

– Nick Kelly, The Tuscaloosa News

“We need him in a bad way,” Oats declared, positing that Alabama would have had an even greater season had Wrightsell been on the floor every game. “I feel like if we would have had him in those games that he was out we definitely wouldn’t have lost some of the ones we did. We’d have a league championship if he hadn’t gone down.”

If he can continue to score as efficiently as he did last season over a full, healthy year of starter’s minutes, Wrightsell may start putting up some eye-popping numbers. He’s still battling to get fully healthy, but is close to 100% and Wrightsell is expected to be ready early in November. One of themes of this year’s Tide will be the careful balancing of so much talent with the available playing time, though, and guys will need to stand out in order to get ahead.

There are some similarities between Wrightsell and Houston Mallette, the Tide’s latest California import. The Alameda, CA, product spent the past three seasons at Pepperdine, and Mallette brings more experience as a leading man to the Alabama rotation. They say that those who weren’t born in Texas got there as fast as they could. Well, Mallette finished up Pepperdine’s season, got into the portal, and was already committed to the Tide by March 19th – the day the NCAA Tournament began.

With the ball in his hands often at Pepperdine, Mallette grew into a confident and well-rounded scorer. Last year, he scored 1.14 points per shot on pull-up jumpers, per Synergy Sports. Oars likes to see his guys move the ball well enough to shoot spot-up outside shots with their feet set, so Mallette may be steered away from that style slightly. With his ability to knock down even contested looks, though, Mallette should be highly productive waiting to fire away on the wing.

New to the Tide but not to winning basketball teams around the south, Chris Youngblood has come aboard to give Oats another proven scoring guard. Two years ago, he led Kennesaw State to 26 wins, an Atlantic Sun championship sweep, and gave 3-seed Xavier a scare in the NCAA Tournament. Last winter, Youngblood followed his coach, Amir Abdur-Rahim, to South Florida. There, he led the Bulls to 25 more wins and the American Athletic Conference regular season title. For his efforts in USF’s huge turnaround – the Bulls had won just 14 games two years back – Youngblood was named the AAC’s Player of the Year. What can he do next for the Tide?

Five Stats Which Tell The Tale (with national ranks)

90.1 – Points Per Game (1st)

56.6% – Team 2FG Percentage (14th)

50.8% – Opponent 2FG Percentage (228th)

37.3% – Team 3FG Percentage (14th)

31.7% – Opponent 3FG Percentage (64th)

Youngblood is a keen marksman who arrives in Tuscaloosa with 270 made triples and a 39.4% career rate from downtown. The last couple of years, Youngblood has put up excellent shooting splits, hitting 50.9/41.6/82.5% on two’s, three’s, and freebies. In making the jump up to South Florida, Youngblood was the most effective he’s ever been as a playmaker, helping to acclimate new teammates to Abdur-Rahim’s system and making clean, smart decisions with the ball. Youngblood is also a playmaker on the other end, where he gets into passing lanes and can be a highly effective shot blocker. He’s a physically strong player who can bully some other guards if they try to drive, or shove them out of the way to grab a loose ball. A guy who can take the ball away, start the break, and finish it with a layup, pass or triple, Youngblood’s style should fit right in with Alabama. This year, Youngblood could start or become an ideal 6th man for the Tide. Regardless of his role, a versatile winner like Youngblood figures to play plenty of important minutes.

So, Alabama has a strong, proven core of veterans ready to win now. Oats has kept an eye on the future, too…and he’s bringing in arguably the best freshman class in the country. And he’s got a couple of touted youngsters coming back who got their feet wet with last year’s 25-win team. The fact that Bama is also welcoming the best recruit that their rivals over at Auburn signed last year just sorta feels like Oats doing a full-on dance routine in the end zone.

The guy who made the unprecedented move from Auburn to Alabama is Aden Holloway, and with confidence like that, the sky may be his limit. A 5-star recruit just last fall, Holloway arrived in Tuscaloosa last summer with a reputation as a fantastic shooter, but he was very streaky as a rookie. Now, Holloway believes he’s found a better match for what he does well.

“I feel like the fit at Alabama is more catered to my game,” Holloway told Andy Katz this fall. “Auburn was a great program, a great winning program, it just wasn’t a fit for my game. I have love for the people over there, I just had to go here. I feel like this was the best place for me to get better.” If Oats and his staff can get Holloway untracked, not only will they have the heir to Sears, but the Tide will have an instant-offense weapon.

Though Jarin Stevenson was the youngest of the Tide’s players a year ago, the 6’11” forward played a legit role. After reclassifying from this year to debut with the Tide last fall, Stevenson made five starts and averaged nearly 17 minutes per contest. He can hit from the outside too, and Stevenson’s two-way ability is clear to see. He’s very long, very quick, and very springy, and Stevenson can hit from deep when he’s not throwing down dunks. In fact, he looked so advanced for an 18-year-old that Stevenson tried out for the NBA Draft along with Sears before choosing to play his sophomore year for Oats. Along the way, Stevenson put on some weight and added strength to help out against the grown dudes he’s been going up against. He will start the year as the backup to Nelson, but Stevenson has outstanding skills and may push for a bigger role quite soon. Mouhamed Dioubate is a physical, athletic guy who should help out in a bigger way as a sophomore. He’s been impressive this summer, and Oats is looking forward to Dioubate making legit strides soon.

Five Out-of-Conference Games to Keep an Eye on

N Houston – November 26

@ Purdue – November 15

@ North Carolina – December 4

N Creighton – December 14

N Illinois – November 20

Ridiculously, as if all of that talent weren’t enough, Oats and his staff are welcoming one of America’s very best recruiting classes. There are four freshmen coming aboard who have each been rated a Top 50 prospect by multiple publications. The crown jewel is forward Derrion Reed, who’s a 5-star scorer with the makings of a classic shooting forwards repertoire. With quick enough feet to guard and operate offensively on the perimeter plus a developing iso game in the paint, Reed will be a star soon enough.

Aiden Sherrell is a big, mobile, modern big man. He’s both explosive near the rim and quick getting around the court, and Sherrell moves with the fluidity of a much smaller player. He’s extending the range on his jumper out to the three-point arc, and Sherrell looks like a future go-to scorer up front who could grow into a fairly complete force. Former Kansas committee Labaron Philon was a late coup added to the Tide’s class, and he’s an open-floor distributor and playmaker who should prove an excellent pairing with Bama’s go-go approach. Though Naas Cunningham is raw enough that he might not hit the floor as quickly as his three classmates, he might be the most athletic of the quartet. As he puts a full compliment of perimeter skills together with consistency and greater strength, Cunningham’s incredible leaping ability and acrobatic scoring instincts will shine through.

Some teams say that they can go two-deep. Bama means it. This team is incredibly loaded, even relative to the nation’s other leading contenders. Not only will Oats have to delicately balance his rotations, but he’ll have to do so while facing possibly the nation’s toughest schedule. True road games against North Dakota, North Carolina, and Purdue loom, as well as home dates with McNeese State, Arkansas State, Kent State and Creighton. Oh, and Alabama will take part in the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas. And after all of that, SEC play remains. It’s the sort of ambitious schedule which could ruin the confidence of some teams before conference play even starts, but this group should be special enough to power through. The Tide is loaded, experienced, and hungry to Roll on back to the final weekend of the NCAA Tournament.