Wednesday, May 29 marks the final day for college basketball players to withdraw from the NBA draft process and return to college. Alabama Crimson Tide G [autotag]Mark Sears[/autotag] is the player with the most interesting decision to make after leading the Tide to their first-ever Final Four appearance in 2024 as well as earning second-team All-American honors and First-team All-SEC.
For Sears, his draft stock will likely not get much higher as he was already one of the best players in college last season as he averaged 21.5 ppg, 4.2 rpg and 4.0 apg. However, if he decides to make the return to Alabama he easily puts the Tide over the top as the best team in the country. With [autotag]Grant Nelson[/autotag] set to return and [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] realizing a ton of success in the transfer portal, Alabama will be okay regardless, but returning the best player from last season’s team would be the cherry on top.
From what I am seeing, more NBA mock drafts have Sears going undrafted than drafted so I tend to think the odds lean in favor of him coming back. Jeff Borzello of ESPN doesn’t necessarily agree with me though as he believes Sears should go pro saying,
“Sears would likely want to stay in the NBA draft. He participated in the NBA draft combine, but he’s ranked No. 79 in ESPN’s top 100 and isn’t a lock to be selected. If he returns to Tuscaloosa, Nate Oats’ team would have a real argument to be the preseason No. 1 team. Sears was an All-American and first-team All-SEC selection last season after averaging 21.5 points, 4.2 rebounds and 4.0 assists, while shooting 43.6% from 3-point range. The 6-foot-1 guard put up 24.2 points in five NCAA tournament games. On a side note, teammate Jarin Stevenson was invited to the G League Elite Camp but should return to school.”
Regardless of the decision Sears makes, truly neither of them are bad. If he decides to return to Alabama, he will start putting himself in the thick of the Alabama hoops G.O.A.T. debate.
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