Expectations for the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program have never been higher.
Just months after making their first Final Four appearance, the Crimson Tide are ranked No. 2 in the preseason AP Top 25 Men’s College Basketball Poll and are a strong pick by national analysts to win the SEC, which featured eight teams represented at last season’s NCAA Tournament.
Alabama will be returning top scoring guard Mark Sears as well as forward Grant Nelson, both huge contributors to the Tide’s March Madness run that included an 89-87 victory over No. 1 seed North Carolina in the Sweet 16 and a hard-fought 89-82 win over a gritty, experienced Clemson Tigers squad in the Elite Eight.
But Oats wasn’t focused on last season’s trip to the Final Four during his appearance at SEC Media Days in Birmingham on Tuesday. To him, that Final Four run is already “old news.”
“We obviously used it in recruiting to get some of them here,” Oats said. “But I don’t really want to talk about it that much with the team. We had the celebration Friday where we raised the banner and gave out the rings. The issue is that eight out of our 13 scholarship guys weren’t here last year.
“That was last year. It’s kind of old news,” Oats added. “It was great for the program, for the fans, for the university to be able to celebrate it, but it has nothing to do with what we’ve got going on this year. So, we’re trying to flip the page, move on, and not really address it. It was nice. It was good for our league, it’s good for our school and good for our program, but we’ve got to focus on what we’ve got to do this year, and that’s where we’re trying to get our guys’ minds at.”
Alabama will open the 2024-25 regular season against UNC Asheville on Nov. 4 at Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.
Here’s everything Oats said at SEC Media Days entering his sixth season in Tuscaloosa.
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