Tag: mark sears

Assessing Alabama’s national championship hopes after grueling non-conference schedule

Can Alabama basketball make a legitimate run at the 2024-25 national championship?

The Alabama Crimson Tide have two games remaining in their non-conference portion of the 2024-25 schedule after narrowly beating the North Dakota Fighting Hawks on the road Wednesday evening. The Tide will wrap up the month with home games against Kent State and South Dakota State before opening up SEC play against the No. 14 Oklahoma Sooners on Jan. 4 in Tuscaloosa.

Head coach Nate Oats has made it a massive priority to play the toughest non-conference schedule possible to test his teams for the post-season, and so far it’s paid dividends as Alabama earned the No. 1 overall seed in March Madness in 2023 and made the Final Four in 2024.

Alabama is currently ranked No. 6 in the country at 9-2 on the year with their only two losses coming against No. 16 Purdue on the road and vs No. 10 Oregon in the Players Era Festival Tournament Championship. However, the Tide do have some of the most impressive wins of the early part of the season against Illinois, Houston, North Carolina and Creighton.

With five teams ranked inside of the top seven and eight total teams in the top 25, the SEC is without a doubt the deepest conference in the country. I do believe that Alabama’s gauntlet of a non-conference schedule as well as their depth will be a massive advantage in the race for the conference title because I don’t think anyone will be running the table in a league this good. By the time March rolls around, an already veteran Crimson Tide team will also be the most battle tested team in the country.

To the surprise of none, Grant Nelson and Mark Sears have paved the way for the Tide, but Labaron Philon and Aden Holloway are quickly emerging as key pieces for Oats. Losing Latrell Wrightsell to a season ending injury obviously hurts a lot, but Alabama has other pieces to overcome it.

March Madness is all about who’s hot at the right time, but Alabama will have all of the pieces to make a legit national title run. There are still things to clean up as the Crimson Tide surrender nearly 80 points per game and average 12.7 turnovers a game. Alabama has also struggled a little bit more on the road this year so that will be something to monitor as conference play starts, but their high octane offense will be a problem for any team in the nation.

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Instant Recap: Alabama survives massive upset bid at North Dakota for close road win

Alabama survives North Dakota. Here’s how it happened.

The Alabama Crimson Tide got a much tougher fight than anyone expected Wednesday night in the state of North Dakota.

Pushed to the brink by a career-high 40 points from North Dakota shooting guard Treysen Eaglestaff, Alabama survived with a 97-90 win in nonconference play over the Fighting Hawks at Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks.

Thirteen first-half Alabama turnovers gave North Dakota a shocking 38-35 halftime lead over the No. 6 team in the nation. That included a 3-of-10 start from the field by Alabama in the game’s first seven minutes. UND jumped out to an 11-6 lead they would eventually stretch to nine on one of Eaglestaff’s many 3-pointers.

In the second half, the Tide started to roll by taking a 58-47 lead as part of a 13-0 run that included a steal and a dunk from freshman Labaron Philon.

It was nothing short of fitting that home state product Grant Nelson — the main reason for Alabama’s trip to Grand Forks — was a big reason for the Tide’s second-half surge. Nelson would finish the night tied for the team-high in points with 23, including a dunk with 8:40 to play in regulation.

Even so, closing out the Fighting Hawks proved to be an all-but-impossible task for Nelson and the Crimson Tide.

North Dakota refused to go away and tied the game at 78-78 with just over four minutes to play. But after Eli King drained a 3-pointer that tied it at 85-all with two minutes to go, Nelson put Alabama back ahead for good on a jump shot before adding a pair of clutch free throws to extend the lead to 89-85.

Nelson, who transferred to Alabama from North Dakota State ahead of the 2023-24 season, got the rebound when Eaglestaff missed from downtown with just over a minute to play. He also got the offensive board when Mark Sears missed what would have been a dagger from 3-point range, forcing North Dakota to begin fouling.

Mo Dioubate sank four foul shots in the final minute to help Alabama close out the victory. Nelson added 10 rebounds as part of a double-double, and Sears finished with 23 points on 7-of-14 shots from the field to help the Tide survive what would have been the biggest upset of the year in college basketball.

Eaglestaff’s 40 points for North Dakota included eight 3-pointers. He finished the night 15-of-30 from the field .

With the win, Alabama improved to 9-2 overall. North Dakota fell to 4-9 but will feel better about their chances in Summit League play after taking the No. 6 team in the country down to the wire.

RELATED: Instant reactions to Alabama’s close victory at North Dakota

Alabama basketball schedule 2024-25

The Crimson Tide return to Coleman Coliseum to face the Kent State Golden Flashes (8-2) Sunday. Tipoff is scheduled for noon CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

Instant recap: Alabama basketball survives tough challenge from Creighton

Alabama survives Creighton. Here’s how it happened.

Led by Mark Sears’ game-high 27 points, the Alabama Crimson Tide finally ended the “Creighton curse” Saturday night with an 83-75 victory over the Bluejays at Coleman Coliseum.

Alabama’s first game in Tuscaloosa in 33 days was far from an easy one. The Crimson Tide (8-2 overall) led by as many as 17 points in the first half, then had to hold on tight to close things out.

Nate Oats’ team started well, hitting five of its first eight shots for an early 13-5 lead in the first six minutes after Sears converted a layup off a mismatch underneath — part of a 9-0 Alabama run.

The Tide’s hot start continued when Labaron Philon converted an easy layup off a turnover and made another basket underneath to make it 24-10. Alabama  stretched the lead to 17 when Sears was left open on a deep 3-pointer to make it 27-10, an 11-0 Crimson Tide spurt as Creighton went almost 5:30 without a basket.

But Alabama hit a cold-shooting spell late in the opening half to allow Creighton (7-4) to make it a 10-point game with under four minutes. The Crimson Tide led 37-31 at halftime after closing the first half by making just one of their last 14 shots.

Alabama went up by 13 in the second half when freshman Derrion Reid’s dunk made it 65-52 with 6:40 to play. Reid would go on to finish with 12 points, his third game in four nights in double figures.

Creighton cut the lead to 10 with 4:30 left and slowly continued to chip away. When Jackson McAndrew converted a four-point play with 24 seconds left, the Bluejays trailed by just four at 79-75.

Alabama closed out the game from the free-throw line as Sears made all four attempts from the charity stripe. In addition to Sears’ 27 points, Philon finished with 16. Alabama shot 43 percent from the field (30-of-70) and only 20 percent (six-of-30) from behind the arc.

The Crimson Tide had been winless in three previous meetings against Creighton, including a loss in the first round of the 2012 NCAA Tournament and last season’s 85-82 loss in Omaha.

Alabama basketball schedule 2024-25

The Crimson Tide will face the North Dakota Fighting Hawks (4-7) in Grand Forks, N.D., on Wednesday. Tipoff is set for 8 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.

Everything Nate Oats said after Alabama beat UNC basketball again

Here’s everything Nate Oats said after Alabama beat North Carolina 94-79 to improve to 7-2.

Alabama basketball is getting pretty good at beating North Carolina.

Nate Oats’ hot-shooting team had six players finish in double figures, and the Crimson Tide beat the Tar Heels, 94-79, in the SEC-ACC Challenge Wednesday night in Chapel Hill.

It was Alabama’s third straight victory since November 2022 against UNC, whom the Crimson Tide also beat in the Sweet 16 of last season’s NCAA Tournament. Unlike that late night back in March in Los Angeles, this one wasn’t close.

Alabama (7-2 overall) led 43-34 at halftime and used a 9-0 run shortly after intermission. The Crimson Tide led by as many as 18 in the final 10 minutes at the Dean Dome after Houston Mallette buried a 3-pointer to put Alabama ahead 70-52.

A transfer from Pepperdine, Mallette had planned to redshirt this season. That changed after Latrell Wrightsell’s season-ending Achilles’ injury last Saturday against Oregon.

Mark Sears led the Tide with 20 points against UNC (4-4). Alabama got 15 apiece from freshman Labaron Philon and Auburn transfer Aden Holloway, and Clifford Omoruyi and freshman Derrion Reed each had 11. Grant Nelson, who led Alabama’s Sweet 16 effort over the Tar Heels last season, finished with 10 points.

Nate Oats’ Opening Statement after 94-79 win over UNC

“I thought our guys showed a lot of toughness, resilience. We came off a tough loss against Oregon and easily could have let that loss turn into two, but I thought they got their minds right. Ready to play. I thought they executed the defensive game plan outside of transition buckets, which that’s what they (UNC) do best. We didn’t do a great job with it, particularly in the first half. Outside of that, in the half-court they struggled and I thought our guys did a really good job of executing the game plan.

“I was super happy for these two guys: Houston (Mallette), unselfish enough to come off of his redshirt and come in. We were plus 12 in his nine minutes, hit two 3’s, made some huge defensive plays, some rebounds, had a tip that kept an offensive rebound alive, and I think we got a dunk on that play. It was great. Jarin (Stevenson) kind of settled in and made some big 3’s for us. I thought he did a great job on RJ Davis, who’s not easy to guard. RJ is one of the best guards in the country and Jarin… just 19 years old, I thought he did an unbelievable job on RJ, as well as Houston and Derrion Reid. We tried to keep some size on Davis.

“He got his shots off, which we kind of knew. I think he averaged 22 field goal attempts in the two previous games we played them. We had 24 tonight, but we just wanted to make them as tough as we could. He hit some tough ones but I thought our guys — keeping some size on him, making him shoot very tough shots — I thought that was pretty good. Coach Adams did a really great job with the defensive game plan. For the most part, we took care of the ball, but late against the press and late in the first half, we weren’t good with it. But we did a better job of taking care of the ball over the course of probably the other 34-35 minutes.”

Nate Oats on Alabama’s defensive effort against North Carolina

Alabama held RJ Davis to 18 points on 7-of-24 shooting. Overall, the Tar Heels shot 41 percent from the field.

“Like I said, it was not good in transition, particularly in the first half. We had 24 transition possessions for them and they scored 29 of their points and go 1.21, and then when we had to go in a half-court, we had 39 points and 65 possessions for 0.6, which is… that’s like the best defense in the country type stuff in the half-court. The issue is, we gave up so many in transition, which is what they do best. We’ve just got to do a better job of getting back.

“I thought once we got our defense set, the shots that we were willing to give up is pretty much the shots that they took, and they were contested jumpers. I thought our bigs did a great job going vertical at the rim. You know, you take away the transition, the second chance, our first-shot half-court offense was elite tonight. So, we got to get all of it figured out. The transition has got to get better. The first shot was great and then we’ve got to be able to rebound the ball a little bit better.”

Nate Oats talks significance of SEC dominance in SEC-ACC Challenge

“It’s good for our league. I think we’ve got a really good basketball league. It was pretty good when I got here. Auburn was coming off a Final Four. Obviously you had great tradition. Kentucky looks great. I know they took the loss (to Clemson) last night, but they’ve done a great job so far this year. You’ve got talent across the league, so I think to play a really good league like the ACC that’s got all kinds of great tradition and to do it — what are in the challenge right now? … Whatever it is, it’s great. So, I think it’s obviously good because once you get in January, all you play is the SEC. So you need to establish yourself as an unbelievably great league in the nonconference because then when we’re playing all those teams, those games go a long ways.

“So even a tough loss on the road in the SEC is not really going to hurt you a lot in the committee’s eyes if your league is doing this well in the nonconference. So, great job by the league emphasizing basketball. Really good coaches in our league and some really good athletes. It’s tough, night in, night out. This is a great environment, but some other great environments in the SEC we’ve got to go into and win. So, it’s good that we’re able to go into an environment like this and get a win and some confidence playing in a tough road environment.”

Nate Oats updates Latrell Wrightsell after season-ending injury

“Yeah, I texted with him a little bit this afternoon. The surgery was successful. They repaired his Achilles. His parents are in town with him. Our guys talked about him in the locker room after the game. He’s a great kid, a really good leader and we’re gonna surround him with a lot of support and care while he recovers and wish him a speedy recovery.”

Nate Oats discusses the SEC’s rise in basketball

“It’s only my sixth year there, so the rise started before I got there but it’s climbed since I’ve gotten in there, as well. I think what the stuff you did mention, I do think the financial resources are a big deal. I think the league decided they want to be good in basketball. It doesn’t need to just be a football or baseball league. There’s a lot of good sports, and basketball being one of the more popular sports in college athletics, they just decided to put a big point emphasis on it.

“They hired a guy that’s just in charge of men’s basketball, Dan Leibovitz, I think was the first one. He’s now at the Big East, and Garth Glissman has been unbelievable since he got there. So, I think there’s an emphasis on it by the administrations, by the league as a whole. I think putting the resources that they need to, going out and hiring great coaches that are able to recruit great talent. We’ve got more NBA players I believe than any other league and typically have more NBA players in pretty much every draft. So, got athletes with great coaches and if you’re not on your A-game as a coach, you’re not going to win. So I think it’s just raised.

“I walked in the league and our big rival was Auburn and they were coming off a Final Four. I got hired and then they made the Final Four a week after I got hired, so we had to try to match them. It took us five years. We finally got there. We got our Final Four, but you’ve got to go down the list… Tennessee and Rick Barnes is one of the best coaches in all of college basketball for a long time. (John) Calipari has done an unbelievable job at Kentucky. Now, he’s got an unbelievable roster at Arkansas. Kentucky, Auburn, just keep going down the list, and some of them were very dominating wins (Tuesday) night. I thought Ole Miss had a really good win (86-63 over Louisville). It was good for our league. So, I’m just glad we were able to help our league out because we didn’t help the league out last year with our SEC-ACC Challenge game.”

Nate Oats on whether he saw improvement in Alabama’s spacing on offense

“Way better. The turnovers came on some carelessness and then against the press, so the half-court spacing was significantly better. I thought we got guys better shots. You look and we were able to hit 12 3’s, which we’d still like to get more off. But we were able to take care of the ball better, space the floor and get some 3’s. We also had some assists on some cuts because the spacing was better. I thought it was significantly better tonight than it had been.”

Nate Oats explains Labaron Philon’s success in true road environments like North Carolina and Purdue

“You know what, he’s a competitor. He’s been practicing hard. You have to deserve to play well, and he deserves to play well. He brings it every day in practice. He’s been bringing it since he walked on court in June. He’s got the ultimate confidence, but you can’t just instill confidence in a kid. You have to earn that confidence. You earn it by playing hard in practice, working on your game. I think he’s earned the confidence. He’s earned the playing time and he’s earned the right to play well. And he steps into these games not scared at all, and he brings it on both ends of the floor and he’s played really well in big games for us.”

Nate Oats on Aden Holloway’s shots starting to fall and how big he’ll be in Latrell Wrightsell’s absence

“I thought it was great. Obviously he’s a little upset with himself at the turnovers. His shooting was unbelievable. I mean, I don’t want to say this is what we expected, to go 5-of-9 every game, but we’ve seen him shoot it like this in practice for a long time, so we know what he’s capable of shooting the ball. He’s been taking care of the ball. I think the press rattled him a little bit and he’s a little upset with himself, so we’ll get that figured out.

“But the shooting was huge because Wrightsell’s been our best shooter all year, so we need somebody to step up and make some 3’s. So, he hit five of our 12 3’s, and I thought the minutes he gave us were great. We’ll get him a little bit better on defense and better at taking care of the ball moving forward.”

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North Carolina men’s basketball slips to 4-4 after double-digit loss to Alabama

The North Carolina Tar Heels lost their third straight game on Wednesday night, a 94-79 defeat at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide.

The North Carolina Tar Heels men’s basketball team dropped its third straight game on Wednesday night, a 94-79 defeat at the hands of the Alabama Crimson Tide in Chapel Hill.

The Crimson Tide knocked UNC out of last season’s NCAA Tournament in the Sweet 16, and RJ Davis and his Tar Heels teammates surely wanted revenge in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Instead of a bounce-back win, however, North Carolina gave up 43 points to the high-powered Alabama offense before halftime to fall helplessly behind.

Crimson Tide superstar Mark Sears led Alabama with 20 points, making half of his 14 shots for the night, and he set up his teammates for seven assists. Five other Alabama players put up at least 10 points, and the Crimson Tide made 49.3% of their attempts from the floor.

UNC star RJ Davis, the ACC Preseason Player of the Year, scored just 18 points on 24 shot attempts after he went 1/11 from behind the arc. Despite 23 points from freshman Ian Jackson off the bench, the Tar Heels could never cut into the Alabama lead.

After back-to-back losses to the Auburn Tigers and Michigan State Spartans at the Maui Invitational, North Carolina is now 4-4 for the season.

Alabama falls in USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll amid brutal nonconference schedule

Check out where Nate Oats’ Alabama basketball team is ranked in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, released Monday.

Alabama basketball coach Nate Oats knew what he was doing when he put together one of the toughest nonconference schedules in the nation ahead of the 2024-25 college basketball season. Oats’ team has since slipped a bit in the rankings after entering the year as preseason No. 2 in the USA TODAY Sports’ Coaches Poll.

While Alabama (6-2) reeled off two impressive wins last week in the inaugural Players Era Festival in Las Vegas, defeating the Houston Cougars 85-80 in overtime and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights, 95-90, the Crimson Tide lost the finale of the Players Era Festival Saturday night with an 83-81 loss to Dana Altman’s Oregon Ducks.

As a result, Alabama fell three spots to No. 12 in the new USA TODAY Sports Coaches Poll, released Monday.

Oregon, previously unranked, jumped 27 spots and moved all the way to No. 10 in the Coaches Poll after beating Alabama, San Diego State and the Texas A&M Aggies to win the Players Era Festival.

The Wisconsin Badgers (8-0) also jumped past Mark Sears and the Crimson Tide, landing at No. 11 after wins over the Pitt Panthers and UCF Knights to win the Greenbrier Tip-Off in West Virginia.

The Purdue Boilermakers (7-1), who defeated Alabama 87-78 at Mackey Arena on Nov. 15, moved back into the top 10 at No. 7 after winning the Rady Children’s Invitational in San Diego with an 80-78 victory over the Ole Miss Rebels.

Alabama is ranked one spot behind the No. 11 Badgers and one spot ahead of the No. 13 Florida Gators in this week’s poll.

Bill Self’s Kansas Jayhawks (7-0) remained No. 1 for the fourth straight week after entering 2024 as preseason No. 1 in the Coaches Poll. Bruce Pearl’s Auburn Tigers (7-0), the Tennessee Volunteers (7-0) and Marquette Golden Eagles (8-0) were big risers in this week’s poll.

Auburn moved up one spot to No. 2 after dominant wins over the North Carolina Tar Heels and Memphis Tigers to win the Maui Invitational in Hawaii. Tennessee rose three spots to No. 3, with Marquette jumping seven spots to land at No. 4.

The Iowa State Cyclones (5-1) rounded out the top five.

Alabama basketball 2024 schedule

Next up for the Crimson Tide is a trip to Chapel Hill to face No. 22 North Carolina in the SEC/ACC Challenge. Tipoff for Alabama vs. North Carolina is scheduled for 6:15 p.m. CT Wednesday at the Dean Smith Center. The game will be televised on ESPN.

ESPN’s Matchup Predictor currently gives North Carolina a 57.7 percent chance of beating Alabama. The two teams met in the Sweet 16 last March, an 89-87 Alabama win over the No. 1 seed Tar Heels.

Full USA TODAY Sports Men’s Basketball Coaches Poll

Rank Team Record Points
1 Kansas 7-0 760 (19)
2 Auburn 7-0 755 (12)
3 Tennessee 7-0 694
4 Marquette 8-0 646
5 Iowa State 5-1 629
6 Kentucky 7-0 628
7 Purdue 7-1 535
8 Gonzaga 7-1 517
9 Duke 5-2 472
10 Oregon 8-0 457
11 Wisconsin 8-0 450
12 Alabama 6-2 441
13 Florida 8-0 427
14 Cincinnati 6-0 376
15 Memphis 6-1 265
16 Baylor 5-2 262
17 Illinois 6-1 234
18 Houston 4-3 221
19 Pittsburgh 7-1 213
20 Ole Miss 6-1 139
21 Oklahoma 7-0 111
22 North Carolina 4-3 96
23 Michigan 6-1 90
24 Texas A&M 6-2 86
25 Michigan State 6-2 73

Schools Dropped Out

No. 2 UConn; No. 15 Indiana; No. 19 Creighton; No. 21 Arkansas; No. 22 Xavier; No. 23 Arizona

Others Receiving Votes

UConn 63; San Diego State 56; Texas 54; Mississippi State 39; Arizona State 39; Drake 34; Texas Tech 32; Arkansas 28; UCLA 17; Xavier 16; BYU 16; Ohio State 15; Utah State 13; Saint Mary’s 12; Dayton 10; St. John’s 8; Nebraska 8; Indiana 8; Creighton 8; West Virginia 5; Maryland 5; Clemson 5; Georgia 3; Arizona 2; UC Irvine 1; Nevada 1

Alabama fails first big test of new season with loss to No. 12 Purdue

Alabama fell, 87-78, at Purdue Friday night as the Crimson Tide’s early season 3-point shooting woes continued.

Trey Kaufman-Penn had a game-high 26 points, Braden Smith had a double-double, and the hot-shooting Purdue Boilermakers handed No. 2 Alabama basketball its first loss of the season, 87-78, inside a raucous Mackey Arena Friday night.

In the first big nonconference test for Nate Oats’ team, Alabama (3-1) seemed to be playing with nerves early on, missing open looks and not finishing baskets. Their struggles from behind the arc continued for a third straight game. Alabama shot 31 percent (9-for-29) from downtown and 44 percent overall from the field.

Top scorer Mark Sears was held to 15 points and made just one of six shots from behind the arc. Freshman Labaron Philon’s 18 points off the bench led the Crimson Tide.

By contrast, No. 12 Purdue (4-0) shot a lights-out 9-of-16 from 3-point range and made 49.2 percent of its baskets from the field.

Alabama would use an 11-2 run in the second half to take its biggest lead of the night at 65-59 following a 3-pointer from Auburn transfer Aden Holloway with 11 minutes left in the game.

The lead lasted no time. Purdue surged with a decisive 13-0 run that included three consecutive 3-point shots by freshman guard C.J. Cox. As the game wore on, Alabama missed 11 of 12 shots at one point as Purdue built a 75-68 lead with under five minutes left.

Smith scored 17 points and had 10 assists for Purdue. Fletcher Loyer was another hot shooter, adding 17 points, as well.

Alabama got 12 points from Grant Nelson and 11 from Latrell Wrightsell.

Alabama basketball 2024 schedule

Alabama will face No. 20 Illinois Wednesday night in the C.M. Newton Classic at Legacy Arena in Birmingham. Tipoff is at 8 p.m CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

Alabama basketball overcomes adversity to beat Arkansas State

Alabama survives a challenging test from a gritty Arkansas State team to improve to 2-0.

The No. 2 ranked Alabama Crimson Tide overcame a first-half foul fest and a cold shooting night in a 88-79 win over the Arkansas State Red Wolves in nonconference play Friday night at Coleman Coliseum.

At halftime, Alabama (2-0) had let a 16-point first-half lead dwindle to just three at 43-40. A total of 31 fouls were charged to the two teams by referee Pat Adams and crew before the buzzer sounded at intermission.

In the second half, Arkansas State (1-1) tied the game at 68-all with seven minutes to play. But Alabama managed to pull away thanks to an 11-2 run that was capped by freshman Derrion Reed’s dunk with 2:54 left. That extended the Crimson Tide lead to nine at 81-72.

Mark Sears led Alabama (2-0) with 19 points. Sears went 0-for-5 from 3-point range and was 4-of-12 from the field. As a team, Alabama shot just 40.9 percent vs. the 63 percent it hit from in the season opener against UNC Asheville on Monday. They were 6-of-31 from behind the arc.

Moreover, the Tide struggled from the charity stripe, making only 63.6 percent of its free throws (28-of-44).

Senior forward Grant Nelson, freshman Labaron Philon, and Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi all had 12 points behind Sears. Nelson added six rebounds in 12 minutes of action as he eases his way back into playing time from a minutes restriction stemming from an abdominal injury.

Alabama returns to action on Monday when the McNeese State Cowboys, led by former LSU Tigers coach Will Wade, visits Coleman Coliseum. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. CT. The game will be televised on SEC Network.

Alabama’s Mark Sears named Preseason SEC Player of the Year by coaches

The preseason accolades continue to come in for Alabama guard Mark Sears.

On Wednesday afternoon, the preseason All-SEC teams and Player of the Year were officially announced by the conference, as voted on by the 16 basketball coaches across the Southeastern Conference.

As expected, the Alabama Crimson Tide were featured in this, headlined by guard Mark Sears being named the 2024-25 preseason SEC Player of the Year.

Sears was also a preseason First Team All-SEC selection by the conference’s coaches, while forward Grant Nelson was named Second Team All-SEC.

As mentioned, this was voted on by the conference’s 16 coaches, which is different than the preseason media poll that came out a few weeks ago. In that poll, Alabama was picked to win the SEC, while Sears was also picked as the preseason SEC Player of the Year as well.

Sears and Nelson were also both preseason First and Second Team All-SEC selections, respectively.

The Crimson Tide are set to begin the 2024-25 season November 4 at home against UNC Asheville.

Two Alabama players named to 2024-25 Naismith Award preseason watch list

Two Alabama players named to preseason watch list for college basketball’s top individual honor.

The preseason honors continue to roll in for Alabama Crimson Tide standout Mark Sears, as the guard was named to the watch list for the Naismith Player of the Year. In addition to Sears, forward Grant Nelson was also named to the preseason watch list for the award.

College basketball’s top individual honor, the Naismith Trophy is presented annually to the top player in the sport, and has been won each of the last two seasons by former Purdue center Zach Edey.

With the Purdue star having since moved on the NBA as well, it means that there will be a new winner this season, and Sears is a popular preseason pick to do just that.

The preseason SEC Player of the Year, Sears was one of the top point guards in college basketball a year ago, averaging 21.5 PPG, 4.2 RPG, 4 APG, and 1.6 SPG across 37 games. Sears also shot 50.8% from the field, 43.6% from three, and 85.7% at the free throw line, and received numerous honors that included All-American, First Team All-SEC, and more.

As for Nelson, the forward also started all 37 games for Alabama a year ago, averaging 11.9 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 1.5 APG, and 1.6 BPG. Nelson also shot 48.8% from the field, 27.3% from three, and 81.3% at the free throw line.