Tag: Nate Oats

Alabama basketball announces home-and-home series against Purdue in 2024-25 and 2025-26

Alabama basketball agrees to take on Purdue again in 2024 after 92-86 loss in Toronto a season ago

Since taking over as the head coach of the Alabama Crimson Tide basketball program, [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] has completely eradicated the notion that Alabama is only a “football school.” In just five years, Oats has posted a 117-54 record with a laundry list of accolades, including two SEC regular season two titles, two SEC tournament championships, an SEC Coach of the Year award, and guided Alabama to the school’s first-ever Final Four appearance.

Oats has done an outstanding job on the recruiting trail and filling out the Alabama roster, but the thing that has set Alabama apart during his tenure is their desire to play the toughest non-conference schedule possible. In 2023, the Crimson Tide took on a number of ranked opponents such as Creighton, Arizona, Oregon and Purdue among others.

After an outstanding 2023 game, Alabama and Purdue have agreed to run it back in 2024-25 and 2025-26 as the two schools have agreed to the home-and-home series. The Boilermakers got the best of the Tide 92-86 in Toronto a season ago, but with Zach Edey now gone, the Crimson Tide will look for revenge on the road.

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ESPN assess whether G Mark Sears should return to Alabama or stay in the NBA draft

ESPN’s Jeff Borzello claims that Alabama G Mark Sears needs to stay in the NBA draft

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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Nate Oats complimentary of transfer portal addition Chris Youngblood

Nate Oats is excited about this Alabama basketball transfer portal addition

It has been a wild couple of months for [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team. After a historic run leading the Tide to its first-ever Final Four appearance, Coach Oats and his staff put together one of the best signing classes in the country from the high school ranks and via the NCAA transfer portal.

On Tuesday while speaking at an event for the Crimson Tide’s NIL collective, Yea Alabama, Coach Oats would give a glowing review of one of Alabama’s portal additions, South Florida guard Chris Youngblood.

“Shoot, Youngblood hasn’t been talked about enough, in my opinion. Johnell Davis is obviously a really good player,” Oats said. “Well, Youngblood was player of the year in that league, along with him. He’s a super talented player, and he’s from Tuscaloosa. He grew up in Tuscaloosa until high school when he moved over to the Atlanta area.”

Alabama is still waiting for star point guard Mark Sears to make his NBA draft decision (he has until May 29) but with the transfer of Rylan Griffen, Oats and the Tide need a big guard who can play physically.

“Youngblood gives us that tough, physical, versatile guard,” Oats said. “If you like to play four guards, he’s big, strong, physical, tough. You can play him more as a two [and] you can get really big across the board.”

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Recent 2024 NBA mock draft features Mark Sears

Is Mark Sears NBA-bound? One 2024 NBA mock draft predicts he will go to an annual title contender.

Alabama Crimson Tide basketball guard Mark Sears is going through the NBA draft process, but can still return to the college ranks if he chooses to by May 29. He recently stated that he’s “all in” on the draft, but there’s no way to be sure whether or not he’s NBA-bound.

Sears had the best season of his four-year college career in the 2023-2024 season. He shot 51% from the field, averaged 21.5 points per game, 4.2 rebounds per game and four assists per game.

In a recent 2024 NBA mock draft published by The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor, Sears lands with the Milwaukee Bucks at No. 33 overall.

“Sears is a smaller guard who would be surrounded by giants on the Bucks, which could be a perfect fit for him to provide a spark as an apprentice behind Damian Lillard,” writes O’Connor.

This prediction puts Sears at the beginning of the second round, which is a respectable draft position. Though the first round would be preferred, this may be an opportunity too good for Sears to pass up.

Only a few days remain for Sears to make a permanent decision. Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama basketball news

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Alabama Basketball offers 2025 PF, No. 1 prospect in Ohio

The Alabama men’s basketball coaching staff recently extended an ofer to 2025 power forward Niko Bundalo.

The Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball coaching staff recently offered 2025 power forward Niko Bundalo. Bundalo plays for Western Reserve Academy in Hudson, Ohio. He is listed at 6-foot-11 and 195 pounds.

He is ranked as the No. 1 prospect in the state of Ohio. Thus far, Bundalo has fielded offers from programs like Cincinnati, Iowa Hawkeyes, Michigan State Spartans, and Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

If Bundalo were to commit to the Crimson Tide, he would likely replace Alabama power forward Grant Nelson. Following the conclusion of the 2024-2025 season, Nelson will lose his college eligibility. This means he has to turn pro. Bundalo would be a viable option for Alabama to pursue following Nelson’s departure.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow the latest regarding Alabama basketball recruiting.

Alabama basketball reveals SEC opponents for 2024-2025 season

The Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team has revealed its SEC opponents for the 2024-2025 season.

The Alabama Crimson Tide basketball team didn’t win the SEC last season, but it did make a historic run to the Final Four in March Madness, the first in program history. Now, head coach Nate Oats and his team will look to build upon that success in the 2024-2025 season.

Though we don’t have dates yet, in-conference opponents and the locations of games have been revealed.

Alabama will look to compete for an SEC championship with some hefty competition and some unfavorable road games. Here’s how it will go down next season:

SEC HOME GAMES:

SEC AWAY GAMES:

SEC HOME-AND-AWAY SERIES:

The 2024-2025 season for the Crimson Tide will be full of exciting games. However, many would predict a majority of the “exciting” games would take place on the road with games against Arkansas, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas all being exclusively on the road.

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama basketball news as the 2024 offseason progresses.

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ESPN’s Way-Too-Early NCAAM top 25 ranks Alabama No. 6 in the country

Alabama ranked No. 6 in ESPN College Basketball Expert’s way-too-early top 25

While the NBA draft process may still be ongoing, the transfer portal window is closed and we can start to assess what teams are going to look like next year. For [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide, it was a wildly successful spring as they landed four key transfers in Aden Holloway from Auburn, Clifford Omoruyi from Rutgers, Chris Youngblood from USF and Houston Mallette from Pepperdine. Oats also earned a commitment from the No. 32 ranked player in the 2024 class in former Kansas commit Labaron Philon.

Grant Nelson announced his decision to return to the Crimson Tide next year, but we are still nervously waiting on a decision from Mark Sears. It sounds more likely than not that Sears, Alabama’s best player from a season ago, will be back in Tuscaloosa, but nothing is official yet. Freshman Jarin Stevenson also entered his name in the draft process, but we haven’t heard much about his status yet.

With one of the best coaches in the sport and a top two or three roster, the expectations will be high for Alabama coming off the programs first ever Final Four. In ESPN college basketball expert Jeff Borzello’s Way-Too-Early top 25, the Crimson Tide are ranked No. 6 in the country.

Borzello says of Alabama, “Nate Oats spent the first part of the offseason overhauling the perimeter group. Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen — and perhaps Mark Sears — are out the door, while Aden Holloway (Auburn), Chris Youngblood (South Florida) and Houston Mallette (Pepperdine) have arrived. The past couple of weeks, however, he’s been focused on the frontcourt, first getting starting forward Grant Nelson back and then beating out North Carolina for Rutgers transfer Clifford Omoruyi.”

Roll Tide Wire will continue to follow Alabama basketball throughout the 2024 offseason.

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Alabama basketball ranks No. 1 in the nation in way-too-early ranking

Alabama basketball is ranked No. 1 in the country in On3’s Top 25 NCAAM rankings

For arguably the first time in program history, Alabama Crimson Tide basketball will have major expectations heading into a season. After earning the No. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament followed by the school’s first-ever Final Four run in 2024, there is pressure on [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag].

Oats has quickly established himself as one of the top coaches in the country with two SEC regular season titles and two SEC Tournament championships on top of his NCAA Tournament success. Oats is so highly regarded, that when the Kentucky job opened he was their first choice, fortunately, he declined.

With the addition of Clifford Omoruyi to an already stacked roster, the Crimson Tide will be the team to beat next year despite UConn’s back-to-back national championships. Mark Sears’s NBA draft status is the final piece in question for the Alabama faithful, but at this point in time, it seems more likely than not that he returns to Tuscaloosa next year.

Heading into the summer, On3 has released their Way-Too-Early Top 25 rankings, and they actually have the Crimson Tide ranked No. 1 saying, “Alabama made big headlines once again this week by adding former Rutgers center Clifford Omoruyi to the starting lineup. The Crimson Tide is now talented and deep at every position with only two NBA Draft decisions left from Mark Sears and Jarin Stevenson.”

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Alabama football trending for Wake Forest transfer DaShawn Jones

This would be an important piece for Alabama football in 2024!

After an eventful Sunday for [autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball team, it appears Kalen DeBoer and the Alabama football team have picked up some good news too.

Matt Zenitz of 247Sports is reporting that Wake Forest transfer cornerback [autotag]DaShawn Jones[/autotag] is trending toward a commitment to Coach DeBoer and the Crimson Tide.

Jones has been on a visit this weekend in Tuscaloosa with the Alabama coaching staff and all signs are pointing to the staff doing their do-diligence in landing the talented corner.

Jones has started the past two seasons for the Demon Deacons and had a breakout season in 2023 collecting three interceptions as a sophomore.

Adding a talented player like Jones would be critical for Coach DeBoer and Alabama with the lack of depth and experience being an offseason issue in the secondary.

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Alabama basketball named a finalists for Rutgers transfer center Clifford Omoruyi

Will Alabama land the high-priority transfer target?

The transfer portal saga for Rutgers center [autotag]Clifford Omoruyi[/autotag] will be coming to an end this weekend. The highly-coveted big man has announced his top four along with his commitment date which is scheduled for this Sunday.

[autotag]Nate Oats[/autotag] and the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s basketball program are among the four finalists.

Joining the Crimson Tide in Omoruyi’s top four are the Georgetown Hoyas, the Kansas State Wildcats, and the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Omoruyi is a talented 6-foot-11 center who averaged 10.4 points, 8.3 rebounds, and 2.9 blocks per game during the 2023-24 season for the Scarlet Knights and would be an impactful addition to the already-loaded Alabama basketball roster.

Joe Tipton of On3 was the first to report.

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