We can talk all we want to talk, but now one was going to start ahead of Miller, Clowney , Bediako, Sears and a healthy JQ. Both players would have provided valuable bench depth, which would have been a disservice to both players.
I may be dead wrong, but I think Bradley has all of the tools to develop into a great player, except the shooting touch. If we have the right assistant to work with Bradley, to develop shooting technique, I think the young man could develop into the next Herb Jones. Defensively Bradley is sound and he can handle the ball; however, unless the other team respects your ability to take the outside shot and/or the 15 foot jumper, you are not going to be successful on the drive and dish moves.
Griffen, will need to learn a little patience and what a good shot is. Griffen will be a good player in the future. I think Griffen tends to get a little over excited when playing the game. Griffen's upside is great.
Sears and Bediako will be the heart of next years team, as the upper classmen should be.
It is easy to see what the coaches saw in Pringle. The only problem is that it is hard to play both Pringle and Bediako at the same time, as neither has an outside shot and you cannot clog the middle in Oats system.
I hate that Burnett is leaving, as the young man has all of the talent in the world. With what we have coming into the system, I just don't know if he felt he had a future at Alabama.
Right now, we have five players returning, three recruits coming in , so there is room for up to four or five Portal transfers, depending on what JQ chooses to do. I think it is a mistake to rely on the Portal to restock your team each year, although there are misses each year in the recruiting battles. Everyone knew that Miller would be a stud, but I don't think anyone, even the coaching staff, thought he would be that good. Clowney was a four star recruit and after one season he will be a first round NBA pick after one season. I don't know how much of Clowney's success was playing with Miller or just Clowney. I would call both of those players as recuiting under rated players, just as I would call Burnett as an overrated but valuable player. Just remember that Sears, Pringle and Gurley, were not even an SEC recruits. Bradley and Griffen were both top 100 recruits and both need a work to reach their potential and Burnett was a five star.
The second best player in the SEC last year was from the Huntsville area and Coach Johnson did not see fit to actively recruit him. Arguably, the best point guards in the SEC were at Tennessee and Auburn and they were not big time recruits. Neither of those guards were four or five stars. I would submit that two of the best I saw in the NCAA tournament were the little guard from FDU and San Diego State and neither was a major college recruit. I would take that 5'8" guard from FDU in a heartbeat and if ZZ doesn't get hurt, Tennessee is a final four team.
All that being said the key to next years team is, who does Alabama get to play the Point, assuming JQ does not return. I think Bradley, with a year of schooling can do the job, if he is willing to learn and stick around. I get a feeling that is 50/50 on both counts. If Bradley does stick a key will be do we get a backup point and if he goes, do we get two, with one that can start. To be a great team, I think you have to possess three players on the Court that can shoot the three and drive. Walton gives us the second shooter, with Sears being the first. If we can land a player like Love or Wheeler, I think we will be a team that can make a run next year. I think that having ten players that can start can be a detriment to a successful team, unless all the players buy in to their roles. If we land a player with the ability of Love and/or Wheeler, I do not know how you convince Bradley to stay. There are not many players out there with the talent of Love, so if we can find a way to land him, we could easily be a top flight team next season.
