This year’s bracket has Alabama basketball narrowly missing out on “elite” status. However, anyone who has watched the Crimson Tide transform over the past four months wouldn’t be shy to throw that adjective its way.
Sure, Alabama bowed out of this year’s Big Dance a little earlier than it would have hoped following Sunday night’s 88-78 overtime loss to UCLA. However, upon taking the podium for his postgame press conference, head coach Nate Oats made sure to instruct his players to keep their heads up high.
Alabama (26-7) put together one of its most memorable seasons, winning its first SEC regular-season title since 2002 while claiming its first conference title since 1991. The Tide’s 16 conference wins tied a school record while its 26 total victories is tied for second-most in a season in program history. Alabama also climbed to fifth place in the Associated Press Top 25, its highest ranking in the poll since 1956.
Following Sunday’s loss, Oats referred to the Tide as the best team he’s ever coached, while stating he only wished he could have coached them a week and a half longer.
“I'll remember it as the team that changed the entire culture of Alabama basketball,” he said. “Expectation levels are drastically different. Recruiting is different. People want to come here and play for Alabama basketball. People think about Alabama basketball way different.
"I told our guys, I'm going to be talking about this team for the next 30 years I'm coaching. This is an unbelievable team with a bunch of high-character kids that stepped up to the challenge and changed the entire narrative of Alabama basketball.”
The backbone of the Tide’s roster consists of three seniors from the state of Alabama, who all elected to remain with the team through a coaching change and multiple turbulent seasons.
Herbert Jones, a native of Greensboro, Ala., played through multiple injuries and was the heart and soul of Oats’ blue-collar approach, earning both SEC player of the year and SEC defensive player of the year.
Alex Reese, a Pelham, Ala. native, never developed into a star player for the Tide but rather overcame early adversity in his career to develop into a clutch role player off the bench. It’s fitting that his final field-goal attempt came on a game-tying 3 at the buzzer to preserve Alabama’s season for another period Sunday night.
John Petty Jr. ended his college career as Alabama’s all-time 3-points leader, knocking down 311 shots from beyond the arc over four seasons. The Huntsville, Ala. native contemplated leaving for the NBA draft last offseason but elected to return in hopes for a year like this.
“We had a remarkable season,” Petty said. “We made history, and we did great things for this school. It feels great along with me and a couple of the other Alabama guys being able to come into this school in our state and change it around like we did. I feel great about that.”
When asked personally how he’d like to be remembered, Petty didn’t hesitate.
“I just want to be remembered as a winner,” he said. “That’s all I wanted to do when I got here. No matter what it took, what I had to do, I just wanted to win. I wanted to make this school, make this season special. That’s exactly why I came back, and that’s exactly what we did.”
Jones, Reese and Petty, as well as walk-on Tyler Barnes, who was with the Tide the past four years, leave Alabama with an 80-54 overall mark. However, the group won’t be remembered for its win-loss record but rather for the impact it made on the program as a whole.
“I feel like we left it in a great spot,” Petty said. “When Coach Oats came in, he put in a system that us four seniors bought in and we did a great job with helping the other guys who just came in or the younger guys buy into it as well. I think we left a mark on this school, and definitely in college basketball with this season.”
As for what Alabama’s leaving behind, there’s plenty for Oats and the Tide to be optimistic about. Alabama loses four scholarship players in Jones, Petty, Reese and graduate transfer Jordan Bruner but returns a talented nucleus.
Jaden Shackelford, the Tide’s leading scorer this season, is set to return. So is Jahvon Quinerly, who is riding a 15-game streak of double-digit scoring off the bench. Several role players such as Keon Ellis and Juwan Gary are set to take on bigger roles, while Joshua Primo has the talent to blossom into a star during his second season with the program.
Alabama also has several potential breakout players such freshman Keon Ambrose-Hylton and Darius Miles, who both provided a few highlight dunks off the bench this season. Injured forward Alex Tchikou, who suffered a season-ending Achilies injury in October should be fully recovered for the beginning of the year as well.
In addition, the Tide is bringing in a three-member signing class that features five-star points guard JD Davison as well as four-star forwards Jusaun Holt and Langston Wilson.
“I definitely expect them to be right here in this position or farther,” Petty said of Alabama’s future teams. “Just with the talent level we have coming in recruiting, the experience our guys are going to have coming in next year, the guys that actually play heavy minutes like Jaden Shackelford, Jahvon Quinerly, Juwan Gary.
“There’s a bunch of guys that didn’t play but battled against us each day. I just know that they’re ready to play."
Sunday night might have marked a sad end to Alabama’s season, but it figures to be the start of a promising run in Tuscaloosa, Ala. for years to come.
