Alabama Basketball: Checking in on rapidly approaching Tide hoops season

The Alabama Basketball 2021-22 version of last season’s No. 5 ranked Crimson Tide team will soon be introduced. The Tide Tipoff for the men’s and women’s teams is Friday night. On Sunday afternoon, the Alabama Crimson Tide men’s team has an exhibition game against Louisiana in Coleman. The exhibition is ticketed with proceeds benefitting the United Way of West Alabama. There will be no television or radio for Sunday’s game.

Nate Oats’ team has already played a game. Against Georgia Tech, in Birmingham, the Crimson Tide won 76-63. Tech was 17-9 last season, with an opening-round loss to Loyola in the NCAA Tournament. In the scrimmage with the Yellow Jackets, Jaden Shackelford and Keon Ellis led the Tide with 16 points each. Noah Gurley had 14 points and Charles Bediako scored 11 points.

Nate Oats will field another strong team. Recently, SEC and national media picked Alabama Basketball to finish No. 2 in the league, behind the Kentucky Wildcats. The top eight teams in that preseason ranking included (in order after the Cats and the Tide) Arkansas, Tennessee, Auburn, LSU, Florida and Mississippi State. That top eight will likely take a heavy toll against each other throughout the season.

The Crimson Tide does not have to wait for a challenge until the conference season. The Tide will play in the ESPN Events Invitational in November, opening with Iona. The field also has Belmont, Dayton, Kansas and Miami. In December the Tide will play two of last season’s Final Four in Gonzaga and Houston. The Tide also plays Memphis in December and plays a third Final Four team, Baylor in January.

Speaking about the extremely tough schedule, Nate Oats said,

"We’re never going to schedule light. I’d rather get exposed in non-conference, figure out what we’ve got to fix. We were 4-3 in seven games, then 16-2 in SEC. Better to get wake-up call in non-conference than in the SEC."

Speaking of wake-up calls, the Crimson Tide will play Gonzaga in Seattle. The game will take place on the same day and soon after the conclusion of the SEC Championship game.

Alabama Basketball well represented on preseason All-SEC teams

In the preseason SEC poll referenced above, Jaden Shackelford and Jahvon Quinerly were selected for the SEC first team. Only the Crimson Tide and Kentucky had multiple players chosen on the 12-man, preseason, SEC first and second teams. The Cats had one first-team pick in Georgia transfer, Sahvir Wheeler.

In national rankings, Alabama Basketball is ranked No. 14. Kentucky is ranked No. 10 and Arkansas, Tennessee and Auburn are in the preseason Top 25. Other ranked Crimson Tide opponents are Gonzaga (1), Baylor (8) and Memphis (12).

Check-in with Bama Hammer next week for more information on the basketball roster, top players, and early-season game previews.