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Alabama Basketball: Hoops Season looming for Crimson Tide

By Zach Breathwaite

INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 22: Head coach Nate Oats of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts in the first half against the Maryland Terrapins in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 22, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images)
INDIANAPOLIS, INDIANA - MARCH 22: Head coach Nate Oats of the Alabama Crimson Tide reacts in the first half against the Maryland Terrapins in the second round game of the 2021 NCAA Men's Basketball Tournament at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on March 22, 2021 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Sarah Stier/Getty Images) /
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The Alabama men’s basketball team opens up its season on Monday, November 7th, at home against Longwood. Alabama Basketball is coming off of a relatively disappointing season in which it went 19-14 (9-9 SEC) and lost its opening round NCAA Tournament game to Notre Dame. The Crimson Tide finished the year on a four-game losing streak.

Head coach Nate Oats enters his fourth season at the helm, and has amassed a 61-36 record in Tuscaloosa. He has recruited well in both the high school ranks and the transfer portal, and he has a talented team once again in 2022-23.

247Sports predicts Alabama to finish 7th in a loaded SEC. This is a lower finish than Alabama basketball fans would like, but it would likely still result in an NCAA tournament berth.

Thanks to Oats, goals and expectations for Alabama basketball now go beyond just making the tournament. If this 2022-23 team can gel, it is built to potentially contend for the SEC and make a deep postseason run.

Alabama Basketball: Roster Breakdown

Oats has a lot of experience to work with, as this roster features two graduate students, one senior, and three juniors.

The rotation includes three transfers in St. Bonaventure’s Dominick Welch, Ohio’s Mark Sears, and JUCO product Nick Pringle. It also consists of three former transfers in senior Jahvon Quinerly, graduate student Noah Gurley, and sophomore Nimari Burnett. Alabama also returns sophomore big Charles Bediako, who started 30 games last season, and junior wing Darius Miles.

Nate Oats will pair this experience with the fifth-ranked 2022 recruiting class in the nation. The haul is made up of four top-75 players, including two 5-star and two 4-star recruits. The headliner is wing Brandon Miller, who should be one of the college basketball’s top freshmen this season.

Coach Oats has a lot of work to do in determining a rotation and building chemistry within this group. Oats is one of the best coaches in the country at figuring out a roster and taking advantage of its strengths. Talent and experience should not be questions for this team, which also doesn’t carry the burden of unrealistic expectations.

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The 2022-23 Alabama basketball team will have time to figure itself out. If it can do so, Oats will have another dangerous unit come March.

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