Major decisions looming for Alabama Basketball players

Alabama basketball heads into the 2023 offseason with a bittersweet taste in its mouth, having had the best season in school history by many measures but ultimately falling short of its goals. How will the Crimson Tide bounce back, and who will return to lead the group next winter?

It is all but a foregone conclusion that first-team All-American Brandon Miller will enter the NBA Draft after one stellar year in college hoops. Graduate students Noah Gurley and Dom Welch have exhausted their eligibility and will depart from the program as well.

The two major contributors with tough decisions to make regarding a potential return to Alabama Basketball are senior guard Jahvon Quinerly and freshman forward Noah Clowney.

Alabama Basketball: Jahvon Quinerly

Quinerly has seemingly been in college forever, as this past season was his fifth year in school. However, he still has a year of COVID eligibility available should he choose to take it. He began his college career at Villanova after committing to Jay Wright as a 5-star guard in the class of 2018.

After seldom getting off the bench as a freshman, Quinerly opted to transfer. He elected to come to Tuscaloosa, where he had to sit out a year.

Jahvon Quinerly first suited up for the Crimson Tide in 2020-2021 as a redshirt sophomore, and was a critical element off the bench. He helped Alabama to an SEC Championship, a no. 2 seed in the NCAA Tournament, and a Sweet 16 appearance averaging 12.9 points and 3.2 assists per game. He shot a team-high 43 percent from the three-point line and was named the Most Outstanding Player of the SEC Tournament.

He returned for his junior year in 2021-2022 as part of an Alabama basketball team that was very talented but never reached its potential. The team did not mesh, and struggled with performing consistently at a high level.

Quinerly started at guard for most of the season, averaging career highs of 13.8 points and 4.2 assists per game. He suffered a torn ACL early in Alabama’s first round NCAA Tournament game against Notre Dame, a game the Crimson Tide would lose.

Facing a long rehabilitation process, Jahvon Quinerly opted to come back to school for his senior season. He was able to return well ahead of schedule, seeing action in Alabama’s third game of the regular season. However, his acclimation period was lengthy. He primarily came off the bench, and had his share of growing pains as he tried to find his niche on this new team.

By March, Quinerly began to look like himself again, and rejoined the starting lineup. He became a major contributor in leading Alabama Basketball to another SEC Championship and the no. 1 overall seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Alabama was upset in the Sweet 16 once again, ending a historic season for Tide hoops. From an individual standpoint, Jahvon Quinerly’s senior season did not go as expected. It was derailed before it even began by a knee injury, which impacted him in various ways throughout the season.

The year also ended prematurely for a team that had national championship aspirations. Could these factors be enough to entice Quinerly to run it back one more time?

Alabama Basketball: Noah Clowney

Alabama forward Noah Clowney has an intriguing, but very different, decision to make. Clowney hasn’t even been on campus for a year yet.

The freshman was a 4-star recruit in the 2022 class, and outperformed all expectations in year one. He started 36 games for the Crimson Tide, and was one of the best rebounders in the SEC. Clowney finished his freshman season with averages of 9.8 points and 7.9 rebounds per game as a versatile, athletic big that could occasionally stretch the floor.

Noah Clowney has plenty of room for improvement and an incredibly high ceiling. He could add polish to his offensive game, become a more consistent outside shooter, and put on some weight.

The question is, what intel will he receive from NBA scouts? Will they advise him to return to school to work on those deficiencies, or will they draft him in the first round based on his potential? The decision will ultimately be up to Noah Clowney and his family, but it will have major implications on the Alabama Basketball program.

Coach Nate Oats should once again have a good team next year. However, he will have to wait on two dominoes to fall before he knows exactly what he needs from the NCAA transfer portal. Can Bama hoops retain two starters and major contributors for next year?