Alabama Basketball: Crimson Tide Recruiting Update

Alabama Basketball is still working on finalizing its 2023-24 roster, which will largely depend on the NBA Draft decisions of three players from the 2022-23 team.

Senior guard Jahvon Quinerly, junior guard Mark Sears, and sophomore center Charles Bediako were all starters and key contributors for the Crimson Tide during its most successful season in school history.

All three players declared for the 2023 NBA Draft following the season, but left open the option to return to school. The makeup of next season’s roster will be shaped by their decisions and how many, if any, choose to play another year for Coach Nate Oats.

In the meantime, Coach Oats has attacked the transfer portal hard, clearly planning for the very real possibility of losing all five of his starters. He has already landed Wichita State transfer Jaykwon Walton, and could be close to getting commitments from a couple more quality transfers.

Alabama Basketball: Transfer portal update

Wofford transfer forward BJ Mack visited Alabama last weekend and came away very impressed with Coach Oats’ program.

Mack is a skilled low post big that can also stretch the floor a little bit. He averaged over 16 points per game in each of the past two seasons for the Wofford Terriers, and connected on nearly 37 percent of his three-point shots in three seasons with Wofford.

He would be a big pickup for an Alabama team that could potentially be losing Noah Clowney and Charles Bediako in the frontcourt.

Cal State Fullerton transfer guard Latrell Wrightsell Jr. recently visited Tuscaloosa and is seriously considering the Crimson Tide. At 6’3”, Wrightsell Jr. averaged over 16 points per game for the Titans last season and has two years of eligibility remaining.

Hofstra transfer guard Aaron Estrada is one of the best guards in the transfer portal. Estrada also visited Alabama recently and will choose between Florida State, Kansas State, Cincinnati, and the Tide on April 29th. Many are confident that Bama is the favorite for the Hofstra transfer that averaged over 20 points per game last season.

Alabama Basketball: High school recruiting

Alabama may also not be done with its 2023 high school recruiting class. Despite ESPN recently releasing its final recruiting rankings (the Crimson Tide came in at 17th nationally), Nate Oats still appears to be working on the class.

Oats has made contact with 4-star forward Papa Kante, an athletic big in the mold of Bediako. Kante originally signed with Michigan, but requested to be released from his letter of intent this week.

There is still a long way to go in the 2024 class, but one player to keep an eye on is Labaron Philon. Philon, a score-first guard and the no. 1 player in the state of Alabama, decommitted from Auburn on Friday.

Bama Hammer will continue to provide basketball recruiting and roster updates as they become available.