5-star Alabama basketball target announcing decision on Wednesday

Nate Oats and Alabama basketball will be looking for good news off the court in back-to-back days this week.

On Tuesday, Charles Bediako's preliminary injunction hearing will be held, which will determine whether Bediako can continue playing for the remainder of the season. He made his Crimson Tide re-debut on Saturday night in a loss to Tennessee.

On Wednesday, 5-star wing Qayden Samuels will announce his college decision between Alabama and Georgetown.

5-star Qayden Samuels making his college decision between Alabama and Georgetown

Samuels, a 6-foot-5 wing from District Heights, Maryland, will be choosing whether to stay close to home with Georgetown and play for Oats in Alabama's wide-open, free-flowing system. Alabama has been considered the favorite for a while, with multiple predictions in favor of the Crimson Tide to land Samuels.

Samuels is ranked as the No. 18 overall player in the country in the 247 composite and a consensus 5-star recruit.

He's considered one of the most lethal scorers in the country. 247's Adam Finkelstein notes that he shoots 38% on off-the-dribble three-pointers and was in the 98th percentile in EYBL play with 1.23 points per possession coming off ball screens.

Samuels seems tailor-made for the system in Tuscaloosa.

Alabama's 2026 recruiting class currently features only Top-50 wing Tarris Bouie, who signed with the Crimson Tide during the early signing period. But Oats is still big-game hunting in this high school class.

Along with Samuels' upcoming decision, Alabama is still hot in pursuit of Caleb Holt, a Top 5 player in the 2026 class and Alabama native.

If Oats can close the cycle by landing both Samuels and Holt to add to Bouie, then there may not be a more impressive recruiting class in the country.

Oats has frequently landed top talent in Tuscaloosa, but this class could prove to be his magnum opus.