Nate Oats and Alabama basketball will be welcoming a familiar face to Tuscaloosa on Friday. Per reports, former Crimson Tide guard Rylan Griffen, who left Alabama for Kansas in the Transfer Portal a year ago, will be back in Tuscaloosa on a visit and could potentially return to the Crimson Tide.
Kansas transfer Rylan Griffen will visit Alabama tomorrow, sources confirm to @BOL_On3
— Blake Byler (@blakebyler45) April 24, 2025
He spent two years with the Crimson Tide before playing for the Jayhawks last season.https://t.co/Qdkmn0SKz6 (On3+) pic.twitter.com/AFdxt7SbiD
Griffen spent two productive seasons in Tuscaloosa before transferring to Kansas after last season's run to the Final Four. Griffen had a difficult season with the Jayhawks, averaging just 6.3 points per game on shooting splits of 37/33/67. In his sophomore season with the Tide, Griffen averaged 11.2 points per game on shooting splits of 45/39/81.
Griffen is an obvious system fit for Oats and company. He was an integral part of Alabama's 2024 Final Four run. While his shooting slipped with the Jayhawks last season, Alabama's pace-and-space system will allow for cleaner looks and should lift his percentages back up, allowing him to return to his 2023-2024 form.
Oats could have to choose between Cedric Coward and Rylan Griffen
Things have been quiet recently with Washington State transfer Cedric Coward, who is reportedly down to Alabama and Duke while also going through the NBA Draft process.
It's possible that Alabama could choose to take both if Coward commits to the Crimson Tide, but it feels more likely that there's only room for one of them, considering they are similar archetypes.
Coward is viewed as the better player, but he doesn't have the experience at this level that Griffen has. Coward was outstanding in limited action for Washington State this season, averaging over 17 points per game, but he only played seven games before being lost for the season with a rotator cuff injury.
In a perfect world, Oats lands one of these two, brings back Labaron Philon, and then takes a flier on a 3/4 hybrid like Tarleton State's Keitenn Bristow, who recently visited Alabama.
If Philon is unlikely to return, then Alabama could ultimately take Griffen and Coward, both with limited options at guard for an affordable price. That would put a lot of weight on Aden Holloway, and then guys like Latrell Wrightsell, Jalil Bethea, and Griffen/Coward would need to take up some playmaking responsibilities.