One of the most improved players for Alabama basketball in the early part of the 2025-26 season has been sophomore big man Aiden Sherrell. A sizable leap was needed for the Detroit native in year two, and he is blossoming right in front of our eyes.
Something clicked for Sherrell last week in Las Vegas during the Players Era Festival. The talent has always been there. Now, the belief is matching the talent, and Sherrell is emerging as the elite rim-protecting big man that it didn't seem Alabama had this year.
After blocking eight shots in Alabama's 90-84 win over Clemson on Wednesday night, Sherrell now has 17 blocks in the last four games. He had just four blocked shots in the Tide's first four games of the season, all coming in the season-opener against a woefully overmatched North Dakota. He only blocked seven shots all of last season.
Had Sherrell been able to knock down his free throws (3-of-8) against Clemson, he would've flirted with a triple-double. He only had five points, but he added 10 rebounds to go along with those eight blocks.
"Aiden Sherrell’s really coming," Nate Oats said after the game. "Shoot, he’s in the practice gym working on his free throws right now. ..."For a kid that only had seven blocks all last year to have five last game and eight this game, he’s doing what we need him to at the rim."
Aiden Sherrell is blossoming as a sophomore for Alabama
With Bucknell transfer Noah Williamson being a complete bust so far, it has been critical for Sherrell to take the leap we are seeing. In a perfect world, Alabama would have two centers that could be interchangeable, but there's a major difference when Sherrell is in vs. Williamson right now. Williamson was -11 in his five minutes of action against Clemson.
One of the biggest things working in Sherrell's favor so far has been his ability to stay on the court by avoiding foul trouble. He averaged 5.8 fouls per 40 minutes last night. That number is down to 4.4 this year.
His block rate has jumped from 2.0% last year to 11.2% as a sophomore. His defensive BPM (box plus-minus) is 4.0 vs. 1.6 a year ago. His FT rate is up 15 percentage points from last season, too, and while the misses last night were frustrating, he's shooting better than last year (56% vs. 46%).
The biggest area of improvement for Sherrell will be finishing stronger and through contact at the rim, as Richard Hendrix continuously pointed out during last night's broadcast. Finish through contact and make those and-1 opportunities, and the free-throw misses aren't as damaging.
That will continue to come along. Sherrell was a finesse player last year. He's still learning to be a physical player. He's grown leaps and bounds already this season, and with a lighter schedule on the back-half of non-conference play, he should continue gaining confidence to become one of the SEC's premier big men by the time league play rolls around in January.