The Alabama basketball season is far from over, but it's clear that if the Crimson Tide wants to hit its ceiling and have a realistic shot at winning the program's first National Championship, it needs more from graduate senior guard Mark Sears.
Sears hasn't been bad; he just hasn't been close the player he was expected to be as the preseason National Player of the Year. He hasn't been the player he was last season when he led the Crimson Tide to the Final Four.
Saturday afternoon's home loss to No. 1 Auburn highlighted Sears' struggles and its impact on Alabama. The Tide needed its leader to play well for them to have a shot at taking down Auburn. Instead, Sears connected on just 4-of-17 from the field and 2-of-11 from three-point range as Alabama fell short on its home floor.
And just so it has been said: I'm not placing this loss solely on the shoulders of Sears. Alabama went 5-of-26 from three as a team and missed countless open opportunities around the basket. Sears was a chief culprit of both, but in his defense, he finished the game second on the team in +/- at +1.
Grant Nelson, another key veteran player for the Crimson Tide, was a team worst -20 during his minutes against the Tigers. Nelson missed some key bunnies close to the basket. As did Mo Dioubate, Labaron Philon, and Aden Holloway. Alabama had their chances to win the game and couldn't do it.
It's never the fault of one player. But Sears is the leader of this team and came into the year with the pedigree of one of the very best players in the country. He hasn't lived up to that potential this year.
His numbers are way down across the board from where they were a year ago:
2024-25: 116.1 ORTG, 48.9 eFG%, 56.9 TS%, 45.5 2P%, 34.5 3P%
2023:24: 129.3 ORTG, 60.4 eFG%, 65.8 TS%, 56.5 2P%, 43.6 3P%
Sears isn't converting at a high clip at the rim and his three-point percentage is way down. 34.5% is the exact same percentage Sears shot two years ago during his first season with the Crimson Tide. Last year he was one of the most dangerous shooters in the country. This year he just isn't knocking down the same kind of shots.
Defenses are certainly keyed on Sears, but that was the case down the stretch last year, too, but it often didn't matter because he was just so good. He was the only real ball-handler on last season's team, too, so he had more on his plate as a creator and initiator.
This year, with the addition of freshman Labaron Philon and sophomore transfer Aden Holloway, Alabama has two other guys capable of running the offense and being on the ball.
There's certainly more pressure on Sears this year than last. It's his final opportunity to make headway toward an NBA career that isn't likely to come. He went through the pre-draft process last year and came back to Tuscaloosa for one final ride in hopes of boosting his stock and perhaps getting drafted.
Barring an insane run the rest of the year it's unlikely to happen. He has the ability to be a dangerous shooter, but his size and athletic limitations will hold him back from a serious shot in the NBA.
His play up to this point is keeping Alabama from reaching its potential. He can be better. We've seen it. Sears knows it. So does Nate Oats, and that's why the Tide head man has coached Sears so hard this season. He knows he's the key to Alabama getting to its ceiling and potentially winning the whole thing.
Alabama still has a high floor with this version of Sears. A floor that feels like a second weekend team regardless of how the rest of the regular season unfolds and what seed the Crimson Tide end up with come Selection Sunday.
But in order for Alabama to be the team it is capable of being, it needs more of last season's Mark Sears and less of the shell of himself he's been in 2024-25.