Things are beginning to heat up for Alabama basketball on the Transfer Portal front as Nate Oats looks to fill three remaining roster slots for his 2025 team.
Alabama is in a battle with Duke - and the NBA - for Washington State wing Cedric Coward, who is expected to be in Tuscaloosa for a visit soon. Before that, however, Oats and staff hosted a surprise visitor on campus on Wednesday in a player who is a bit more under the radar but has the tools to be a good fit in this system.
WAC Freshman of the Year Keitenn Bristow from Tarleton State is reportedly in Tuscaloosa on a visit:
Transfer News: Tarleton State transfer Keitenn Bristow is currently on a visit to Alabama, sources tell @247SportsPortal
— Dushawn London (@DushawnLondon1) April 23, 2025
Averaged 11.3 points and 4.3 rebounds this season. https://t.co/tteiLh6Ilj pic.twitter.com/FAoxSGmKNy
Bristow is a native of Wichita Falls, Texas, and flew under the radar as a high school recruit before ultimately signing with Tarleton State. He had a nice freshman season for the Texans, averaging 11.4 points and 4.3 rebounds per game while shooting 46.1% from the field and 32.8% from three. His 79% from the free throw line suggests that Bristow projects as an even better shooter moving forward.
If you watch his highlights, it's easy to see the vision of what Oats and company see with him. He's not dissimilar in style from Jarin Stevenson and figures to fill that 3/4 hybrid bench role for the Crimson Tide. He's listed between 6-foot-8 and 6-foot-10 depending on where you look.
Bristow has plenty of other suitors, so it will be interesting to see if he takes any other visits or if Oats and company get him to shut it down and land a commitment from him in the next day or so.
Things are heating up for Alabama in the Transfer Portal
If Alabama ultimately lands Bristow, it would have two spots available for next season's roster. Oats would then hope those spots are filled by Coward and a returning Labaron Philon. Contrary to initial belief, Philon is reportedly still open to returning to Tuscaloosa for his sophomore season if he doesn't get the feedback from the NBA that he is hoping for.
I would expect Oats to hold the 13th roster spot for Philon just in case. He's that good and would completely change the dynamic of next season's team.
If Coward ultimately chooses Duke, then I would expect the Crimson Tide to circle back to former Alabama guard Rylan Griffen, who spent the last season at Kansas with disappointing results. Griffen is an obvious fit for the system, but his spot on the roster is likely contingent on what Coward chooses to do.
The nightmare scenario would be that Coward commits to Alabama, but then he and Philon choose to remain in the draft. That would leave two open roster spots for the Crimson Tide really late in the process.