Nate Oats has gotten Alabama basketball off to a hot start in the 2026 recruiting class, landing 4-star wings Chris Washington Jr. and Tarris Bouie in September. He isn't anywhere close to done, however, and continues to push for some of the top prospects in this class.
Two priority targets happen to be twin brothers: 7-footers Darius and Adonis Ratliff, who are the sons of former NBA center Theo Ratliff. The elder Ratliff was an NBA journeyman who spent 16 seasons in the league. He was an All-Star in 2001 and three times led the NBA in blocked shots. Now he has twin sons who are looking to carve out their own basketball path.
The Ratliff twins took official visits to Alabama back in September, and the Crimson Tide made a strong enough impression on them to be included in their final four list of teams, which they released on Friday:
7-foot twin towers Darius and Adonis Ratliff have cut their list to four schools, they told @Rivals:
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) October 17, 2025
Alabama, Arkansas, Texas, and USC
Both brothers are ranked as 4⭐️ prospects. https://t.co/bvzE4SfGtX pic.twitter.com/ZEIsBwZGID
Darius and Adonis Ratliff are boht highly considering Alabama basketball
It's not a 100% slam dunk that the Ratliff twins are going to play college basketball together, but the consensus in the industry is that they will ultimately be a package deal. Alabama will compete with Arkansas, Texas, and USC down the stretch to try to land the NBA legacy recruits.
John Calipari and Arkansas are likely going to be the biggest competition for Oats and the Crimson Tide. Oats has proven he can develop talent and send that talent to the league, but nobody in college basketball right now has a better or longer track record of that than John Calipari. Oats and the Tide run a more NBA-friendly system, however, which has been appealing for top recruits.
Alabama may have a slight "home field" advantage for the twins. Their father Theo is actually an Alabama native, growing up and playing his high school basketball in Demopolis. He wasn't quite recruited at the same level as his sons, and ultimately went all the way out to Wyoming to play in college. He was then the 18th overall pick by the Detroit Pistons in the 1995 NBA Draft.
Both twins are consensus 4-stars, with Darius outpacing his brother ever so slightly. Darius is currently ranked as the No. 52 overall player in the composite. Adonis is 10 spots behind him at No. 62 overall.