With Jim Larranaga stepping down as the Miami head coach, 5-star SG Matthew Able has been granted his release from his National Letter of Intent with the Hurricanes and has re-opened his recruitment.
Though Nate Oats and Alabama basketball were not a factor in his recruitment before he committed and signed with Miami, the Crimson Tide are one of three teams who have swooped in and have an official visit set up with Able, per On3's Joe Tipton.
Able will be in Tuscaloosa for a visit on March 5th for Alabama's final home game of the regular season against Florida. Able will visit Tennessee on Saturday for the Vols' matchup with the Crimson Tide and take a third visit to Baylor on March 8th.
Matthew Able has scheduled the following visits, per source:
— Joe Tipton (@TiptonEdits) February 28, 2025
Tennessee: March 1st
Alabama: March 5th
Baylor: March 8th https://t.co/Mf8Sr1att7
Able will get to see Alabama up close and personal twice over the next week. Able has seen his stock rise considerably in the last few weeks with a big senior season. The 6-foot-5 two-guard from Fort Lauderdale, Florida is ranked as a 5-star prospect and the No. 26 overall player in 247 Composite Rankings.
Able could add to a strong 2025 class for Oats and Alabama
Alabama signed three prospects in the 2025 cycle already, which gave them the No. 13 class in the composite rankings. 4-star forward London Jemison, 4-star guard, Davion Hannah, and 4-star wing Amari Allen make up the three-man class for Alabama the moment.
The Tide made a late signing last year, too, with guard Labaron Philon getting out of his NLI with Kansas and signing with Alabama. That worked out pretty well as Philon has been an excellent addition and is currently a projected 1st round pick in the 2025 NBA Draft.
Mark Sears, Chris Youngblood, Grant Nelson, and Cliff Omoruyi will all exhaust their eligibility at the end of this season. Alabama could also lose Philon and Derrion Reid to early entry in the NBA Draft and the Tranfer Portal is always the ultimate wildcard.
It's a little surprising to see Alabama targeting a guard late in the cycle as their needs would figure to be a veteran at the position and potentially a younger big, but Oats knows the roster makeup better than any of us and seems comfortable trying to land the talented high school senior.