We'll get our first look at Alabama basketball in a scrimmage against Florida State on Thursday in Birmingham. It's a completely rebuilt roster, with a lot of turnover from last season. Gone are Mark Sears, Grant Nelson, Cliff Omoruyi, and Chris Youngblood; that's four of Alabama's most-used starting five from a year ago.
Replacing Sears won't be easy, but with Labaron Philon back for his sophomore season, another leap forward expected from Aden Holloway, the return of Latrell Wrightsell from injury, and some exciting new faces, the Crimson Tide's backcourt should be deep, versatile, and arguably even more talented than a year ago.
Arguably more concerning than replacing Sears is replacing Omoruyi and Nelson from the frontcourt, particularly their ability to protect the rim. Alabama wasn't elite defensively last season, but they were better than the casual viewer would give them credit for. They finished 28th in the country in KenPom's defensive efficiency metric.
To win it all, however, Nate Oats knows that Alabama has to be better than that. During the two seasons in which the Crimson Tide won the SEC Championship under Oats, they finished 3rd in defensive efficiency. If Alabama can marry elite offense with that form of defense, they can win the National Championship.
To get there this season, Alabama is going to need more from the frontcourt defensively than Oats has seen in practice so far.
Our front court, we got depth," Oats told reporters at SEC Tip-Off. "We do have skilled guys, two seven-footers that can play on the perimeter, make threes, handle the ball. Defensively, our front court has to get a little bit better. We've been on them about it."
Alabama's frontcourt could be a defensive liability that derails the season
Alabama's frontcourt should be worlds better on the offensive end of the floor this year. Both Noah Williamson, who transferred in from Bucknell, and Aiden Sherrell have deep offensive bags. They can both shoot from the perimeter and do some work in the paint.
The question for both, however, is how they will hold up defensively. Neither is super quick, and neither has yet proven to be an elite shot blocker, either. Williamson graded out as a solid defender, but that was in the Patriot League. SEC bigs are going to be a much more complex problem for him to solve.
Sherrell probably has a higher ceiling on the defensive end, but he'll have to prove that.
Alabama made a late roster addition over the summer with Collins Onyejiaka, who reclassified from 2026 to 2025 to join the team immediately. He looks like more of a prototypical rim protector, but expecting a would-be high school senior to be ready for major minutes right away is probably foolish.
Florida State transfer Taylor Bol Bowen figures to be a Swiss-Army-Knife defender for Oats. He'll log most of his minutes at the four, but could probably hold up as a small-ball five. He's also terrific at rotating over and blocking shots at the rim as a weakside help-defender.
Oats has been a proponent of drop defensive coverage, but that's been contingent on having elite shot blockers like Omoruyi or Charles Bediako to protect the rim. Without that type of guy, Alabama may hedge and trap on screens a lot more aggressively on the perimeter to compensate for it. The team certainly has the length and versatility in the backcourt to be able to do it.
That could prove to be a blessing in disguise, and help Alabama force more turnovers after being one of the worst in the country at it a season ago.
The mark of a good coach is identifying the flaws on your roster early and coming up with ways to cover for them. Oats is certainly a good coach, and he'll learn quickly with a brutal non-conference schedule what this team most needs to work on.