Nate Oats pulls off a stunner with 4-star commitment for Alabama nobody saw coming

In a stunner that nobody saw coming, Nate Oats and Alabama basketball landed a commitment from 4-star wing Jaxon Richardson, the son of former NBA All-Star Jason Richardson, and brother of Jase Richardson, the No. 25 overall pick in last year's NBA Draft out of Michigan State:

Richardson is a 6-foot-6 wing out of Orlando who is ranked as the No. 27 overall player in the composite rankings. Richardson had a final group that included Alabama, Creighton, Ole Miss, and USC, but all the intel seemed to favor the 4-star wing landing with the Bluejays.

So much so that 247 posted a pre-write they had ready for his commitment to Creighton:

Alabama lands 4-star wing Jaxon Richardson to add to 2027 class

Richardson is the third commitment for Alabama in the 2026 class, joining 5-star Qayden Samuels and 4-star Tarris Bouie. It was already a class that was considered Top 20-25, and now will undoubtedly leap up the standings.

Richardson is considered one of the top athletes in the 2026 class, which isn't much of a surprise considering his father was a two-time NBA Slam Dunk champion. He'll need to make strides as a shooter to be a true fit in Oats's offensive system, but that will obviously be a point of emphasis when he arrives in Tuscaloosa.

But what you can't teach is elite athleticism, and he should be a tremendous boost on the wing from a defense and rebounding standpoint, two things that have been a major struggle for the Crimson Tide during the 2025-26 season.

Oats and Alabama got a do-over in this recruitment after making a fatal mistake in the recruitment of Jase Richardson. Oats wasn't going to make that mistake a second time.

Alabama is hopefully not done in the 2026 recruiting class. The Crimson Tide is still hot after 5-star guard Caleb Holt, the Alabama native and a Top 5 prospect in the class. While others are still alive, most intel points to it being a two-horse race between Alabama and Arizona.

If Oats can land Holt in addition to the three others, this could turn out to be the best class in school history.