Alabama's fate in the NCAA Tournament could ultimately be in the hands of sophomore Miami (FL) transfer Jalil Bethea.
That sentence wouldn't have sounded so weird in the preseason, as Bethea was projected to be a major contributor for the Crimson Tide. The former 5-star recruit elected to transfer to Tuscaloosa after a lackluster first season of college basketball in Coral Gables. A better system fit awaited in playing for Nate Oats, and many figured he would have an Aden Holloway-like leap as a sophomore.
It's a bit ironic that after Holloway's arrest, Alabama's fate may come down to whether Bethea can live up to his considerable talent and provide quality minutes for the Crimson Tide in Tampa during the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
Alabama needs Jalil Bethea to step up in a big way in Aden Holloway's absence
It's been a rocky first season at the Capstone for Bethea, who has struggled to find consistent minutes in Alabama's rotation. An undeniably talented player, Bethea has had issues with bouts of inconsistent play on both ends of the floor that have kept him mostly on the bench.
But Nate Oats has praised the Miami transfer numerous times over the final month of the season, and he'll no doubt pump him full of confidence for the NCAA Tournament.
Bethea isn't likely to crack the starting lineup in place of Holloway; that will likely go to either Houston Mallette if Oats wants to play smaller, or one of Taylor Bol Bowen/London Jemsion if he wants a bigger lineup.
But Bethea will be an important player off the Crimson Tide's bench. Alabama's production outside of the starting lineup has been hit-or-miss, which led to Oats experimenting some with bringing Latrell Wrightsell off the bench to pack a punch. Wrightsell will start and play a ton of minutes with Holloway out, as will Labaron Philon.
Bethea has had a couple of nice performances for Alabama this year against mid-majors UTSA (21 points), Kennesaw State (11 points), and Yale (15 points). All three of his double-digit scoring efforts for the Crimson Tide have come against mid-major opponents, and that's exactly what will be in front of Alabama on Friday in Tampa.
Hofstra ranks 87th in KenPom, six spots behind Yale, against whom Bethea played one of his better games of the season.
The trick for Bethea will be to play within himself. He has had the tendency to force things instead of letting the game come to him, which has led to some difficult moments on both ends of the floor.
If Oats can get Bethea dialed into the game plan, he could have his coming-out party during March Madness.