What Mark Sears must do to be Bama Hoops’ GOAT

GOAT, a superlative acronym referring to the greatest of all time in a given field, is an often overused term, particularly in modern day sports culture. While the term GOAT is often a wild exaggeration, Alabama guard Mark Sears has an opportunity to make a legitimate claim to the name.  

Though the Muscle Shoals native started his career at Ohio University, he is preparing to enter his third season at Alabama. This is a rarity in the transfer portal era, and I believe three years in Tuscaloosa would qualify him to potentially be the greatest Bama Hoops player ever. 

Mark Sears' illustrious career to date

Sears transferred to Alabama prior to the 2022-23 season after averaging 19.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, and 4.1 assists for the Bobcats as a sophomore. He started all 37 games in the Crimson Tide backcourt as a junior, averaging 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, and 2.6 assists per game while shooting just under 35 percent from beyond the arc.

This level of production made Sears a major contributor and the second-leading scorer on what was one of the greatest Alabama Basketball teams of all-time. Led by Sears, eventual no. 2 overall pick Brandon Miller, and a very strong supporting cast, the 2022-23 Crimson Tide went 31-6. The squad won the SEC regular season and tournament titles with relative ease and earned the no. 1 overall seed in the 2023 NCAA Tournament before falling to eventual national runner-up San Diego State in the Sweet 16.

When he returned for his senior season, Mark Sears was named to the preseason All-SEC second team. He quickly erased any doubt that he was Bama's alpha and began to stake his claim as the best player in the SEC. 

While he ultimately fell short to Tennessee’s Dalton Knecht in the league’s Player of the Year voting, Sears proved himself to be a dominant force on the court. He showed dramatic improvement across the board, averaging over 21 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game en route to being named a second team All-American. In addition, he led the Tide on a historic March Madness run, knocking off top-seeded North Carolina in a poetic inverse of the previous year’s Sweet 16 and ultimately reaching the school’s first ever Final Four.