What Mark Sears must do to be Bama Hoops’ GOAT

Legacy year for Mark Sears

Now, Sears returns to Tuscaloosa for his fifth season of college hoops, having already established himself as one of the best in the sport. He will be the undisputed head of the snake on what is expected to be Bama’s most talented team ever. Expectations will be sky high for Mark Sears, Coach Nate Oats, and the team as a whole.

To call himself the GOAT of Bama Hoops, Sears must match or approach his statistical output from a year ago. While it won’t be easy to average over 20 points per game in the SEC while sitting at the top of every opponent’s scouting report, it will be equally difficult for those trying to stop him. 

Mark Sears is a smart, veteran player who utilizes physicality and angles in near-ingenious ways. His IQ, in combination with his silky smooth shooting touch, has enabled him to become one of the most efficient players in college basketball despite standing just six feet tall. His shooting splits last season rounded up to 51/44/86, which are remarkable numbers that I actually think Sears can repeat on a much more talented team in 2024-25.   

Potential historic milestones for Mark Sears

Sears already has well over 2,000 career points in his four seasons of college basketball. With another season similar to his last, he will have the opportunity to eclipse the 2,000-point mark just in his three years at Alabama, and could approach 3,000 total points for his career.

It goes without saying that these are historical numbers that would place him among college basketball royalty such as Oscar Robertson, Doug McDermott, and Max Abmas. In the vast history of the sport, only 12 players have ever scored 3,000 points. After scoring 797 points last season, Sears is now 851 away from hitting 3K. Sure, it may be a stretch, but another dominant season in conjunction with a deep tournament run and he could get there. 

Sears likely won't get the 909 points he would need to surpass Reggie King as Bama's all-time leading scorer. Still, he could very realistically find himself somewhere within the top five on the all-time scoring list.

Though it may be unfair to credit Sears with two years of statistical production against MAC competition, it's very interesting to look at his career totals through four years in comparison to Bama's all-time lists.

If his two seasons at Ohio counted towards the Alabama record books, Sears would be just 19 points shy of King. Additionally, he would be tied for second with 186 career steals (behind Trevor Releford) and would rank third with 470 assists (behind Terry Coner and Gary Waites).

Needless to say, Sears would have the opportunity to become Bama's all-time leader in all three categories heading into 2024-25.