Guard Aden Holloway improved his shooting remarkably in ’24-25 as he moved from 32 percent to 46.5 percent from the floor and from 30.2 percent to 41.2 percent from three (Photo courtesy of Alabama Athletics).
Guards Roll with the Tide: Alabama head coach Nate Oats sustains one of the most invincible offensive attacks, this side of the NBA.
The Crimson Tide was No. 1 last season in adjusted tempo and also led the nation with 78.3 possessions per game. Add to the three-point ability of first team All-American Mark Sears and a two-point game that was fourth in the country at 59.3 percent.
Sears unrealistically wasn’t selected in the NBA Draft, and if he wasn’t going in the first round, signing as an unrestricted free agent with the Milwaukee Bucks was an excellent path for him to make it into the NBA.
Without Sears, Alabama will have an array of talent on the perimeter with returnees Labaron Philon, Jr., Aden Holloway, Latrell Wrightsell, and Houston Mallette. Philon checked out the NBA waters before coming back to Tuscaloosa, as Oats expects Philon to be the primary ballhandler with Wrightsell and Mallette. Holloway comes out of the locker room shooting the basketball and is unstoppable when he hits a roll.
“We got a lot of guys that want to be here and want to be on this team, and a lot of guys believe in Coach Oats and what he says,” said Philon. “I think if we keep building on that, we’re going to be such a great team, and it’s going to be hard to stop us.”
Mallette came over from Pepperdine last season and was sidelined early with a knee injury. Wrightsell was sidelined after eight games as an Achilles injury ended his season.
On Schedule: Nate Oats formulated another tough non-conference schedule as Alabama travels to No. 5 St. John’s for a 12 noon matchup with Rick Pitino’s Red Storm on Saturday, Nov. 8 at MSG. The Crimson Tide will also host No. 1 Purdue, play at No. 17 Illinois, and see No. 21 Gonzaga in Coleman Coliseum before they get out of November.
Add Clemson and No. 13 Arizona, and you have arguably the toughest non-league schedule in college basketball.
“You play the best teams, you figure out where your weaknesses are, and you fix ’em immediately,” said Oats. “You do it and you repeat it, you repeat it.”
A ‘Big’ Time: Center Aidan Sherrill is a major returnee to the paint, where he will be joined by former Florida State power forward Taylor Bol Bowen. At 6-10, 240, Sherrill can be the top post option, and he can step out on the perimeter and hit the triple. Bol Bowen is a noted shot blocker who can also make the three consistently.
Noah Williamson, Bucknell’s center from a year ago, averaged 17.6 points and 7.4 rebounds per game and was the Patriot League Player of the Year. Like Sherrill and Bol Bowen, he is another post who is a long-range shooter..
“The frontcourt – the three bigs that we have now – it’s perfect for the way we play,” Philon explained. “We want to get guys open, attack the paint, and have shooting bigs to spread the opponent out.”