Alabama head coach Nate Oats uses a system that is both wildly entertaining and devastatingly effective. It is unlike any other system in college basketball, and it has rapidly transformed the Crimson Tide into a national powerhouse.
Last season, for the first time in school history, Alabama reached the Final Four. All signs point toward that not being an anomaly. The Tide are loaded once again, and have constructed a roster that — on paper — fits Oats’ system perfectly. This has all the makings of a year that could not only end in San Antonio, but on Monday night.
Alabama, a basketball school? Say it’s so.
After an unforgettable 2024 NCAA Tournament run, the Tide went into the off-season and got even better. Most importantly, All-American point guard Mark Sears decided to remove his name from the 2024 NBA Draft and return to Alabama. “Seeing the team that we had coming back and the chance to compete for a national championship, and also being able to have a chance to prove that I can play defense at a really high level, that’s really why I wanted to come back,” Sears tells Hoops HQ.
With a year in the system under his belt, Sears erupted in 2023-24, setting the program record for most points scored in a single season (797). He averaged 21.5 points per game and was tremendously efficient in the process, shooting 51% from the field, 44% from three and 86% from the free throw line. He is currently among the favorites to win the 2025 Wooden Award.
In addition to getting their leader back, the Tide signed several notable transfers and secured commitments from four top-50 freshmen. Despite losing key players Aaron Estrada, Rylan Griffen and Nick Pringle, Alabama was able to patch up many of its holes from last year — mainly on the defensive end — and add talented players who make sense within the system.
For their style of play to work, the Tide need first-class shooting, playmaking and athleticism. The system is fast-paced and free-flowing, and puts a lot of trust in the guards. “We don’t run nearly as many sets as what some of these other [teams do],” Oats tells Hoops HQ. “I’m not a guy who’s trying to control every possession down the floor. We want to do a lot more coaching and teaching and less controlling during the game.”
Spacing is essential, and guards Chris Youngblood and Houston Mallette — transfers from South Florida and Pepperdine, respectively — both averaged 15 points per game and shot 42 percent from three on high volume last season. Youngblood, who was the 2024 co-AAC Player of the Year, is out until mid-December with an ankle injury, but he will play a significant role upon returning.
Sophomore Aden Holloway, another high-profile guard signed via the portal, spent his freshman season with archrival Auburn. The former five-star prospect struggled to find his offense as a Tiger, but he was considered one of the top shooters in his high school class. Holloway has shown signs of turning things around with the Tide; in the team’s first exhibition game against Wake Forest, he nailed five three-pointers and led all scorers with 20 points.
“How fast we are, how open and free we are, we thought that he could really help him,” assistant coach Ryan Pannone says of Holloway. “That guy shoots the lights out. Without question, he’s one of the most skilled guards in the country.”
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Newell has shined for the Bulldogs and emerged as a top prospect for the 2025 NBA draftFreshman guard Labaron Philon — the No. 32-ranked recruit, per ESPN — has really impressed the staff as well. Having formerly coached the New Orleans Pelicans, Pannone compares Philon’s approach to defense, and his ability to anticipate plays, to that of Herb Jones. According to Oats, Philon will be in the backcourt rotation, which figures to be extremely crowded given all the new faces—not to mention the return of Latrell Wrightsell Jr., who averaged 8.9 points on 45% shooting from three last season.
“I feel like the guard depth is way better,” Sears says. “We have four to five guys that can go out and start any given night. We’re gonna be a problem.”
With Youngblood and Wrightsell dealing with injuries, Oats is still feeling out who will start and how he will divide up minutes. He also has versatile freshman Derrion Reid, the fourth-highest rated recruit ever to commit to Alabama, to consider. At six-foot-seven, Reid is an elite, two-way wing who can do a little bit of everything.
“I don’t always start my five best players,” Oats says. “This will probably be one of those years where you want to kind of mix up having some experience in there with some of the young, high-upside, talented freshmen.
“We’re definitely deep, and we’re going to use the depth to try to get our guys to play super hard,” he continues. “It’s going to be one of those [things] where the guys got to understand, it’s not just your minutes per game, your points per game — it’s how efficient you are in your minutes.”
To bolster their frontcourt, the Tide signed Rutgers transfer Cliff Omoruyi, one of the best rim protectors in the country. Alabama gave up 81.2 points per game last season (357th out of 362 teams in Division I) and was among the worst teams in block percentage, per KenPom. The six-foot-eleven Omoruyi made his second Big Ten All-Defensive Team in 2023-24, recording 93 total blocks — the most by a player in the conference since 2018. By himself, Omoruyi changes the dynamics and potential of Alabama’s D. With him in the game, the Tide will play more drop coverage in pick-and-rolls, and the guards can feel more confident pressuring the ball up top.
“He allows the guards to get up into their defenders and to be able to compete on-ball, because you know if you get beat, you’re going to have him [there] to make up the slack,” explains Sears.
The addition of Omoruyi moves returning big man Grant Nelson to the four, where Oats believes he could be “a real mismatch.” The six-foot-eleven forward averaged 11.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 1.6 blocks in 2023-24. He excelled as he got more comfortable in the system, really coming alive during the team’s tournament run. “I do think he’s going to make a big improvement [this year],” Oats says. “He’s been shooting a lot better. If he shoots it well and teams have to actually close out on him and guard him on the perimeter, I think it opens a lot of things up for him.”
To back up Omoruyi and Nelson, the Tide have returning sophomores Jarin Stevenson — whom Pannone calls “maybe the most improved player on our team” — and Mouhamed Dioubate, as well as another McDonald’s All-American in freshman Aiden Sherrell. An athletic, six-foot-ten forward, Sherrell has been tough to score on in practice; according to Pannone, players have shot just 34 percent on him at the rim. Sherrell also knocked down 40 percent of his threes over the summer.
With all the weapons on this roster, the Tide are aiming to take the system to another level in 2024-25. Last season, they ranked third in pace and fourth in three-point attempts per game; this season, they want to lead both categories. Against Wake Forest, they shot 19 of 46 from behind the arc (41 percent), had 24 assists on 30 made field goals and scored 98 points. “We’re going to play fast and then we’re hunting efficiency by trying to create free throws, advantage layups and advantage threes,” Pannone says.
With Sears, the SEC Preseason Player of the Year, back to run the show, and more shooters, playmakers and capable defenders around him, hopes are high in Tuscaloosa. Entering the season, the Tide sits at No. 2 in the AP Top 25 and No. 4 in KenPom’s preseason ratings.
It will take time for the newcomers to fully adjust to the system, just as it did for Nelson and Sears. But if the team gets settled in, the results could be staggering. “I feel like this team can bring a lot to the table,” says Sears. “You’re not gonna want to miss a game.”
