{"id":51723,"date":"2023-07-12T14:00:57","date_gmt":"2023-07-12T18:00:57","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=51723"},"modified":"2023-07-13T17:57:46","modified_gmt":"2023-07-13T21:57:46","slug":"alabama-basketball-looks-solid-despite-departures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2023\/07\/12\/alabama-basketball-looks-solid-despite-departures\/","title":{"rendered":"Alabama Basketball Looks Solid Despite Departures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last season was an incredible year for Alabama Basketball, but\u00a0<\/span>they lost some important pieces<\/span><\/a>. Nevertheless,\u00a0<\/span>Nate Oats<\/span><\/strong><\/a> pivoted and found players that make Alabama a team to consider in the Top 25 National Rankings. Alabama lost some of their best players, but their new additions have a chance to make an immediate impact in Tuscaloosa this season.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u00a0Alabama Basketball Looks Solid Despite Departures<\/span><\/h2>\n

Acquiring Front Court Depth<\/span><\/h3>\n

Grant Nelson<\/span><\/h4>\n

Oats may have lost some key members, but he put in work this offseason in the transfer portal. His priority was adding big depth to supplement the losses from last season. He landed\u00a0<\/span>Grant Nelson<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0from North Dakota State. Nelson is\u00a0<\/span>one of the most versatile forwards<\/span><\/a>\u00a0in the country. At 6-foot-11, he possesses the size to handle some of the bigger SEC bigs, but he has skill and mobility that make him a matchup nightmare for opponents. His handle, post-game, and finishing ability make him a great get for the Crimson Tide for the upcoming season. The SEC looks to\u00a0<\/span>be one of the best conferences in the country<\/span><\/a>\u00a0this year, so Nelson helps Alabama try to remain at the top of the standings.<\/span><\/p>\n

Jarin Stevenson<\/span><\/h4>\n

Another excellent pickup in the front court for Oats was 5-star forward\u00a0<\/span>Jarin Stevenson<\/span><\/strong>.<\/span><\/a>\u00a0Rated as the no. 1 power forward in the 2024 High School Class, Stevenson has a chance to play right away thanks to his versatility. Stevenson attacks well in transition going downhill due to his athleticism and speed. Also,\u00a0<\/span>he has a good touch for three-point range<\/span><\/a>. Alabama can spread the floor with him on the court. Stevenson is a big fan of how Oats\u00a0<\/span>uses analytics<\/span><\/a>\u00a0to make his decisions, feeling that he will see growth under Oats because of his system. He is also 6-foot-10, allowing for successful rebounding and rim protection.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mohamed Wague<\/span><\/h4>\n

Their final front court addition was\u00a0<\/span>Mohamed Wague<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong>from West Virginia. Wague is 6-foot-10 and very good on the defensive end, which he showed in limited minutes for the Mountaineers. He is best at protecting the paint, a skill needed for Alabama next season. Whether he starts or comes off the bench, Wague will bring efficiency around the basket and an ability to defend it just as well. He will help against good SEC and Non-Conference opponents Alabama plays this season. Alabama brings in two 4-star forwards in Wague and Nelson.<\/span><\/p>\n

Oats Acquires Guard Depth<\/span><\/h3>\n

Aaron Estrada<\/span><\/h4>\n

The former Hofstra Guard,\u00a0<\/span>Aaron Estrada<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is a great guard addition for the Crimson Tide. Estrada showed a lot of offensive firepower a year ago.\u00a0<\/span>The guard averaged<\/span><\/a>\u00a020.2 points on 36.8% from three-point range. Alabama\u00a0<\/span>loves to shoot threes<\/span><\/a>\u00a0and score the ball, and Estrada is a perfect mold for that offense.\u00a0<\/span>An explosive scorer<\/span><\/a>, Estrada scored 4o points in a game against Elon last year. Therefore, the Crimson Tide gets an elite scorer at the combo guard spot. He also facilitates the ball well, so he can play point guard next season for Alabama.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latrell Wrightsell Jr.\u00a0<\/span><\/h4>\n

The former Cal State Fullerton star,<\/span>\u00a0Latrell Wrightsell Jr.<\/span><\/strong><\/a>\u00a0is another explosive guard acquired by Oats. Wrightsell Jr. is an excellent scorer and shooter. He averaged 16.3 points while shooting 38.3%\u00a0<\/span>from three-point range<\/span><\/a>. Wrightsell Jr. fits Oats’s system because he scores in a variety of ways and shoots the three ball at a high clip. Oats loves threes, as Alabama is a fast-paced shooting team. Therefore, Latrell is a good fit for Alabama and their offensive needs this season.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Last Word\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Losing three top scorers from a great time would burn a lot of programs. However, Alabama Basketball used it as a chance to get better. Nate Oats got good front-court talent, and explosive-scoring guards to field a team that will compete well nationally. Hopefully, the Crimson Tide turn talent on paper to reality.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last season was an incredible year for Alabama Basketball, but\u00a0they lost some important pieces. Nevertheless,\u00a0Nate Oats pivoted and found players that make Alabama a team to consider in the Top 25 National Rankings. Alabama lost some of their best players, but their new additions have a chance to make an immediate impact in Tuscaloosa this […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4688,"featured_media":51729,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,773],"tags":[1504],"class_list":["post-51723","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-college-basketball","tag-alabama-crimson-tide"],"modified_by":"Zach Kircher","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51723","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4688"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=51723"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/51723\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/51729"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=51723"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=51723"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=51723"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}