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TideIllustrated - Alabama basketball guard Jahvon Quinerly anxious to make up for lost time
Jahvon Quinerly says he's looking forward to making his Alabama basketball debut after sitting out last season.
alabama.rivals.com
Jahvon Quinerly wasn’t allowed to suit up for Alabama basketball last season, but that didn’t stop the transfer guard from routinely being the last one off the court following games inside Coleman Coliseum.
Quinerly, who transferred to the Crimson Tide from Villanova last year, was forced to sit out the 2019-20 season after the NCAA denied his eligibility waiver. While the former McDonalds All-American was commonly referred to as one of Alabama’s best players during practice, Tide fans have yet to see the star guard in action.
That is unless they happened to linger inside Coleman Coliseum following games last season.
While the rest of his teammates hit the showers, Quinerly returned to the court. Sometimes he’d be seen drilling 3s well beyond the arc. Other times, he’d work off his anxiousness by running up and down aisles of the empty arena.
“To be honest in the beginning it was tough for me,” Quinerly said. “Just the reality of not being able to play, not being able to play with my teammates. It was tough. Obviously, for anyone that would have to sit out a year, it’d be tough.
“I feel like once the season really started and I’m still practicing with guys, still going head to head with Kira Lewis every day in practice, it kind of gave me a different perspective. Maybe this happened for a reason… That was probably the biggest thing for me, turning a negative into a positive.”
Quinerly, a former five-star recruit, was the No. 31 player overall in the 2018 class. He originally committed to Arizona out of high school but ended up at Villanova after he was involved in an FBI probe concerning former Arizona assistant coach Emanuel "Book" Richardson.
Quinerly had a quiet freshman season at Villanova, averaging 3.2 points while registering just one minute of action over the team’s final eight games. However, much of that slow start has been attributed to the FBI probe as the 6-foot-1, 175-pound point guard is expected to take on a key role for Alabama this season.
“For me, I wasn’t having fun anymore while I was there,” Quinerly said of his time at Villanova. “I play basketball because I love playing the game, and I kind of lost that love for the game while I was there. That’s why I decided to transfer.
“Obviously the fit, I just didn’t feel like I fit their system, and I kind of wanted to play in a faster-paced system that (Nate) Oats and Coach B (Bryan Hodgson) have presented me.”
Last month, Alabama head coach Nate Oats spoke highly of Quinerly, stating he would be the natural replacement for departing point guard Kira Lewis, who is expected to be selected in the first round of next week’s NBA Draft.
“He’s been really good here over the last week or two,” Oats said. “I think he’s going to help us tremendously. We needed him. That’s why we got him because we were anticipating Kira (Lewis) having a pretty good year. He’s going to be good for us.”
More than a year removed from his last competitive game, Quinerly will finally get the opportunity to make his Alabama debut later this month as the Tide opens its season against Stanford on Nov. 30 as part of the Maui Invitational in Asheville, N.C. The redshirt sophomore says he’s anxious to make up for lost time.
“Words can’t really explain,” Quinerly said. “Most of you know I haven’t played in a pretty long time. I’m just very excited for the next three weeks leading into the season and finally being able to put an Alabama jersey on and play for this school, play for my coaches. Basically show all the work I’ve put in these past two years."
Brotherly love
There may be more than one Quinerly making his Alabama debut this season. Along with Jahvon returning to the court, the Tide will also welcome in his younger brother Jaden who joined the team as a walk-on freshman this offseason.
Like his older brother, Jaden, 6-foot, 155 pounds, plays the guard position. During his senior year of high school last season, he earned first-team All-North New Jersey honors averaging 13.0 points, 3.3 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.6 assists per game.
“I know that I play very good defense,” Jaden said in a video released by the team. “I’m fast. I’m in shape. And my goal is to just try and make my teammates better.”
When asked why he chose Alabama, Jaden said being close to his brother would give him a platform to get better every day. Thursday Jahvon echoed that sentiment, stating it would be nice to have another familiar face on the roster this season.
“It’s amazing,” Jahvon said. “Being 13, 14 hours away from New Jersey, it’s tough. Having him being able to come out here with me and get better with me every day together, it’s amazing. That’s the main word I can give for you. I needed that little piece of home with me out here. It’s tough being away from my family. I’m a family man, and it’s just great having him there.”
